Founder s Day Special - The Doon School Old Boys' Society · ice cream, butter chicken, bulls,...

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DSOBS Nepal Relief Initiative | Drama on Denali |

Master Blasters | Aamir Ali | Tuck Diaries | Rathin Mitra | John Mason | Sheel Vohra Memorial Cup | Gulab Ramchandani |

OCTOBER 2015

NEWSLETTER OF THE DOON SCHOOL OLD BOYS’ SOCIETY

Founder's Day Special

THE ROSEBOWL | OCTOBER 2015

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REGULARS

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 03

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 04

OLD BOYS’ NEWS 06

MARRIAGES 07

OBITUARIES 07

THE HAND GRASP OF A FRIEND

AUTUMN’S BOYS 11

TORONTO REUNION 18

A PAEAN TO RATHIN MITRA 22

BACK TO BOMBAY 24

THE GOODLY SMELL OF RAIN

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN 08

SCHOOL - 28

SHUBHOJIT CHATTERJEE

MANY MASTERS, MANY 38

MEMORIES

SHEEL VOHRA CRICKET MATCHES 40

LEST WE FORGET

CHHOTA INTERVIEW - ASHISH 14

BAHUGUNA

MASTER BLASTERS II 15

BATCH OF 1954 GET-TOGETHER 16

THE FIRST STRAINS OF SONG 20

HOT SEAT - JOHN MASON 53

FOR HARD WORK TO DO

PRESIDENT’S LETTER: NEPAL 12

ON THE GROUND IN NEPAL 12

DRAMA ON DENALI 30

A MOST UNCOMMON MAN 36

DSOBS FINANCIALS & MEETINGS 60

TUCK SPECIAL

AE FOOT TUCK LETTER 43

TUCK DIARIES 44

FOODFILLMENT 52

TUCK SPECIAL - DOSCOS IN FOOD 55

TABLE OF CONTENTST H E R O S E B O W L : S I N C E 1 9 8 5

‘Art Corridor’ by Shubhojit Chatterjee

facebook.com/thedoonrosebowl@ rosebowleditor

EDITORIAL BOARDEDITOR-IN-CHIEF: GOVIND DHAR (192 T, 1997)

EDITORIAL BOARD: DONNY SINGH (878 T, 1982)DESIGN: RITWIK KAR (689 K, 2015) EDITOR EMERITUS: VALENTINA TRIVEDI (708 K, 1981)

PUBLISHER: THE DOON SCHOOL OLD BOYS’ SOCIETY, NEW DELHICONTACT: [email protected]

COVER & BACK COVER PHOTOS: Shubhojit Chatterjee (319 K, 2009)

OCTOBER 2015 | THE ROSEBOWL

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Dear Dosco

Phantom candy cigarettes, Fusen gum, blackcurrant ice cream, butter chicken, bulls, Thums Up, Frooti, Cup O’ Noodles, Chilli Garlic, Cadbury’s Five Star, Crunch, Ellora’s pastries, kathi rolls and chow mein. In the 1990s I could have eaten my body weight in it all. I probably did. I seldom remember a time I was not hungry at Doon. Whether we were getting juniors to smuggle bread slices out of the CDH or smuggling instant coffee into the CDH, so many of our adventures at Doon revolved around food, its acquisition and its destruction. My father to this day apportions a part of his luggage to pistachios, sweets, crisps and chocolate. His homage to tuck is unstinting.

So this Founder’s Day I decided to go all out and try and gather as many tuck stories as I could. While you’re enjoying your pakodas, ice cream or chaat on the mainfield, spare a thought for all those Doscos who

would have rather politely sold you down the river for “just one lick/bite please yaar, just one” of whatever’s in your hands. And help those poor chaps in blue get some grub into school while the going’s good. I hear tuck is banned at The Doon School these days.

Is it any wonder so many Doscos got involved with food as a livelihood? In their own words we get stories from Doscos who are trailblazing through the tuck scene, not least Ashish Bahuguna who was appointed Chairman of the FSSAI earlier this year. That’s what you call a real tuck boss!

It must be Founder’s because a deluge of stories and mails have come pouring in from wizened Old Boys and those born only this year. Thank you for getting in touch and sharing in the nostalgia. For this issue Ila Shirodkar tells us of how Rabindranath Tagore and

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

by Mohit Dhar Jayal (527 T, 1987)


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Dear Govind,

My first few days at Harvard have reminded of why I so value my time spent at Doon. I found myself being able to communicate effectively with students around me and be an active participant in classroom discussions and numerous extra-curricular activities, both of which Doon fostered.

I applied to 16 universities in the United States and got accepted to 15, including seven of the eight Ivy League universities. I decided on Harvard University because of its grand legacy and history. Besides, I want to study economics and government, which is highly reputed at the university. I scored 2360 in SAT 1, 1600 in SAT subject tests, and 41 out of 45 in IB. I received the award for the Best International Speaker at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in Lithuania last year.

I have received the Harvard faculty scholarship worth $61,090 annually. I am confident that I will be among like-minded students and will also be able to pursue my interests in debating.

My teachers at the Doon School, have been a guiding force (PKB, DEB, NPY, MIA, RMR and BKC). I would like to attribute my success to them, and especially to the

Careers Information, Guidance and Education department at school, which worked long hours to help me identify my goals and work towards them.

I would advise students to believe that they can achieve their goals, and to shape their paths towards them. There are many opportunities available in India and overseas. You need to be aware of them and make the most of those opportunities. For parents, I would suggest you allow your children to make their own decisions even if that means they will make mistakes. They will learn from them. By protecting them, you might prevent them from making certain choices which may be different from your own.

Pulkit Agarwal635 H, 2015

Dear Govind,

Received the Rose Bowl a few days back. It’s great to be progressive but it’s even nicer to be in touch with our roots. I’m referring to the cover of the Rose Bowl. For many days I thought it to be an airline flight magazine with a photo of a tiger, so didn’t bother to read it. That wonderful photograph of our Rose Bowl was missing, as

Letters to the Editor

her father created our school song book. Aamir Ali returns to regale us with tales of his days after Doon, and Sugato Chaudhuri tells us of what School was like during the turbulent days of partition. Dr SL Ganguli pens a heartfelt tribute to a former headmaster, Gulab Ramchandani and John A Mason is in the Hot Seat for an interview. You might have also noticed our dear Mr SK Vohra staring at you from the cover page. His presence, not unlike his influence on the minds of innumerable Doscos, is peppered all over this issue, so look out for the super sleuth. Here is what photographer Shubojit Chatterjee says of the experience of clicking this picture of Bond.

“It was the month of August. School was already beginning to feel like Founder’s. The sky had cleared after many days of rain and the campus smelled of petrichor. I was roving

the campus with my camera when I saw Bond sitting by himself around the bamboo bush close to the main gate. It seemed as if he was waiting for someone. It was late afternoon and the last rays of the sun fell beautifully on his face. I knew that I belonged to this moment and that I must make a portrait of him. I walked up to him and asked if I could do so. He didn’t hesitate. I climbed on the brick pavement near the bamboo where he sat and snapped away. I let the film negative lie around for a couple of weeks before I developed it. Little did I know that we wouldn’t see Bond for Founder’s only a month later.”

Enjoy the Founder’s edition all of you, and absorb as much Dosco goodness as you can from its corridors and fields.

Govind Dhar(192 T, 1997)


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was the familiar and instant connect with the regular front page, which used to immediately transport us to beautiful Chandbagh and its Doon valley charm.

Please do revert back to our ‘instant-connect front cover of the Rose Bowl’. Life is so fast-moving and has become so technically savvy that small pleasures like reading a school newsletter with a charmingly simple cover should not be denied to us. The word nostalgia will cease to exist!

Nandita Puri Dhanoa607 T, 1979

Dear Editor,

Of food in our day, I remember Holdy’s cook’s name was Mehboob - a dashing, moustachioed, burly Pathan - who was also his gun bearer (a Westley Richards, 12 bore). When hunting was legal in the small ravines and lantana bushlands named Hellfire Corner (in the vicinity of Mohan pass outside the parameters of Rajaji Sanctuary) Mehboob could whip up the best fennel-and red pepper based bhuna junglee murghi. Mehboob once

accompanied Holdy, Arun Bakshi and me during mid-term. Holdy drove his Willys jeep to a shikar block in the Terai (near Kaladungi) where Karan Sher Singh was camping. Over drinks and a campfire, a very drunk and delightfully garrulous Mehboob, whom Holdy would liberally ply with liquor on such expeditions, shared his recipe with me. I still use it, but with Thanksgiving turkey! I have dubbed the dish Turk-a-la-Mehboob.

Inderjit Badhwar 155 T, 1959

Dear Editor,

On pocket money of seven rupees a month, I proudly went to the tuck shop armed with a cheque book in which we would fill out the price of sweets bought for a few annas and pies. The seven rupees rose precipitously to twelve in our final year - but that never stopped one from feeling rich or being well-fed. How times have changed!

Mani Shankar Aiyar55 T, 1958


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DSOBS NEWSLate Major Bhaskar Roy (215 J, 1951) - a Maha Vir Chakra awardee, was honoured for his bravery in the 1965 Pakistan war, in Jammu on the 50th anniversary of the war. A Sainik Institute has been named after him. Congratulations to the family including Doscos Robin and Rahul on this occasion.

Murad Ali Baig (95 H, 1955) launched his latest book entitled ‘Ocean of Cobras’ in August this year. The book retells the story of Dara Shikoh’s campaign against Aurangzeb for the Mughal throne. Felicitations Murad!

A book by Aftab Seth (189 J, 1959) entitled ‘Half a Century: My Connections with Japan - A Memoir’ has been published by Northern Book Centre, New Delhi. You may find more details at www.northernbook.com. Congrats Aftab!

Ashish Bahuguna (99 K, 1970) - former secretary of agriculture, Government of India has been appointed Chairperson of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). To read more about the ultimate job in tuck, check out Chhota Interview in this issue. A huge congratulations from every Dosco in the community Ashish!

Jagdeep Rangar (256 K, 1971) scored his first ever hole-in-one on September 20th, 2015. Playing at the picturesque Qutab Golf Course, Lado Sarai, Jagdeep hit his tee shot into the trees on hole number six, a-198 yard, par three, but miraculously the ball found its way into the hole after many deflections. His playing partners (witnesses) were Sheel Sharma (345 K, 1964), Rajiv Sahaya (269 K, 1971) and a friend Chakru Sinha. Shabaash Jagdeep.

Shaukat Sikand (718 H, 1980) is the only Indian to

have ever been invited to officiate at the XPD Adventure Race, held this year in August in Townsville, Australia.

Over 37 teams from around the world took part in the race as part of the World Adventure Series. India has been chosen to host the Adventure Race in Ladakh in 2017 until 2022.

Amardeep Singh (404 J, 1986) is about to publish a book entitled ‘Lost Heritage - The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan’. The book has been written and photographed by the Singapore-based writer and presents the diverse remnants of the Sikh community across Pakistan. The book is available for pre-order at www.lostheritagebook.com

Varun Mohan Soni (335 J, 1999) and Wasiqa Soni, along with their two young sons have now moved to Seattle with Amazon. Besides working hard, they are enjoying fishing, golf and the great American outdoors. Contact Varun at [email protected]. Husain Abbas (675 T, 2015) has secured admission for an MBBS degree at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (Jamia Hamdard University), New Delhi this year. Congratulations Husain!


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BIRTHSUmed Singh Gill (111 T, 1997) and Douce Raby welcomed Selina Singh Gill into the world on September 17th, 2015 in Gaspe, Canada. Welcome to the world cosmic bandida and congratulations to the Gill clan!

Kapil Bansal (403 T, 1999) and Pallavi Singhal became parents to Aira Bansal on July 12th, 2015 in New York. Many congratulations to you and your families.

OBITUARIESChand Narain Kapur (121 T, 1941) passed away in New Delhi on September 3rd, 2015. Our condolences go out to the grieving family.

Nawabzada Aziz Mir Alam Khan (58 K, 1945) passed away on August 17th, in Dhaka at the age of 86. He is survived by his wife, son, three daughters and many grandchildren. He was born January 5th 1929 to the Royal Family of Surat - the last ruler of his time. Our prayers are with the Khan clan presently.

Ashok Bhavnani (231 T, 1951) passed away on July 25th, 2015 at home in New York City at the age of 81. He succumbed to complications from lung cancer. He was a noted architect in the US and designed many buildings theatres, schools and affordable housing structures of note, in and around New York. He is survived by his wife of nearly 53 years, Marjorie Bhavnani, his son, Raoul, his daughter-in-law, Savitha Reddy, and his grandchildren, Nikhil and Nina. He was the son of Mohan and Enakshi Bhavnani of

Bombay; a film director and a writer of important books on Indian dance and crafts, respectively. Our thoughts go out to the family at this time. Dr Behman Minoo Daver (220 H, 1955) passed away in Mumbai in late August this year. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

Hanne, wife of Shiv Goyal (301 H, 1955) passed away in Dehradun on August 14th, 2015. Our sympathies lie with Shiv and his family at this time.

Samir Lanba (220 T, 1961) passed away on March 9th, 2015. Our deepest condolences go out to the family.

The mother of Sunil Sahni (27 H, 1964) passed away on August 6th, 2015. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Sunil and all family members. Sunil can be contacted at [email protected]. Sorry to hear of this Sunil. God speed.

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THE DOON SCHOOL APPI N T R O D U C I N G


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Letter from the Chairman, Board of Governors, IPSS

It is not often that the Chairman of the Board of Governors receives a request from the editor of the Rose Bowl to write a piece on the direction and work being done at School. Such an opportunity was too good to pass up, and should be a regular feature in The Rose Bowl.

I have served on the Board of Governors for seven years, four as a director and upon taking the mantle from Analjit Singh, I will be completing my third year as Chairman this Founder’s Day. The good health of the school today owes a lot to Analjit’s pragmatism and drive in putting together a 10-year development plan. And, after consultation with the wider Dosco community, in hiring Peter McLaughlin as headmaster to personally drive its implementation. A copy of the plan is available to any member of the Doon community and should be available on the dsobs.net website. I would urge all to peruse it and see that School is very much on track.

Why was this development plan necessary? Simply put, the school was lacking resources on all fronts - financial, academic and infrastructural. The market for high school education had changed. Traditional decision-makers in families no longer have the final say. Financially well-endowed and new, branded schools were springing up in urban centres making quality education accessible, closer to home and in metropolitan cities. Academic results and university placements became the new criteria when choosing a school, and boarding schools were increasingly being seen as a throwback to older times. All these represented unprecedented challenges in keeping the Doon School education model relevant in a rapidly changing world. Any attempt at change requires

large resources, commitment and time to deliver results. The school did not have these resources, having made financial losses in 18 of the previous 23 years. But we did have the commitment and time to bring about the change we needed.

All these challenges manifested themselves in and on School in different ways. Doon had lost its all-India character and was reduced to recruiting from a narrow north Indian geography. We were unable to upgrade our academic and physical infrastructure, which in turn made it difficult to increase fees. There was increasingly, little perceived value in a Doon School education. The introduction of the International Baccalaureate program, while progressive, only increased the financial problem as it imposed higher costs and different teaching standards, requiring spending on teacher training and development. This in turn made it difficult to attract good teachers. The school was resting on its reputation and had matters been allowed to continue, the very ethos of the school was in danger of being lost. I will not name other boarding schools that have been unable to recover their reputation once such a spiral of decline set in.

A development plan did a number of things to help restore the ethos and essential values of School. It put the student and his welfare - academic, pastoral, physical well-being and discipline - at the centre of our aims. This adheres to the same spartan traditions of the past, but makes concessions for the 21st century. Above all, it put active recruitment of students from all over India and Old Boys’ families at the heart of the plan.

Gautam Thapar200 H, 1979


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To achieve all these outcomes we needed resources which we did not have.

The school has only two possible avenues of increased income; school fees and donations. Both had to increase simultaneously as we had about 25 years of under-investment to overcome. Increasing school fees meant we would be able to make a start on this development plan. Further, we had to put aside more money for bursaries so more students from wider backgrounds could afford a Doon school education. As a community we should be proud of the strides that the school has made in the last seven years. We have achieved much of what we set out to do. New infrastructure; teacher training; excellent academic results and university placements; strong student discipline; students from wider India; bursaries and scholarships for almost 60 percent of the boys in school; increase in teacher remuneration and tight financial control - are all manifest in School’s functioning today. To sustain all of this we need to do more, much more.

Where is the money going?Half the net income of the school goes towards financial support for the boys in the form of fee mitigation and scholarships. The rest goes to support teacher training, salary increases and physical infrastructure development. We also need to save for the future. To maintain this balance between expenditure and savings, the financial reserves of the school needs to keep increasing in order for the same level of support and investment to be provided

in future. Because we do not control interest rates or new academic or infrastructural requirements, we have no guarantee that the school will earn interest on its money at the same rate every year. Yet, the school must meet its vision commitment to provide the best all-round education in the country. If we are to make the investment in vital infrastructure that needs to be made for Doon and achieve a level of financial independence, the Board of the school needs 110 crores in reserves for 2020. We are nowhere near that number. Much of what we have achieved is due to the Old Boys in India and around the world, who have given generously. The balance has come from school fees and tight cost control.

Wrangling in the Community I have heard criticism that school fees are too high, that Old Boys are being deprived of the opportunity to send their sons to school; that the school has too much money; that the school has become a rich boys’ school - too academic and too focused on international placements, etc. More worrisome to me has been the relationship between the Old Boys’ Society and the IPSS/Board of Governors. The relationship was competitive and confrontational. Rather than work together to achieve the plan, we were working at cross-purposes. To state the obvious, if there was no Doon School there would be no Old Boys. The primacy of keeping and perpetuating the ethos and values of the school must be fundamental to the functioning of the Doon community. This primary responsibility lies with the Indian Public School Society, who must be assisted by the Doon community in upholding these values. There can be no ambiguity of these values


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and ethos. A strong trust-based and transparent relationship between School and its alumni has to be the foundation on which Doon moves forward. I have personally tried to ensure that this is the case in the IPSS. I am pleased to say that under RPN Singh’s leadership, the Old Boys’ Society has reciprocated. A change for the positive in this relationship has been very visible and welcome. His efforts need to continue to be supported. I am also proud to say that no Old Boy’s ward has been turned away from School for reasons of lack of financial support.

As to the other criticisms, I have attempted to lay out the facts. The school charges fees equivalent to the quality of the education provided. Market surveys show that the fees we charge are still well below what the market will pay for the quality of education being provided at Doon. We have been prudent and communicated our fee increases well in advance to parents. The school provides financial aid to all those who apply and pass the means test. Additionally, these means tests are constantly being updated to ensure fairness and transparency, and are adjudicated by an impartial third party. We want your son, nephew or grandson to enrol at The Doon School. It is important to our tradition that generations of family members attend Doon. However, they also need to be well-prepared for the increased competition in gaining admission to School.

Progress is a Two Way StreetFinally, to the task ahead. It is my strong belief that if we are a member of any Society and are elected to serve that Society in any capacity, then we serve as a Trustee. And our responsibility as a Trustee is to endeavour to leave that Society in better shape, form and governance than before we were elected. There have been weaknesses in the overseeing of School in the past. As a society we have acknowledged them and made the corrections required. One task has been to ensure that these lapses don’t happen again. This has been done by ensuring that the highest standards of governance and transparency are adopted and implemented by the Board of

Governors and that those elected to serve on the board contribute, and shoulder responsibility and accountability. We must adhere to delivering the Doon School Development Plan, clean up longstanding issues of the past, continue to move the school forward in every facet of its functioning and ensure that The Doon School continues to be the leading school in the country. Repairing the relationship between the Board and the Old Boys and making it a collaborative effort is a key component of the desire to maintain our leadership amongst schools. No school in India and very few globally have such a dedicated and passionate alumni network scattered around the world. As a community we need to continue to keep ourselves open to suggestions that help us meet and deliver our goals. Differences in opinion are normal in these complex times. However, they cannot be allowed to drive a permanent wedge between us, or become ossified.

My passion and my task have been made much easier by a committed board that ensures overseeing, and eschews interference; by a headmaster who has patiently been building a culture of performance and delivery, and by the support of the teachers, boys, parents and many, many old boys. If we are to continue to lead, and have our place amongst the great schools of the world, we must not allow the school to slip again, ever. It will be almost impossible for us to recover. This is a message that needs to be taken to heart by the entire Doon family.

It takes a long time to build a reputation, but requires very little to destroy it.

So rather than sit at home and read about what transformations are taking place at School, come and visit Doon and see for yourselves. The same bright boys, khattias, toe jam smells, uniforms, chhota hazri and a truly beautiful and well-maintained campus await you!


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We autumnal boy-men,Speak often of how it was back then.

Under a moody, harsh mellow moon You try to remember how, as a sapling you grewAnd who you really were, in those sepia daysWithin the sleepy brick walls of Doon.

Were you the little lion man? Master of your destinyWith your shiny mane and shinier genesAlready counting the number of wins It would take for the final victory?

Or

Were you the lamb of fate?Tied to your stakeFollowing others in a timid little ring Waiting for someone, anyone, to make you somethingFor whatever it would take?

Or

Were you the proud white swan of grace?Savouring the tasteOf delicious first sinsOf all newly available hedonistic outs and insWith neither thought, nor much haste?

Or

Were you little piggy?Stuck out of time in castle rockSurviving mostly on your witsBeing softly strong in taking the hitsAnd quietly letting the mocking birds mock?

Or

Were you the big bad wolf of lore?Huffing and puffing and blowing them downWhile secretly praying for your guilt to drownAlways looking for monsters at your door?

Or

Were you the invisible spider in the barn?Hiding among your fellow nerdsFinding words with life, and life in wordsTo spin some meaning into your lonely yarn?

Whoever we were and who we now are;Whether we ran, crawled, trotted or walkedWhether we galloped, pranced, swam or stalkedWe have since covered our own long roads, and come very far.

In life’s great outdoors, what lessons we learnt.Few turned into mighty oaksOthers found something more bespokeInevitably, some thrived, and some fingers got burnt.

In our early autumn, we are all still rangingStill learning and still livingStill failing and fighting, often still winning.We are all still trying and changing.

Yet somewhere in the corners of our hearts and mindsThat boy whom we were, unchanged, still lives and grows.And when we Doscos gather It is then that he rises, and impishly shows.

Those memories of a freer timeThe shared laughter, tears, muses and rhymeAnd that intransigence of memory Is the glue that you to me binds.

Autumn’s BoysVivek Vikram Singh 160 O, 1997


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Dear Doscos,

Even in the worst disasters, incredible stories of courage and generosity emerge. I would like to share with you a report on the fantastic response of the Dosco community and the Doon School Old Boys’ Society to the massive earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale that hit our neighbour Nepal, this April. The world was shell shocked with reports of the destruction and loss of lives. As news came in that day, the DSOBS immediately swung into action. Calls started coming in from Doscos all over

the world asking how they could help. The support we got was overwhelming. Our first priority was to make sure that relief material would be distributed to people on the ground in the worst hit areas.

Varun Chaudhary (319 J, 2004) and a well-known businessman in Nepal was roped in to organise transport and distribution. Nauhar Rana (375 J, 1976) who has close connections with Nepal, was also brought in to assist, and truckloads of aid left from Delhi within days. What was heartening to see was that the trust in the DSOBS brought in contributions not just from Doscos but from NGOs like Uday Foundation and friends of Doscos as well, who had collected relief materials, but did not know how, or to whom to entrust them. They trusted the aegis of the DSOBS to send their collections. The DSOBS secretariat was filled with relief material received from all quarters. Even SelaQui International School, a school near Sashapur, Dehradun, sent their school collection to the DSOBS.

Doscos, true to our School spirit, came together for this occasion and donations poured in.

An initiative like this is what distinguishes The Doon School. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who came forward to help reach out to the people of Nepal in their time of extreme suffering. We hope to carry this spirit of giving forward with your cooperation, in the future.

All Hands on DeckNauhar S Rana375 J, 1976

On April 25th, the worst natural

DSOBS Relief Work in NepalRatanjit PN Singh, President DSOBS871 K, 1982


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disaster to have struck Nepal since the early 1900s marked a sad day for the country where in some villages they lost an entire generation of children.

Being the country of my ancestors, this tragedy in Nepal struck a chord with me. I didn’t want it to become a party discussion we did nothing about. I started contacting friends (who had helped send relief for the Kashmir floods earlier) and we started collecting relief material. The next day, the DSOBS convened a meeting spearheaded by RPN Singh (Richie), Jaswinder Singh (Bull),

Rahul Kohli, Varun Chaudhary, Sheel Sharma, Avneesh Sangwan and myself, and we got to work. Varun was to be the Nepalese connection through whom the most affected could be reached at ground zero.

A lot of ladies (not related to

Doon) responded and sent in loads of stuff from all over the NCR region. An entire truck load of aid was sent by Sumeet Nath; another was sent with collections from SelaQui School under the initiative of its current principal Rashid Saffruddin, who is a former Jaipur House housemaster.

Word got round that The Doon School was collecting and sending out relief material. This reassured people that Doscos and non-Doscos could send stuff to various collection centres. We collected relief material items such as blankets, biscuits, milk powder, instant noodles, torches, tents, tarpaulin, medicine, water and clothes. We distributed the materials into individual sacks so we could give each family one sack. This made it easier to distribute the goods, following the method’s success in the Kashmir crisis. Apart from the sacks, a lot of relief material was sent in bulk as well.

My home in Delhi, the DSOBS Secretariat and Varun’s office on MG Road were turned into relief headquarters. At my place, my wife Sunita was like a commander, ably assisted by my daughter and her friends in coordinating and collecting items on behalf of people who had donated cash or committed to send money later.

DSOBS Chairman, Gautam Thapar and his office offered every help and assistance, as did several other Old Boys. DSOBS VP, Bull was always at hand and coordinating with Varun, others and helping with logistics. Rahul did the back-end stuff and those efforts caused numerous Doscos to respond. DSOBS Secretary Sheel Sharma and Avneesh Sangwan handled any items left at the DSOBS office in Defence Colony. Varun and his team of Arshad and others at his office did a great job in coordinating the trucks and in a matter of 10 days since we started our efforts, three big Canters were sent from my home to Nepal. The first one left on April 29th - barely four days after the earthquake - and the last one left on May 7th. I believe there were a few more trucks under the ‘Dosco Nepal Relief’ banner sent later too.

Apart from material donations, almost 17 lakh rupees was donated by people from all over the globe. It was so heartening to see that many of the donors were not just members of the Doon School fraternity but people who simply heeded a humanitarian appeal to help a poor but resilient neighbour. God bless you all who came forward!


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CHHOTA INTERVIEW

Perhaps the ultimate job in tuck, Mr Bahuguna was charged in July this year with one of the most senior positions on food safety and standards in India. We talk to the former agriculture secretary about his new role, and send him a huge ‘congratulations’ from the Dosco community too!

What is your official title and what does your work entail?

My official title is Chairperson, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). FSSAI is required to regulate the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food in accordance with science-based standards so as to ensure its safety and wholesomeness. The regulation of the food industry in India has recently undergone a paradigm change from a regime based on mistrust and control to one based on trust and self-compliance. The role of FSSAI as the food regulator is not merely to ensure the safety of food products, but also to encourage improvement in their nutritive value. The objective of public health can only be served through advocacy and generation of awareness rather than administrative fiats.

What are the challenges you face?

Any paradigm shift requires a dramatic change in the mindsets of all stakeholders. FSSAI, too, needs to look within to rein in overzealous officials who, oftentimes, fail to distinguish between concerns relating to public safety and those pertaining to

public health thereby jeopardising the growth of our nascent food processing industry. Change in mindsets, adoption of best global practices and formulation of science based practical standards are the need of the hour.

What do you remember of school food in your days at Doon?

School switched over to the central dining hall (CDH) system in my last term. Though the food was not much to write home about, I shall remember with great fondness, the spaghetti and mincemeat served on Golden Nights, the hand-churned ice cream and several desserts.

What were your favourite places to eat in

Dehradun?

Kwality’s, Napoli and Madras Café for its dosas.

What were your favourite bits of tuck at school?

Samosas from town and toffees from Kwality’s.

Did your academic qualifications help get you to this position?

I was appointed as Chairperson, FSSAI on the basis of my performance as a career bureaucrat, and not on account of my academic qualifications. I am obviously exaggerating, but I feel that academic qualifications only help you land your first job. After that it is your performance that matters.

NAME: Ashish Bahuguna | NUMBER: 99 | HOUSE: Kashmir | BATCH: 1970

ASHISH BAHUGUNA


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What advice would you give Doscos wanting to get into this field?

Food processing has tremendous potential in our country in view of changing lifestyles and consumption patterns - breakdown of joint family systems, increase in female workforce, etc. Processing also prevents wastage of agricultural commodities, especially fruits and vegetables, and results in benefits to all stakeholders, ie farmers, processors

and consumers. The challenge lies in building end-to-end value chains that function round the year and not merely during the harvesting season. Identification of suitable products and building the right infrastructure covering cold chains, processing and logistics is the key to success in this sector.

How can Doscos get in touch with you?

All Doscos are welcome to get in touch with me.

Master BlastersThe one-liners of teachers at Doon are as old as the ivy on the main building, but they will forever echo in the minds of Doscos. In a collection of some of the greatest hits of masterly wit from The Doon School, this is five of the best!

The one-liners of teachers at Doon are as old as the ivy on the main building, but they will forever echo in the minds of Doscos. In a collection of some of the greatest hits of masterly wit from The Doon School, this is five of the best!

Inter House Boxing was on in full

swing. I was commentating. In a particularly savage move, one of the contestants swung viciously. An illegal open-palm smack to the opponent’s head caused the fight to be stopped momentarily and for him to regain his composure. All the boys in the Rose Bowl erupted with laughter. Taking it all a bit seriously,

I announced “Don’t laugh please. It’s not easy being the ring and it’s not funny!” Mr Vohra was in the audience. A friend sitting next to him told me later that in the midst of guffawing himself, Bond’s response was, “Oh but it is!”

(Editor)

“Yes, yes Mr Gupta. If you don’t pay attention, I will do ‘foooo’ and you will go flying out of the weeeeendow!” - Bond to a 20-something kg Varun Gupta in D form.

(Yajur Johri 264 T, 2004)

“Mere paas na gaadi hai, na bangla hai, na paisa hai...but still, all the chicks fall for me!” – Mr Madhav Saraswat during a Sanskrit class.

(Shiv Sapra 408 J, 1999)

“Both of you three, come here!” Mr Darshan Singh.

(Bipin Bhatia 417 H, 1986)

“I lament the death of your barber”- Mr John Mason to a boy with long hair.

(Kaushlendra Singh Narauli, 2003)

The career column for Doscos wanting to hear from Doscos in the field.Contact: [email protected]


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Reunion: Class of 1954 at Founder’s Day 2014

As usual, Pete Jasdan (162 H) enthusiastically set the ball rolling at least a year before the event to try and get a good turnout for our class’ 60th anniversary. At one stage it looked as if we might have 15 to 18 truly Old Boys and some wives join the celebrations in October, 2014 in School. Alas, it was a case of ‘the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’! Some like Madan Mohan (243 K) and Satish Shrinagesh (270 H) had to drop out, after having made all the arrangements because of family responsibilities. Incidentally, Madan had a few days before, become a great grandfather and we drank a suitable toast at Rajbir’s house. Some dropped off because of very unfortunate health problems - Sufi (Arshad Rashid, 233 K), whom we were all looking forward to seeing as he had missed our 50th and Pete himself had surgery about a month earlier. There were some others who gave good reasons for not being able to attend - Pesi Wadia (116 K) who could not travel without Pete!

However, eight of us were present and tried to make up for the absence of the others. It was great to see Gopi (P Gopinath, 154 H), who was our

only overseas batchmate present. The others were Shamsunder (53 K), Santosh Reddy (19 T), Abhay Singh (118 T), Bahadur Singh (187 J), Brahmanand Singh (76 T), Rajbir Singh (4 H) and myself. Except for Gopi, Shammi and Brahmanand, the wives of the rest were present and made a significant difference to our get-together.

Rajbir and Meena very warmly started the celebrations with a great dinner at their residence – that too after Meena had undergone complicated shoulder surgery, from which she had not fully recovered. We were delighted to have Gurdial ‘Guru’ Singh present along with Nalini Jayal. Our class were also joined by Shomie Das, Kamal and Nita Bhagat, Mahesh and Ratna

Ashok Malik230 H, 1954


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Sahai, and Ranjit and Veena Sikand. It was a lovely evening with some School songs being sung (croaked). During the course of the evening Ila Chatterjee, nee Shirodkar (282 H) rang us from New York and talked in turn to each of us, including Mr Gurdial Singh. Based in New York, Ila could not join us because her husband was not keeping well. But considering her call to all of us, it would have been cheaper to fly to Dehra Dun!

There were two other high points for me. Firstly, the get-together gave me a reason to meet batchmates I had not contacted for years, among them, Kobad Sethna, now living in California, Homi Bam, happily settled in Canada and Ila Chatterjee, for whom Pete and I had an incorrect email address. The second was meeting Mr Gurdial Singh, who very kindly asked me to be present when he inaugurated the very ambitious Indoor Sports Complex planned in a five-acre plot near Jaipur House. This is a superb state-of-the-art facility, sponsored by the class of 1964, at an estimated cost of Rs 16 crores. Rs 11 crore have already been committed, including Rs 8 crore from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. More power to their elbow and may this be a reality soon.

Lest We Meet Again

Abhay Singh Tikra118 T, 1954

We had a nostalgic get-together last October of

our class’ 60th year since Doon. The last time we met was at the OB’s AGM. Santosh Reddy and I slipped out to walk around the main field recalling our innings for the house and School. Putting modesty aside, I would like to mention that they were quite helpful to both.

Our walk took us to where Mr Holdsworth’s bust is installed. Reddy being a perfectionist thought that Holdy’s nose wasn’t quite right. When asked to

comment I readily agreed with Santosh, primarily to avoid a closer look and critical inspection of the famous Holdy nose!

Talking of various things, Santosh said “Do you realize Abbey (his name for me) that we may never meet again after this?” This thought brought a lump in my throat as this may well be sadly true. Santosh, Gopi (Gopinath) and Sammy (Shyam Sunder) live quite far away. Ashok in Delhi, Rajbir in Dehra Dun and Bahadur in Jaipur, are already on over-night trains and thus unreachable to a person who doesn’t like to travel very much. I hope I am forgiven, as I do have a replaced right hip. I am still at the batting crease of my life and who knows what is in store before the innings comes to a close.


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Onto Toronto Pronto Dosco

On July 11,2015, the Toronto chapter of Doscos had its annual get-together, at a Marriot hotel in the city. Thanks to Anup Israni (127 H, 1967) it was a well-organized cocktails and dinner event that was enjoyed by all.

There were 40 attendees in all including three Welham girls in the form of Asha Bhavnani and her spouse Narendra, Anjali Kapoor and Aditi Agarwal. We look forward to more joining us

next year, including a number of Old Boys who have joined universities in Canada.

Our next annual get-together is scheduled for the last weekend of June 2016. All are welcome.

Get in touch with us at +1416 605 5102, [email protected],[email protected], [email protected]

Ravi Chaudhary244 K, 1964

Harsh Verma, Deepansh Chaudhary, Zain Ali and Raghav Khanna

The Canadian DSOBS extended community

Foreground: Ritik Ramchandani with spouse Simona


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When Satish Ranjan Das thought of founding a school in Dehra Dun, he wished that his music and art teachers came from the august Santiniketan school and should be trained and educated under national luminary and Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore. The British-educated barrister, Mr Das, even paid a visit to the poet. He asked for his two best students in music and art for Doon. Tagore gave him two names: Sudhir Khastigir for art and Mr Vaman Shirodkar for music. Unfortunately SR Das did not live to see his dream come true.

In 1935 however, when The Doon School opened in September of that year, the first headmaster, AE Foot sent out letters of appointment to Mr Shirodkar and Mr Khastigir as music and art masters for the new school. The latter accepted the offer and joined Doon in 1936. But Mr Shirodkar turned down the offer on the pretext that he was married with two children and didn’t

wish to quit his fairly good job. His main objection though, was to wearing a suit and tie! He was quite comfortable in his kurta-pyjama. Mr Shirodkar’s father died when he was a child. His older brother, who was 22 years older than him and also very pro-British volunteered to raise him in this style. My father attended St. Xavier’s College in Bombay, dressed in a three-piece suit and tie, with a pocket watch and shiny black shoes. He was expected to speak English all his waking hours. But my father resented this artificial life. He was an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi and secretly condemned the atrocities of the British Raj in India. But he dared not open his mouth or speak his thoughts.

The First Strains of SongThe origins of assembly and the School prayer book

Ila Shirodkar Chatterji282 H, 1954

The School 1948. Mr. Shirodkar is seated in the front row 11th from the right


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Music was my father’s first love. He often went to a nearby music store and played around with different instruments. He had been eyeing a veena for the longest time, but did not have enough money to buy it. A veena cost 200 rupees in those days. So he collected his pocket money and now had the money to buy it. When he was walking out of the shop with the veena in his arms feeling proud of himself, he saw an old man with a long, white beard and shaggy hair looking at him. Smiling, the old man beckoned to him. My father knew right away that this was none other than the great poet Rabindranath Tagore. The poet is supposed to have said to my father that he was looking for two veenas for his school, but had no idea of how to select the best. My father then selected two veenas and they were purchased. The poet was very impressed by Vaman (that’s what he started calling him) and asked if he would like to come to Santiniketan with him. That was a turning point in my father’s musical life. My father spent five glorious years in the natural surroundings of Santiniketan. He worked hard to learn Bengali so that he could interact with his friends. Very soon he became popular with his teachers and friends. He finished college from Vishva Bharati University and also got a diploma in music. He married my mother in 1933 and because of lack of family accommodation he had to find his own place to live. Thankfully, he found a job in Asansol near Calcutta.

When Tagore heard that Vaman had turned down the job offer from Mr Foot he was very upset mainly because he had given his word to the late founder that they would join. Tired of explaining his folly to him, and persuading him to reconsider his decision, Tagore put a challenge before Vaman. He told Vaman that one’s way of dressing did not and should not change their thinking. He said that being a music master, he would have the

ability to choose suitable songs and prayers for the school, and those too written by Tagore. If he could do this, it would be a great achievement. The reasoning worked. Mr Shirodkar gladly accepted the job and got to work right away because he loved the idea. He compiled some appropriate songs and prayers, and put them in a little booklet and called it ‘The Assembly Songs and Prayer Book’ that we’ve all come to know and love. He set out for Dehra Dun in January 1938 as the first music teacher of the Doon School. Mr Foot came to the railway station to receive him and his family. Foot heartily shook hands with him and asked ‘How do you pronounce your name? It is so difficult!’ My father was said to have laughed and replied, ‘She- rode-a-car’. Mr Foot laughed uproariously and remarked ‘You made it so easy for me!’ From that time on they became good friends.

Assembly was my father’s pride; it was his creation. The music with which we marched in, the orchestra, the songs and the prayers were all due to his efforts.

At the request of Mr Foot, Mr Shirodkar staged The Pageant Of India which depicted all the states of India through dances and songs from each state.

Mrs Sarojini Naidu, Governor of Uttar Pradesh on a visit to school (1948)


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Thereafter he had something unique to present on every Founder’s Day. Some ensembles worth mentioning were The Cycle Of Spring in 1939. Visarjan along with Mr Chandola. Deepawali Mask in 1948 and many more, which I haven’t been able to keep track of.

The Inter-House Music Competition was a big event. There used to be a science exhibition in the afternoon followed by a tea party on the lawn by the science lab where the judges were treated to light refreshments. At around 7 pm the melodious music programme started and went on till about 9 pm. There was a lot of tension among the boys

while the judges were busy with their verdict-making!

Mr Shirodkar was very happy in his new environment. Contrary to how he felt in the beginning, he became very friendly with the British teachers. His best buddies were Jack Gibson, Clough and Moore. He worked happily for 16 years and passed away on February 1st at the young age of 49 years.

I am sure that the assembly songs are still the same, and that the same prayers are being read by the headmaster at assembly after all these years.

A Paean to Rathin MitraBaljit Malik73 K, 1955

This year is the Diamond Jubilee of the Class of 1955. It is also a jubilee of my friendship with Rathin Mitra, who turned 90 on July 26th.

Looking back on a tumultuous half-century, Doon and post–Doon, I wonder what clicked between us. We were two very different guys from very different backgrounds. Ultimately our vibes homed in on a tongue-in-cheek, usually humorous and at times, an angry irreverence for authority. I am sure Rathin will agree with me that we owe our expressions of this shared personality (some like to call it a disorder) to one man. And that man was none other than our Headmaster John Arthur King Martyn.

I can write reams on Rathin Mitra and Baljit Malik, two rebels on campus, usually a step ahead of the boys, in being naughty pranksters. However, I shall limit myself to a cameo of memories as I try to catch up with Rathin 14 years ahead of me in the train of life. As we still puff along, Rathin in Cal with

Ina, daughter Reena and grandson. And yours truly, biding time between the fringes of Tibet and Burma in the NE Frontier in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and in whatever Delhi, Kasauli and Banglore happen to be in today.

I remember the year 1966. The departure of JAKM and the arrival of CJ Miller. Miller would never be comfortable in the chair he took from John. What he did seem comfortable with was a signboard he put up outside the school gate on the Mall Road which stated, “The Doon School, Headmaster CJ Miller, MA Dip Ed, Cantab”. We were irked and aghast! After lights out, armed with a rum or two, with black paint and brush, Rathin and I headed for the offending folly that stood us in the eye. We blackened all the lettering on the board, so that it read CJ Miller, MAD! At assembly next morning, Miller was furious “with the boys”. Rathin and I chuckled with satisfaction at having served the outsider right.


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I also remember many a party in the Art master’s house. Many lovely girls – Fillida, Gillian, Diana, Anne Young, Bernadette from Hope Cottage in Mussoorie and Rapheal across the Rispana near Kalinga Hill. Lovely young ladies (doing wonderful work with Tibetan refugees and the mentally disturbed) and some of us Chandbagh bachelors, including our evergreen HM, John Martyn. Art, women, rum, music and dance , and bang on time for classes, games and STA the next day!

A few other cameos make-up my picture of friendship with Rathin. Amateur theatrics with Doon bachelor–masters and some expatriate Dutch and French gents working in the Survey of India and Petroleum Institute. Rathin was Station Master in a Galsworthy adaptation. And, courtesy my late father – ‘KS’ as he was known, a piece-de-resistance exhibition of Rathin’s works in the garden and verandah of our old family home at 4, Bhagwandas Road. An exhibition open-to-the-public complete with bar, music and dancing! A week-long art party with every Rathin Mitra canvas sold-out, and not just for a song!

My only regret is that Rathin did not meet up with

my late daughter Meeto. Poet, scholar, classical dancer, jazz singer, Meeto, knew him better from his line-drawings and oils-on-canvas. Also, via my tales and anecdotes of a man without whom I would be a lesser mortal.

Rathin also knows Jonathan (now 9), Mary Tirkey his mother, and my friend/companion/ partner ‘Angs’ – Ningamla Lungleng, the Tangkul beauty that she is from Yanangpokpi – Wunghon–Ukhrul in Manipur’s Nagaland.

Yes, it is true, Rathin and I have shared matters of work, leisure, pleasure and heart. I salute and embrace his spirit on the 90th year of his rich eventful life. Even as his spirit resides in my blues and soul. Even as I try to survive in a world I do not understand – a world that has censored the worlds of Jonathan and Pamya, my son and daughter with their Aboriginal antecedents - an Aboriginality that seems to bypass the world’s baldy, grey matter. An originality that Rathin felt and understood… as no other from Doon was able to do.

Calcutta – New DelhiApril 10-12, 2015


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I had not forgotten the way in which I had joined the Doon School as a master. Two days after finishing my graduation, before I had even begun worrying whether to go on with my MA or hunt for a job, I received a telegram from Arthur Foot, Headmaster of the Doon School, which asked if I would come and fill a space left by a master who had left suddenly. Would I come to fill the space? By Jove! Would I! I was on the train the next day. And I was convinced that I had the best year of my life before me. Then after two and a half years at Doon, Foot dropped his bombshell telling me I had been given the sack!

So ended my adventure in the Doon School, and I found myself high and dry in Bombay while it was still called that.

The Newspaper CuttingI’ll have to go back a bit, to early 1946. I was at the station to catch the train for Dehra Dun (I see that the fashion is to call it Dehradun, which to my aged ears sounds wrong, but who am I to object?) when

a close friend of mine, Manohar Hate (pronounced ‘ha-tay’, and don’t you forget it) came rushing up to me, panting – a newspaper cutting in his hand. “Hello, hello!” he shouted. “I have just the thing for you.” The cutting advertised a wonderful job in the International Labour Office, Geneva. I showed as much interest as I could, which wasn’t much. “You know what these jobs are like,” I said. “You run around filling in forms and more forms and then nothing comes of it. Why don’t you take a shot at it? You know French as well. Not many people will have that.”

“I can’t,” he said ruefully. “I haven’t got a first class degree.” Good old Hate. He had just seen the advertisement and came rushing across town, knowing that I was leaving that evening. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than the Doon, but I certainly owed Hate an immense thank you for his kind efforts. “Thanks a lot,” I said. “I’ll think it over.” So Hate left, and I left, and the International Labour Office was duly forgotten. At least Hate got a good job later, with the Reserve Bank of India.

The ILO was hoisted back to memory soon enough however. As mentioned in the previous issue, the School put on a play, ‘Strife’ by Galsworthy, and it was a huge success. The next day was the incident with the chaprasi with the note from Foot about my dismissal.

The scorned newspaper cutting about a very nice job in Geneva was, after much harassed searching, discovered. Yes, we know what these jobs were

Aamir Ali 214 K, 1939

There Comes a Time – IIBack in Bombay

Bodia Camp, Deoband (1941)


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like: filling in forms and more forms and nothing comes of it. Well, we can’t be choosers so let’s send an application I thought. The end of term came and I left, with much gnashing of teeth and – let me confess it – tears as well.

Shortly after my dismissal, a letter came from the ILO asking me to report for an interview in Delhi. Had it come a few days earlier I would have discarded it as being of no interest to me. As things were turning out, things were quite different now. Out with the form again: first class degree; good knowledge of English; knowledge of French; knowledge of the ILO. Well, no one could accuse me of knowing French well, but I had passed the Intermediate exam in it. And what on earth was the ILO?

The ABC of ILOBack to our lessons. Bidhu Jayal, my closest friend told me to read up about the ILO in the Encyclopaedia Britannica in the school library; it was a 1933 edition. This was 1946. The day for the interview approached; it was an overnight journey to Delhi. I was pacing the platform when I noticed another gentleman doing the same. We recognised each other as Doon School material. He was visiting his two boys in school, and they were both in my classes. What luck! ‘Why don’t you come and have dinner with me?’ he asked. “I’ve just been to the ILO Conference in Montreal. I just came to say hello to the boys.”

Wow! First class dinner (I was travelling second class, of course) and full information about the most recent ILO Conference - not the old 1933 one, something that was now one world war old. Mr Haji – for that was the blessed man’s holy name – was not in the least loath to talk about his experiences in the ILO where he had been the Chairman of one of the Committees. I had never listened to anybody else’s reports as closely I did to his.

Next morning three officials interviewed me.

“How fluent are you in French?,” asked one. I said “Fair, but if I were put against a live Frenchman, it would be a very unfair battle.” I was asked about the last conference and I let fly with all the wisdom garnered the previous night. I knew much more than my interrogators, about the recent Conference, anyway.

Alas, nothing had helped. The date for the beginning of the job with the ILO came and went and no word came of it. Good bye, ILO.

The ForumMr Foot had given glowing recommendations of me to Siva Rau - a well known writer - and it certainly helped secure an interview with Mr Alva, editor of ‘Forum’ a political weekly. After a few weeks ‘rest‘, I went, rather timidly, to see Mr Alva. He was rather rough and abrupt, but after a bit of questioning, gave me a ticket to an amateur play, ‘Waiting for Lefty’ later that evening. “Go to this show tonight and give me a review tomorrow. This will count as your probation.”

I was rather stunned, and pleased, to be taken on so quickly. I wanted to discuss terms and things like that; I didn’t want to be steam-rolled. But on second thoughts, I thought, ‘What the hell, let’s give it a try.’ Besides which, Mr Alva had turned to the papers on his desk, and obviously considered the interview finished. I was rather tickled to see that the play was another trade union play like ‘Strife’.

The next morning, I took my beautifully typed review into the ‘Forum’ office and was disappointed that Mr Alva wasn’t there. I put the review on his desk and left. I didn’t know then that I had already seen the last of Mr Alva.

The TrendSo to my next interview, with ‘Trend’ magazine. This was quite a different cup of tea. The editor


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was Frene Talyarkhan, who was quite well-known. Her deputy was Santha Rama Rau, also quite well known, but as a writer. She was about to get married to an American and sail off to the States - hence this search for a successor.

Frene had seen Foot’s letter. She questioned me quite closely and then suggested a month’s probation. “You can begin right away if you like,” she said, indicating a vacant desk. So I did.

My head was in a whirl. A day ago I was an unemployed school master with no prospects. Today, I was a journalist with two offers before me.

I had no hesitation in choosing. I telephoned Mr Alva and had a rather short conversation with him. ‘Trend’ suited me down to the ground. (By the way, Santha took an early opportunity to tell me, with a shudder, that ‘Trend’ did not like clichés; I had better not use that one again!)

After I had been there a couple of months and was feeling quite at home, Frene invited me to lunch - at the Taj, of course. I guessed it was something serious. “I‘m in rather a difficulty,’ she confessed. “I have to go to New York soon. I wonder if I might leave you in charge of ‘Trend’ while I’m away?” Had I misheard her? I was speechless. “Yes,” she said, and more. Much more.

Something to do with a film script. Was she asking

me if I would write a script for her? I would write twenty, for her. Luckily I caught myself in time and came down to Earth. It was she who was going to write the script, not me.

Anyway, the gist of it was that she wanted assurance that I would not run off to some other job while she was away. Foolish woman! She wanted a guarantee for six months. Six months? Why, I was ready to give her one for sixty months!

But would you believe it? No, you wouldn’t. Two days later, there was a small piece in the ‘Times of India’ about a certain Mr Aamir Hassan Ali, who had been appointed by the International Labour Office and would be taking up his duties in Geneva shortly. My first thought was, “Oh my god! What will Frene think? Assuring her that I would stay with ‘Trend’ for ever, and scheming to go off to Geneva!”

Immediately, I shot off a letter to my correspondent in Geneva saying that as they had delayed beyond the given date, I had assumed that I had not been selected. I had taken another job and was committed for at least six months. I then sat biting my nails for Frene to arrive. She arrived. I told her what had happened and assured her again that I had no intention of quitting. I had given her my word. Yes, of course she believed me, but still…

Moving onAnother few days later, enter Mr Tapan Gupta, high-powered journalist from Calcutta. He had previously been interviewed by Frene, but Santha Rama Rau had been selected in his place (I think). Now he was interested in coming to Bombay and was looking for a billet. A journalist of dozens of years standing, it was obvious that he was immensely better qualified than me. It was my turn to seek assurance of a sixty month guarantee!

The solution to this tangle was obvious. There could be only one. And in taking it, I was fully aware of the advantages of the ILO. I did of course

Jumna Canal expedition (1939)


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look on it as a wonderful opportunity. Just a little twinge now and then, that I was not going to become a famous writer - a Pulitzer Prize winner, and…can foreigners win Pulitzers anyway?

The ILO was waiting, still faithful. So I joined on January 1st, 1947, the year of Indian independence. But let me be accurate. I actually joined on January 2nd, as the ILO Financial Services gently pointed out!

----------------------------

Aamir Ali’s racy account of his Doon School days and the turbulent aftermath has been made even racier by the following surprising postscript contributed by P Gopinath (154 H, 1954) in a letter to Nalni D Jayal (100 T, 1943). It reads thus:

It is a story told to me long ago by my father. In 1946 my father was a member of a board set up by the old Federal Public Commission to select Indian nationals for the new UN and the specialized agencies. He was therefore on this panel of three which interviewed candidates shortlisted for the ILO.

Aamir came through with flying colors. However, a few weeks after the interview, the chairman of the panel, Mr Prior - a very senior ICS officer, then

Secretary of Labour in Delhi - told my father that Aamir’s candidature could not be supported by the government of India. No reasons were given. After insisting on more information, he was told that there was an adverse CID report on Aamir. The family had been blacklisted for involvement in Quit India after the arrest of Saad in 1942 - which Aamir mentions. The fact that Aamir had been educated in Japan was a further cause of deep suspicion. Two and two made ten in the mind of the CID.

My father pointed out that whatever the truth or otherwise of these findings, they were of no concern to the ILO whatsoever, and it was the ILO, not the government of India, which would be the employer. Furthermore, Indian independence was around the corner, and this vein was politically unwise and short-sighted. Prior saw the point, but the CID was adamant. Then, they were overruled by Ian Scott, Private Secretary to the Viceroy.

Aamir’s story makes one realize, yet again, how much of life is determined by chance, and how so many of our actions result in unforeseen outcomes. How wise appears the Buddhist insistence on ‘right effort’. For in the end we are left fundamentally with one firm point on which we can stand: the reality of one’s own motivation - nothing else. Not because it is moral, but simply because it is all we can know.

The last School picture taken together with all the boys and masters (1946)


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SCHOOL Shubhojit Chatterjee319 K, 2009


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“There goes Denali!” was the only thought which entered my head as I fell down a mere six feet, slipping on the snow like a novice. Trying to arrest my fall with a ski pole, I was unable to prevent landing heavily on my left ankle. We were on a small excursion in slushy snow on the way down from a temple in Daikund, a couple of thousand feet above our summer home in Dalhousie. The climb on Denali was scheduled to start on June 12th from Talkeetna, Alaska, only eight weeks away. In Delhi I was told that I had suffered grade two tears in my ankle. With a lot of help from my physiotherapist I managed to get the green signal to climb as per schedule. Denali was back on!

Over 24 hours of travel from Delhi, we landed in Anchorage, Alaska and soon found ourselves on a scenic drive towards Talkeetna in Denali National Park, across the beautiful expanses of Alaska. There, we met the rest of our group - two American guides Ben and Peter, our climbing friends Mirza and Samina from Pakistan, and Chris, an American of Korean descent. Sangeeta, my wife, and I were accompanied by our mentor Satyabrata Dam - a veteran of over 350 peaks, which included several ascents of Everest. Denali is the native Athabascan name for Mt Mckinley, the highest peak on the continent of North America. At 20,238 ft, it towers majestically in the

Alaskan range and has a base-to-summit rise of 18,000 ft - the largest in the world. The attempt on Denali was number four on my list of seven summits.

The Americans claimed that Denali was tougher than Everest. While the rest of the world passionately disagrees, we were soon to find out that Denali deserved all the respect of a big mountain and more.

After checking-in at Ranger Station at Talkeetna, we took a breathtaking flight on a ski-fitted plane to base camp at 7,300 ft on the Kahiltna glacier - the start of our climb. Climbing on snow shoes was a new experience for us, but these were imperative to

Ankur Bahl 193 J, 1961

Drama on Denali


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negotiate the glacier. We were roped up in teams of four to protect ourselves in case of a crevasse fall whilst proceeding along the classic West Buttress route. This route is followed by the majority of Denali climbers and takes anywhere between 17 to 21 days, depending on the weather and summit attempts.

Cache and CarryUnlike Himalayan climbs, there is no Sherpa or porter support and all the gear and supplies have to be carried by the climbers themselves. In order to make it easier to move 60-70kg from one camp to the other, climbers have to carry part of the load up the mountain to a higher camp, cache it there and return

to the lower camp, moving back the to the higher camp the next day. This process also helps acclimatize climbers to the terrain. Hence, after several days of ‘carrys’ and ‘moves’ we found ourselves at Camp 3 at an altitude of 14,300 ft after negotiating increasing slopes at Ski Hill, Motorcycle Hill and the famous Windy Corner. Temperatures had dropped to -10° Celsius, but the weather had been kind to us. Barring a couple of days of poor visibility and light snow, we didn’t face any major obstacles. Some days involved 7-10 hours of hard climbing with snow shoes, but we fared well.

At Camp 3 we were rewarded

with a panoramic view of the great Alaskan mountains, including Mt Foraker and

Mt Hunter, and the daunting prospect of climbing the head wall - a 50° slope, assisted by fixed ropes to 16,500 ft.

Near MissAfter a day’s well deserved rest we were treated to fine weather, and after an arduous day on the icy slopes of the headwall we finally reached the cache point. There we basked in phenomenal views of steep drops of 3-8,000 ft on either side of us with the Peters glacier on one side and a bird’s-eye view of Camp 3 on the other. At this point, whilst taking off my backpack I wasn’t facing the steeper side (as per good practice). This led to the backpack sliding toward the

steep abyss of the glacier below. Fortunately, I had secured the backpack to my harness, and

The ridge leading to the summit


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managed to rescue it with my body weight. The year before, a climber had made the same mistake, but his pack was not secured. Instinctively, he lunged after the pack - a fatal error. He plummeted several thousand feet below towards Peters glacier.

The next day, we decided to move to High Camp. It was now day 10 of the expedition. After another hard day on icy slopes on the headwall, we reached the cache point at 16,500 ft in about three hours. We then proceeded along the narrow and exposed ridge overlooking Camp 3, over 3,000 ft below which took a lot of focus because here there would be no second chances if we made a mistake. The views around us along the ridge were both scary because of steep falls on either side, and yet extraordinarily beautiful on this sunny day. At 17,200 ft at High Camp, it was a well-deserved meal full of carbohydrates and a quick dive into our sleeping bags to rest our weary bodies. The plan was to make an attempt on the summit the following day.

Final RunWith 11 days of fairly good climbing conditions, we should have seen what was coming. Four days and nights of extremely foul weather! Gale force winds of 100km per hour forced us to consider giving up the attempt. Supplies were low and our guides said we may have to turn back. But on the fifth morning, the weather broke, the wind died down to about 30km per hour, and we decided to go for it! At 8:30am climbing in the shadow of a slope up the Autobahn to Denali pass, conditions were bitterly cold. The previous days’ heavy snowfall meant we were postholing everywhere (sinking leg or hip-deep into the snow), and soon realized that it was too tough to proceed. The guides of all expeditions decided to shovel a pass all the way to Denali at 19,000 ft! Despite the grand gesture, several climbers began getting dangerously cold. It was about -30°C. Sangeeta’s feet began to get very cold. One climber started suffering frostbite on all his fingers and he turned back. Brave heart

that she is, Sangeeta moved upwards when the passage was cleared. We reached Denali pass a couple of hours later but the cold had taken its toll, and a couple of hundred feet above, Sangeeta could barely feel her toes. Fearful that she would lose them, Sangeeta took the difficult but brave decision to forego the summit.

Any mountaineer will tell you that summiting is not as important as choosing to climb another day when faced with the danger of losing life or limb. She urged me to go on however, in the endeavour of hoisting the Indian tricolor on the summit. After all, we were a team. Satya, our mentor, decided to go with her. Chris the Korean-American also decided to give the summit a miss. The thin air in these latitudes close to the Arctic Circle, due to less air pressure was too much to bear for him. According to experts, Denali on the summit at 20,238 ft feels more like 22,000 ft. So along with our Pakistani friends and our guides, we forged on.

The Autobahn is so called because a slip on its incline can lead to an uncontrollable fall down the mountain. Early in May a German lady climber succumbed to its slipperiness in deteriorating conditions, and died. Denali witnesses up to 12 deaths in a season out of 1000-1200 climbers each year.

En route to the summit of Denali


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We were soon following gentler slopes to reach Archdeacons Tower and then reached a large plateau at 19,400 ft know as the Football Field. After a break we made the final ascent along a moderately steep section known as Pig Hill before we reached the top of the summit ridge from where we could look down the huge 8,000 ft south face with the Cassin Ridge and south buttress in panoramic view. Now there was just 300 ft left to the summit – and it was fraught with danger! With hearts pounding with excitement, we soldiered on. I was overjoyed at raising the Indian flag on yet another peak, this time on Denali, the highest on the North American continent. We could see for hundreds of miles around and had a 360 degree view of the entire Alaskan range, including Mount Hunter and Mount Foraker. We took group photographs with the American, Pakistani and Indian flags side-by-side - a very rare occasion

indeed. But within a few minutes, we had to be on our way down again. 7 hours later, we were back at High Camp, quite exhausted. I was lovingly greeted by Sangeeta with a big hug; stoic about her brave decision to come back early.

What Goes UpWe slept off the exhaustion and hurriedly brought down the camp the next morning as the weather was turning for the worse by the time we set off at midday. Within a few minutes it was snowing with poor visibility and fierce winds. Back along the ridge was like balancing on a knife-edge. Sangeeta slipped on an icy section of the ridge and I just about arrested the team’s fall with a quick self-arrest manoeuvre . Despite the fixed-rope sections of the headwall, cross-winds forced us to slide down the ropes using our hands and arms. Then Sangeeta postholed in the snow. Her leg had become uncontrollably

twisted as she felt a snap and excruciating pain. Something in her knee had given way. She managed to untangle herself but only in Delhi, a few days later, would we discover that she had torn her anterior cruciate ligament. Still she willed herself to camp 3 where the rangers trussed her up in a rescue sled and brought her to Camp 2 and then base camp.

We went down the conventional way, and after descending for over 16 hours with short breaks, we finally reached base camp. What a thrilling, emotional and exhausting trip it had been.

Sangeeta was operated a few days later and recovered fully to stand on top of the summit of Aconcagua at 22,845 ft, six months later! This season saw an uncharacteristically low number of only 37 percent climbers reach the summit. I was fortunate to summit as god, Denali and luck had favoured me on that day of June 28th, 2014.

Climb on!

The ridge from the headwall to the high camp

Ankur at the summit


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35


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A Tribute to Gulab Ramchandani

A Most Uncommon ManDr S GanguliSenior Faculty (1978-2002)

There is something about Doon in October, which older Doscos alone might relate to; the festivity in the air, the colour of fall, the feel of winter approaching and that sense of nostalgia which pushes you down memory lane. October in Dehradun always takes me back to my time at The Doon School, a journey that started when I was 21 years of age as a junior master at the school - when I was no Dhronacharya nor was I Arjun; I was Eklavya!

Those were the days when we saw a corporate man enter the school, in his new role as an academician. Eyebrows were raised, with many doubting his experience. But who could have known that this would be a new chapter

in the history of The Doon School. Mr Gulab Ramchandani’s journey as headmaster with The Doon School dated 1979 to 1988 – a steady, accomplished, beautiful and progressive journey! To be the leading man of such an establishment could not have been a cakewalk, but the art was not just in facing challenges but to overcome them and make the school grow manifold. Such was the man’s charm, simply remembering those days makes my eyes water and my heart pound harder, to feel that passion for excellence in yesteryear, which I see vanishing from the present!His achievements were so many that it is not humanly possible to pen them all down. Suffice it to say, Mr Ramchandani laid foundations on which The Doon School stands tall today. His first endeavour was to make the school financially stable for which he strategized an effective fee structure. His vision was to maximize inflows, and minimize outflows. He formed a corpus where he collected funds from Old Boys; he advocated 100 percent scholarship for 100 percent of his students. However, this never affected the salary structure of the teachers. In fact, it was at this time that a pension scheme was also introduced. Accounting practices became transparent with his in-depth knowledge. Suitable budgets were planned to further improve the infrastructure of the school. To manage the funds of the school, his corporate experience saw the rightsizing of the staff, allocation of potential and talent, best-fit and the optimum utilization of resources.

We saw the school shine in academics like never before. In those days, there were no coaching


37

centres, nor were there international boards. Nevertheless, nothing stopped Doscos from cracking competitive examinations, be it in engineering or medicine. Doscos even made a mark at the leading international universities across our borders.

Mr Gulab Ramchandani was a man of scientific temperament; he rationalized the work load and allocated tasks to teachers with precision and farsightedness. He masterminded the students’ exchange programme. Teachers and students alike went to top international schools for small stints and returned with developed personalities and immense global perspective, to further share their experiences with their peers and colleagues.

The term Human Resource Management was alien at the time, but Mr Ramchandani practiced innovative HR techniques even then. He led a team of stalwart academicians; Mr Gurdial Singh, Mr SL Sharma, Mr OP Malhotra, Mr RN Kunzru, Dr HD Bhatt, Mr Viji Hensman, Mr Francis Fanthome, Mr SK Vohra and many more. He helped us grow personally and professionally, and he grew with us too. Towards holistic value addition, he started the concept of deans and assigned additional responsibilities and authority to a selected few. This in turn imbued in the teachers the zeal to accomplish higher goals and yield greater results. These men of brilliance then stepped out of The Doon School to head prestigious establishments farther afield and contribute to society in greater ways. On that campus of 69 acres we were all part of an extended family; a family held close by Mr Ramchandani.

Co-curricular activities also took a piece of Mr Ramchandani’s attention. He streamlined ‘hobby classes’ into Spare Time Activities (STA). The quota system of social service assumed a more creative nomenclature and function in the name of SUPW (Socially Useful and Productive Work).

Mr Ramchandani then took social service to an international level. Concepts like RSIS (Round Square International) and RSC (Round Square Conference) made the boys of The Doon School, global citizens. In a prescient move in 1980, the School held workshops on environmental science, which generated concern and interest amongst students for preserving our natural ecology. Much later, SUPW and environmental sciences were included in the academic curriculum as compulsory subjects. The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (later the International Award for Young People) was consolidated by Mr Ramchandani on a routine basis and the programme achieved true definition at Doon under his guidance.

Mr Ramchandani was a tough taskmaster yet well-connected with his emotional self. The doors of his office and home were open for one and all, round-the-clock. His administrative skills were fair and transparent. His practices brought students and teachers onto a level platform. He laboured for the School with the highest order of proficiency and earned great goodwill for Doon too!

Be it the rejoicing of mid terms; the mushy mud baths during Holi; the fireworks in the beautiful Doon skies during Diwali; the sense of ownership of one’s tutees; the competitive spirit of the inter-house tournaments; we lived it all and we loved it all!

Mr Ramchandani is incomplete without the mention of Mrs Ratna Ramchandani.

Flag hoisting at Badripur on Independence Day (1981)


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Mrs Ramchandani worked in the background, but equally hard in getting all the families together and inculcating a Doon culture. Right from planning a balanced and nutritive diet for the boys at the CDH (Central Dining Hall) to teaching all the ladies on campus the Ikebana flower arrangement. She worked on everything from the Golden Jubilee and Round Square Conference celebrations, and made them

colourfully grand - to be remembered for a lifetime.

In his farewell speech to us, Mr Ramchandani said “Post my retirement I will grow potatoes in my farm!” I knew that this was not going to be his way ahead. Mr Ramchandani’s journey went well beyond The Doon School and he took the Lamp to many dark corners such that post his tenure, he established many more schools. He has always been an inspiration to so many and I am no exception. There is no end to how much we can learn from his experiences and I am confident that his journey of excellence shall go on and on!

Dr S Ganguli was a chemistry teacher, housemaster and senior master at Doon. Presently he is chief education officer at Aditya Birla Management Corporation in Mumbai.

One of my earliest memories of school is a violent thunderstorm on a Saturday night. I was returning to the house after watching ‘Macbeth’ performed by senior boys in the Rose Bowl. The wind was strong enough to almost blow a small boy off his feet. The rain, thunder, and lightning were fierce accompaniments. I managed to scramble, soaked to the skin, but otherwise unharmed, to the friendly shelter of the house. Other boys trickled in, one by one, each with a tale of adventure in negotiating the storm. The next morning, we found that some electric poles had been blown down; the whole area had been cordoned off, and some small creatures - jackals, snakes, and the like, had been electrocuted to death.

When I joined school in 1943, I was sent to Holding House for a term. It was a big, thatched building

across the road outside School and was presided over by Mr WL Clough - a kindly, understanding man, whose idea of punishment was to make offenders lie down on the grass beside his chair, while he sat there working out chess problems. Riot Riot!Saturday nights were given over to entertainment. Mainly this consisted of silent black-and–white movies shown on a small screen by members of the Film Society. This, on one occasion, gave rise to a riot. Normally, these films were screened in the Assembly Hall. On this evening, however, something went wrong with the power system in the venue, and the programme was shifted to the biology class room. Again, for some reason, another change was imminent, and back it was to the Assembly Hall. Confused by all this, and, no doubt, delighted with

Sugato Chaudhuri107 J, 1947

Many Masters, Many Memories


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the opportunity to create a disturbance, many boys started going one way. Another group went in the other while all started shouting “Forward!” or “Back! Back!” at the top of their lungs. Prefects failed to control the mob, and it took the intervention of the headmaster to control the situation. Still, it took him several minutes to achieve order. It might have taken a lesser man, many times as long.

Another time, a strong man exhibition was followed by the performer chewing a live snake. He then offered to distribute herbs and roots to cure snake bite, and, at this juncture the majority of the audience rushed the stage. An imminent riot was controlled by the prefects and masters present. Service to MankindA word about our headmaster, Mr Arthur Edward Foot. He stood head and shoulders above the rest of the staff, who, themselves were men of considerable eminence. Mr Foot could impose discipline by sheer force of personality, without recourse to threats and punishments. On the other hand, he had a rare understanding of human nature and of boys in particular. In fact, on one occasion, he supported me against a master when he felt I had the right of it. Service to society was one of his leading principles, and the idea of helping others, especially those not as fortunate as ourselves, was strongly instilled in us. Quite aside from the weekly sessions of labour work, where we worked physically on many tasks for the benefit of the whole school, Mr Foot would organize an expedition of boys during the holidays to some disaster–stricken area to render assistance there. I

went on one such trip. Aside from being spiritually and mentally satisfying, it was very educational, and highly enjoyable. We helped to build

mud and thatch houses, took trips on country barges which were worked by oars and long bamboo poles through flood waters. At different locations we ate the same food as the local people, got to know them and earned their confidence. All this made a great and lasting impression on me. Mr RL Holdsworth or Holdy was, despite his exceptional prowess and achievements – or perhaps because of them – an extremely modest man. A dedicated and inspiring teacher, he would sometimes depart from his subject on a tangent, and speak on something he considered important. Once, during a history class, he walked up to the blackboard and chalked the word “Happyness” (sic). Throughout that school, he spoke on the subject, leaving us with a great deal to think about. To write about all the interesting things that happened during my stay in school would fill volumes. I can only say we had a very full and useful time, and were extremely fortunate to have had such a galaxy of brilliant and dedicated people to guide us. The Cruelty of IndependenceIt would make this story incomplete, however, to miss two momentous events. Independence came with terrible birth pangs. It was the year of our School Certificate exams. Many of us, including myself, started out for school, and half-way there, the train had to be stopped. We were sent back home, only to return to School after a few days, or even weeks. Many of our friends from the other side of the border did not come back to School at all. The other event was the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi - an event that shocked the whole world. At School, there was an air of bereavement; a deep and desperate sense of loss. Mr Martyn, who was then officiating as headmaster, assembled the entire school in a beautiful tree-covered copse nearby, and spoke to us solemnly. By the end of his talk, I don’t think there was anybody among us who did not feel a powerful emotion; one of healing.Scouts, Raiwala (1945)


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The Sheel Vohra Memorial CRICKET MATCH 2015 Donny Singh878 T, 1982

The inaugural Sheel Vohra Memorial Cricket match was jointly hosted by the Doon School and the DSOBS at the ACA Ground, Dehradun on April 17th, 2015. Since the earlier day-night match in April, and this being a popular event with the School and Old Boys, it was decided to make this an annual fixture. It was only befitting that it be named in the memory of Mr Sheel Vohra or Bond as we all knew him. An institution by himself, Bond connected with every Dosco past and present.

The DSOBS fielded a strong team, rich in both experience and youth. We started on a brisk note. Young Arjun Khanna (95 off 40) played powerful strokes to all parts of the ground. He was ably

supported by Adhiraj Singh who scored a run a ball (33). At one stage it looked as if the OBs would get to a score well over 250. However, once the openers got out, the School team pulled back our scoring rate. A late flourish by Raghav Mallik (46 n/o) and Arayaman Sengar got the score up to 217 in the allotted 25 overs.

The School team opened their batting with captain, Akhil Ranjan and Udaiveer Jaijee. They were up against the formidable OBs bowling attack of Rohan Gupta, Asheet Lanba and Rishab Saklani. The School slowly but surely pushed the scoring rate and were more severe on the spinners Donny Singh, Pratyush Vaishnav and Raghav Mallik. Ashwin

The victorious DSOBS Cricket Team with the HM


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Agarwal (42) and Angad Shergil (48 n/o) played good knocks. Arjun Midha chipped in with a wicket. In spite of a spirited batting display, the School came up short. The Old Boys won by 41 runs.

The Most Valuable Player awards were sponsored by members of Mr Vohra’s family, Manu and Anuj Vohra. The MVP for the OBs was Arjun Khanna and for the School team it was Akhil Ranjan. All

in all it was a great event, and we look forward to making it bigger and grander in the years to come.

DSOBS: 217 for 4 in 25 overs; Arjun Khanna 95; Raghav Mallik 46*; Adhiraj Singh 33; Aryaman Panwar, Akhil Ranjan & Vikshit Varma got a wicket each

Doon School: 176 for 4 in 25 overs; Akhil Ranjan 51; Angad Shergil 48*; Ashwin Agarwal 42; P. Vaishnav and Arjun Midha got one wicket each.

The Doon School Cricket Team with the HM

MVP Arjun Khanna gets rewarded for his fine performance

The Sheel Vohra Memorial – Old Boys’ Inter House Cricket 2015

Now sharing its name with the annual School v DSOBS fixture, the 14th edition of the Sheel Vohra DSOBS Inter-House Cricket was held in March

this year. Mr Anang ‘Cupid’ Uday Singh Deo (42 T, 1962), Rajya Sabha MP, graced the occasion as chief guest. This year also marked the emergence of Oberoi House (incidentally celebrating their 25th anniversary as well) by qualifying for the main draw by defeating Hyderabad house in the playoffs.

Match 1: Tata vs JaipurThe five-time defending champions, Tata took on Jaipur in the first match. On electing to bat first, Tata rattled up a substantial total of 171 for 2 in their allotted 20 overs. There were sizeable contributions from Aryaman Sengar (50 retd.), Rishabh Saklani (38 n/o) and Dilsher Khanna (37).

The Champions – Tata House team receiving the Trophy from Mr. Anang Uday Singh Deo (1962)

Donny Singh878 T, 1982


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The wickets were shared between Abhishek Misra and Samridh Agarwal.

The Jaipur batsmen found the total beyond their reach, folding up at 114, all-out. Their mainstays were Abhishek ‘Boozy’ Misra (25), Uday Bawa (20) and Shrivats Chandra (14). The star bowler was Donny Singh with his customary slow variety off-spin bagging 3 for 11, ably supported by Gurshant, Tanveer and Captain Sandeep Arora. It was a comprehensive victory for Tata by 57 runs.

Match 2: Kashmir vs OberoiThis match was a thriller and went right down to the wire, with Kashmir holding their nerve and prevailing in the last over. Batting first, Oberoi put up a challenging total of 149 for 9 in their 20 overs. The man of the match – Adhiraj Singh, scored a well-made 66, supported by Franko (22) and Rohit Rana (14). The Kashmir bowling stars were Chirag Nangia 3 for 29, the new spearhead Sanjeev Ratna Singh 3 for 38, with Raghav Mallik, Saarthak Gupta and Manas taking 1 wicket each.

The Kashmir reply was measured, which helped them get over the line in the end. The batting effort was led by Sandeep Vij (36), Shashi Vaish (28), Saarthak Gupta (24 n/o), and Raghav Mallik (21). The Oberoi bowlers almost pulled it off. Adhiraj Singh was the star once again with 3 for 24. Franko

and Rishab got 1 wicket each. Kashmir won by four wickets to take on Tata in the final.

Final: Tata vs Kashmir For the second year running Tata and Kashmir crossed swords in the final. On being put in to bat, the Kashmir openers Raghav Mallik and Shashvat Sikroria put on a brisk stand, with both going on to score their individual 50s. In fact they were 100 for no wicket at one stage. However, their batsmen to follow were unable get on top of Tata’s bowling, finishing at an average total of 132 for 2 in 20 overs. The wickets were shared by Gurshant and Donny at one a piece.

The Tata reply turned out to be nerve-wracking as their batsmen kept getting out at regular intervals. It was left to the last batsman Raghav Kothiwal to hit the winning runs with two balls to spare. Kashmir’s bowling was spearheaded by Sanjeev Ratna Singh (3 for 16), ably supported by Raghav Mallik (2 for 24), with Chirag, Manas and Shashi getting a wicket a piece. Ajmani, Gurshant, Sengar and Donny got the runs for Tata. Tata won by 1 wicket in 19.4 overs.

S C O R E C A R D

Kashmir: 132 for 2 in 20 overs; Raghav Mallik 50 retd.; Shashvat Sikroria 50 retd.; Gurshant Singh 1 for 29 and Donny Singh 1 for 32.

Tata: 134 for 9 in 19.4 overs; Aditya Ajmani 27; Gurshant 21; Aryaman Sengar 20; Donny 16; Sanjeev Ratna Singh 3 for 16; Raghav Mallik 2 for 24; Shashi 1 for 7; Chirag Nangia 1 for 26 and Manas 1 for 28.

Tata emerged as the champions for the fourth year running and for the sixth time since the trophy began in 2001.

The Runners Up – Kashmir House


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These letters were from the first headmaster of Doon, AE Foot, to his mother in England. It was a correspondence which continued every week from the day he arrived in India to when he resigned his post in 1948. He then returned to England to found and head Ottershaw School in Surrey, England which is now a residential estate. This is part of a collection of letters, spread over 13 years, that detail the birth of India’s greatest Public School.

This particular letter is written just days after The Doon School opened in 1935. The Tuck Shop, too, has just opened and Mr Foot’s wife, Sylvia decides to help the boys serve at its counter. She is also mentioned playing hockey with the boys, wearing shorts, which causes much consternation within the English community in Dehradun.

Rahul Kohli81 J, 1975

B I R T H O F T H E T U C K S H O P


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1940s

Wrigley’sHadi Akbar ‘Safavi’ (1947)

I haven’t much to say regarding the school Tuck Shop as you ask, except that the banking system I was introduced to through this has served me well. And if ever I was denied something for the

excuse of lack of money, I never uttered to my father (like my children unknowingly said to me, when young) “Why don’t you go to the bank and get the money?”

My pocket money at the time was seven rupees per month and a cheque produced one anna coupons in lieu of cash. The rupee comprised 16 annas before its conversion to the decimal system

Grubbo, tuck, maal – whatever you called it, its appeal in Chandbagh is legion. We asked Old Boys old and new to write in with their memories of the good stuff – from Sunday outings to nefarious late night, extra-curricular activities and the unfairly extorted spoils from helpless juniors… this is Tuck Diaries through the ages of Doon.

T U C K D I A R I E S

“ I ’m your best fr iend ti l l your tuck ends.” Anonymous, probably a Dosco


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in 1957. The Tuck Shop used generally to have candies and the post war-time prized, Wrigley’s chewing gum and such. I don’t think there was much there from local bakeries.

The food was good; definitely better than that at Welham Boys, my previous school. The Dame was punctilious and lunch was announced there by way of the PT gong which Jaipur House had won the previous year. Though attached to Jaipur, I was housed at the so-called holding house across the road from the rest of the school where Surinder Kandhari was one of my 15 room-mates despite being a term senior at Welham. Upon headmaster AE Foot’s departure, I understand Foot House became the new holding house.

Tuck ShareSaroj K Mehera (122 K, 1944)

In the 1940s in Kashmir House, all tuck from home had to be handed over to the Dame, (as in chocolate, chewing gum, peanuts, chips) who would have it distributed, at tea-time, to all the boys. In Jaipur House, at that time, a description of how his tuck was handled, was given by Mohd Afzal Khan (17 J, 1944) in a Rose Bowl article on his visit to Delhi in February 2014. Pocket money was five rupees per month, increased to eight in the mid-40s. We had cheque books to draw coupons which functioned as cash in the tuck shop. Wrigley’s chewing gum was a favourite buy, costing a few annas. Soft fizzy drinks like Vimto (resembled Coke) and lemonade were periodically available in the Common Room, also against coupons. On Saturday nights, prefects and monitors had dinner parties at each others’ Houses in turn - the Common Room being the

venue. The Dame arranged the meals. There was no Central Dining Hall in those days and all meals were cooked and consumed in House dining-rooms. After dinner on Saturday nights, which the Housemasters attended, boys were asked to sing or tell jokes. In Kashmir House, an imitation of Headmaster AE Foot by Hari Kant Pande (201 K, 1940), was a favourite. Housemaster Jack Gibson would sing his Yorkshire ditties.

1950s

Mrs Dhawal’s many sonsAskari Imam (68 T, 1959)

As we all know, in the 1950s there was no common dining hall. Each house had its own kitchen, its own menu - and the person in charge of the kitchen and our gastronomical fate was the Matron.In my time 1953 - 59 we had, in Tata House, a rapid change of matrons, which meant many ups and downs. Most of the matrons, barring one, were indifferent to our famished selves, and not a single one of us looked forward to our meals.

Among us, there was good reason for comparison. The worst was Tata House. Kashmir House was only slightly better. Jaipur House was kind of acceptable. But by far the best, without question, was Mrs Dhawal who treated each boy in Hyderabad House like her son. I used to frequently steal into her kitchen and raid her pantry. She saw me doing this many a time but raised no objection at all, bless her. She said she could quite understand.

The only meals the less fortunate of us looked


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forward to were the feasts which were in celebration of the house winning a sports trophy. Spaghetti and meat balls was a favourite combo at these. And some of us desperate types would fill fistfuls of it in our blazer pockets to stuff ourselves again at midnight. I recall once overdoing this and you can guess, I threw up.

So far as tuck is concerned there was very little choice as the Import Control Order of 1956 had banned the import of chocolates, sweets and other such goodies. We had a choice between Cadbury’s chocolates and Sathe’s, and though the latter were decidedly less inviting, we often had to tolerate them.

The Tuck Shop was run by two brothers Anand Bahadur and Jung Bahadur and the one thing they made well was pastry. As a result, I was always out of pocket money. I was forever hungry - thanks to Tata House food.

Vignettes

Lalit Nirula (142 K, 1959)The most gruesome event I can remember when having a meal was when I saw Cottonwool Sardar filling his blazer pockets with spaghetti and meat balls at a K-House feast, while also filling his plate. He was apparently looking forward to a late night snack.

The most amazing feat of dexterity I have seen in the food service business was when our Kashmir house bearer, Ismail, would carry seven plates of kheer in his hands (and arms) for service on the table he looked after, without spilling a drop.

Dilsher Virk (140 K, 1959)Ismail Khan, the head Bearer in K house had a jump on modern technology. He had mastered the art of applying butter in nanoparticles on toast. Nobody could stretch butter like Ismail Khan.

Kashmir House Dining Room



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Arun Singh (207 K, 1960)On feast days Kalam Singh (Holdie’s cook on Kamet) produced excellent spaghetti Bolognese and quite literally the very best ever mille feuille pudding! As far as I remember, the guys from other houses tried always to muscle in on our feasts.

1960s

An Oberoi in Tata HouseAnil Kumar Dhar (359 T, 1969)

At the start of term you brought as much tuck as you liked and the best option was to keep it with the Dame. She had a special tuck cupboard to store it in. Our Dame was Mrs Oberoi and she didn’t force us to share our tuck collectively. There was great rivalry and debate over which house had the best Dame (ie food). This was judged by boys grading the food amongst themselves. The food received each day as well as the special dishes received at house feasts were up for consideration.

At breakfast, we loved it when we got white bread instead of boring brown, which was the norm. Suji porridge was my favourite, which I ate without milk. In puddings we got bread pudding, ice cream, peanut brittle, and if we were lucky, trifle pudding. I hated caramel custard and it was the most common, naturally.

The fun of having our own dining room was that the bonding between boys at meal times was tremendous. Plus, when you joined School and went from holding or Foot house to the main house, you had to stand on a chair at dinner time and sing a song!

The other advantage of having our own dining

hall was that every time we won a trophy we were treated to a feast with lots of yummy food, the best of which was heaps of trifle pudding and home-madeice cream. The best was banana ice cream.

H-house was reputed to have the best food. Another fact from yesteryears was that we could use our cheque books to buy LPs at Pratap Music House at Astley Hall, one shop down from Napoli.

On outings, we would of course visit Kwality’s, Napoli and in Suicide Alley, we got great dosas and coffee at Madras Coffee House. Favoured items on the menu at ‘Naps’ were of course the club sandwich with chips followed by chocolate cake with ice cream. The price for each was not more than five rupees.

The best thing in school tuck shop to my mind was chooran sweets - mind blowing. And a large slab of Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut chocolate, which cost Rs 1.50.

1970s

Mrs DhawalJayant Sahai (36 H, 1970)

Mrs Dhawal devoted her entire life to school after her son passed away. She showered all



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her affection on us, taking special care of all our needs. The H-house kitchen provided food to the hospital and the HM due to its proximity to both of them. I think it was her attention to the smallest of details and her ability to create something extraordinary out of what she had, that made her special. We had eight dining tables and besides the evening dessert she was able to churn out a dish of banana and cream for one table each evening. This came from the extra milk and wasted bananas from each day’s meals! Truthfully, we didn’t have to wait for a house feast to get something special. Everyday there was something new. H house food was legendary!

Bulletproof ChapatisGautam Thapar (200 H, 1979)

In my time, the favoured stuff was condensed milk and Threptin biscuits. Grub was so bad! Busting was a rite of passage if you had any pretentions of being a ‘hera man’! A lot of it had to do with food. ‘Bull’ specials had very much been discovered and some of the dhabas near the Bindal bridge were made very conversant, with busting bound scenes of a back room, bull and Thums Up!

The easiest places to bust bounds were Tata house and Jaipur House for obvious reasons. Hyderabad and Kashmir were tricky because the housemaster could stand in the shadows on Main Field, and observe everything that went on!

Honestly, food was awful! Chapatis were bullet proof and meat curry had no meat. Breakfast was the best meal as far as I was concerned.

Sharing some of these anecdotes is a great way of bridging the years. One of the reasons we are such a close-knit community is the fact that there are shared experiences across generations. Some of it must be left to words amongst the boys. Every batch in school must have their ‘hera men’, who become legends for reasons that defy logic. After all, boys will be boys.

1980s

Sweet RevengeManmant Singh Sethi (87 T, 1983)

When I joined school in D form, Doon was still very much the old-mould British-style public school. We were treated as legitimate targets for bullying of all description. There were several seniors whose favourite pastime was to hang around the housemaster’s study on junior tuck shop days, when we could withdraw four rupees to have a dosa or a Thums Up. More often than not, we would be ordered by our seniors to bring a patty, or a pastry to them, essentially reducing our purses by half. This, coupled with receiving morning rounds and extra PTs for no real infractions was a serious impact on our junior lives at the time. Rounds we didn’t mind, but tuck robbery was out of the question!

There were those in the house who were made of sterner stuff. They decided to retaliate. One boy and his friend found themselves at Paltan bazaar. From a hakeem, they acquired an Ayurvedic



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laxative. The next day, in the chemistry lab, they used a pestle and mortar and ground the medicine to a fine powder. Sure enough, at the next tuck shop, a senior asked the boys to buy pastries for him. The pastries acquired (pineapple no less) the boys stopped at the Rose Bowl and sprinkled some of the powder in between the layers of the pastry. Within minutes of eating the ‘free’ pastry, the errant senior ran to the loo twice and then raced to the hospital, taking us with him. He barely made it to the loo there without browning his shorts!

We called the sister and informed her of the new patient while he was still in the loo. The fellow had to be admitted for a few days, much of his time spent on the dreaded ‘liquid diet’. All of us pretended to be in gastric distress that week so as not to arouse suspicion. He never did find out.

Subsequently, the senior and his friends did continue to ask us to buy grub for them, but only occasionally. And anyway, we didn’t mind as we had gotten some semblance of revenge.

1990s

Yuck TuckGovind Dhar (192 T, 1997)

There’s tuck, and then there’s foods no sane person would ever touch, given the choice. I’ve heard horror stories about castor oil administered to boys at Doon back in the day. From most accounts, they all promptly threw up. When I think of castor oil, I think of Chyavanpraash. Yes I’m sure it’s very healthy and all that, but any child who has eaten the stuff and liked it on the first

go, is indeed very special. I couldn’t understand then why anyone would want to consume castor oil or Chyavanprash, unless it was out of some dire health requirement or indeed, punishment. Consider this Wikipedia description:

‘Chyawanaprash tastes sweet and sour at the same time. The taste is largely dominated by the flavours of honey, ghee and triphala, and the smell by ghee and other spices including sandalwood, cinnamon and cardamom. Its appearance resembles semi-molten tar - a thick dark brown paste.’

Hardly the stuff of advertising legend.

In trying to prepare my brother and I for the food at Doon in the 1990s, my mother had sought advice that we would have to eat Chyavanprash and porridge. Thankfully, we were given a pretty yummy porridge at school in my day. Unfortunately, being in Dubai, my mother managed only to get hold of some Quaker’s oats and would have them boiled to a consistency that was not unlike an unholy mess of lumpy, stringy snot. That, coupled with the sweet smell of boiled milk nearly put me off both for life.

As luck would have it, I arrived at Chandbagh armed with Kits Kats, Vicks drops and Lion bars



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for my sustenance. Chyavanprash and snotty porridge were soon forgotten.

However, a couple of years later in C-form, whilst attached to that Bladerunner-set of a dormitory, The Cage in Tata House, a friend and I went on the prowl for food. We’d become accustomed to the crazed Chandbagh hunger and had ably attained the Dosco stripe of becoming beggars, not choosers when it came to nourishment. On gingerly negotiating a batchmate’s briefcase (sorry Mehul!) there amongst talcum powder, a comb and a spectacles case, we found a medium-sized bottle of Chyavanprash. It was in every sense the perfect comeuppance for ‘borrowing’ someone else’s food. I cursed the damn thing and after considering my odds, unscrewed the cap and took a good hunk of the stuff out with my fingers. We pretty much scraped every last smudge of the molten tar till there was only the bottle and the top left to eat, if we so wished.

It was the first time in my life that hunger would force me into eating, and liking, something that I thought vile. After Doon, I can pretty much eat anything, considering the circumstances. It is perhaps no wonder that I have spent most of my career in the pursuit of some of the best food in the world. Apropos, get it while it’s good. You never know when Chyavanprash will be on the menu.

The second offending article I learned to love was Marmite. Again, this was at boarding school in England, years later, when that and a loaf of bread were all to be found in the rooms. So much for progress.

And Mehul, IOU a bottle of Chyavanprash, with interest buddy.

2000s

An Apple a DayAbhimanyu Singh (229 H, 2003)

There was a fairly serious ban on tuck by the time we reached A-form so most of our senior years were spent without it. But during our junior years, Top Ramen or ‘Topi’ was the in-thing and I distinctly remember Aditya Agarwal from the 1999 batch used to always have a trunk full of Topi. Then there was one of my batchmates Akhil Jain who would get six apples for six days of the week from his local guardian. The funny thing was that he would hide these apples in his white trousers - tying one leg around the other to close the opening - and would hang them in the changing room with the rest of the clothes to avoid getting caught with them!

2010s

Food TraffickingRitvik Kar (689 K, 2015)

Hunger. That’s something that every Dosco, both past and present, can take a huge amount of pride in. Our thirst for knowledge is often overthrown by out thirst for Chotta Hazri or our never-ending search



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for the perfect butter chicken (although who am I kidding, we’d eat it anyway)! Food has always been something that all of us can relate to no matter what year we’ve graduated. At the core of this never ending hunger is it’s never-failing solution: tuck.

For something that isn’t exactly allowed into campus, a lot of tuck ‘finds its way’ into our lockers. And despite the best efforts of so many, Doscos find a way to work around the system. The most obvious time to get food onto campus is the beginning of term. With about 500 people moving in and out of campus the entire day, getting a bag filled with Maggi, Wai Wai, Tang or Nestea Iced Tea isn’t too difficult. The process becomes a bit more complicated once the term begins.

Once the bags start getting checked at the gates, getting food in isn’t as simple. Doscos then have resorted to more subtle methods. For instance, if we’re in winter uniform, the blazer pockets are deep enough to fit in about four kathis and for those more ambitious about this, making holes in the pockets and hiding food in the blazer-lining isn’t too bad an idea. The trouser pockets are also very useful containers for smaller items like the 10-rupee Dairy Milk bars. For those of us who aren’t satisfied with that much space, hiding food in our socks is also a possibility, although in retrospect that really wasn’t the best of ideas.

The summer uniform is a trickier deal. Without the luxurious space of our blazer pockets, we’re left with much less space to store our beloved tuck. Hiding food inside our shirt is definitely an option but it isn’t as easy because it needs to be camouflaged really well without having anything awkwardly hanging out. All this works on a small scale, but what about getting in a larger scale of food?

Well, most options involve getting food in through a third party. Throwing a bag of chocolates, toffees, McDonald burgers, Bun Tikkis, over the wall seems like a good option. But this trick has to be extremely well timed and coordinated. You do not want the bag falling into a master’s garden or in front of a guard. Getting a form-mate to wait on the other side and to have them skilfully move out of the drop zone after receiving the package is crucial. Another way is when visitors come in with their cars. Leaving bags of food on the floor or boot of a car is very simple and extremely effective. We just have to make sure that the guards can’t see it from outside! Knowing a guard or two at each gate is definitely a useful resource. Even if they don’t let you take a cricket bag filled with food in, they’ll let a couple of burgers or toffees pass.

Tuck to this day has a huge significance in our lives. Be it making deals to get someone to do your work or wagering entire-term dessert shares on a bet, tuck is still a major part of the barter system at Doon. It makes us closer and gives us the ability to share, some more than others, and understand the hardship of eating bulletproof rotis eight months a year.

Sponsored by: Every tuck shop in Astley Hall, Ellora’s bakery, Dwarka Store, Bengali Sweet Shop, Subway, McDonalds, KFC, Pacific Mall, Easyday, Chocolate Corner, Kolkata Lazeez and every food vendor in Dehradun who has kept Doscos alive for so many years!



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Hog, bhukkad, glutton, dog… Just some of the names that Doscos are called, mostly endearingly, when the subject under discussion is our insatiable appetites! We happily plead guilty to this charge. Those who don’t are plainly in denial. I remember when I joined Doon as a ‘khate-pite ghar ka’ lad, I was aghast at the crumbs that would remain once I’d ‘served’ my table in that hallowed and simultaneously hated, CDH. Our lives thus became an endless pursuit of happiness – or foodfillment!

Above all else: making the house team for soccer, getting that distinction in report card,

playing on the school squash team, even dancing with that seemingly ethereal Welhamite at Socials – it was a quest for food that governed us boys. We thought, contrary to popular belief, not from our ‘nether’ regions, but from our stomachs! We actually didn’t think at all. Or rather, thought only of one thing, food! There was no mindspace for anything else. We would come up with the most ingenious ways of stealing, hiding, preserving & rationing food. From stealing bread and bringing it back to the house from the CDH, to hiding blobs of laddoos and fudge in shockingly unsanitary places including and not restricted to one’s socks to prevent it from peers & seniors alike; we did it all. Boxes of pizzas smuggled in surreptitiously through law-breaking but ward-loving parents were demolished like time-lapse ant-attack videos on the National Geographic channel! This one time, my father, a willing accessory to the tuck-trade crime, sneaked in copious amounts of that

Doon school staple-stash, Butter Chicken; the Meth to every Dosco’s pining palate; and Mr Gursharan Singh’s pet Dachshund sniffed the contraband out, leaving my poor dad no choice but to make a dash for it! It was the only time I’ve seen someone do the 100 meters in a pinstripe suit!

Suffice it to say, our Dosco dreams are the stuff that’s made of royal feasts and orgies of multiple cuisines. A distant second, is women once one is officially released from same-sex captivity. And what really makes a Dosco an over-achiever is if he can find a beautiful woman who can deliver the most perfect meal as well. I know Dosco wives who cook exceptionally well, and I suspect it’s no coincidence! I know it certainly isn’t in my case! My wife Anuja was always fond of cooking, but was no die-hard foodie like me. Through consistent brainwashing, I have made her a complete food-fiend. Now we both obsess over food. She churns out yummy feasts; from desserts to savouries, Chinese to Mongolian, Italian to Korean. She even maintains a mouth-watering blog on the subject. And as we are winding down one meal, we are in serious talks about the next one’s menu! Needless to mention, I have attained my foodfillment!

Having worked in advertising, film and TV for 10 years in Mumbai, Kartik is back in his hometown of Jaipur. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Anuja’s food blog at butterpeppergarlic.wordpress.com.

FOODFILLMENTKartik Bajoria 311 O, 1998


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H O T S E A T

We call up some former masters in assembly and ask them a few questions at break time.

Mr Mason was HM of Doon from 1996-2003 and after many years of being a leading educationist in India and the Middle East, resides in Dehradun.

Q. What were your first impressions of Doon when you got there?

Chairman, Mr Mumtaz Ahmed, arranged for an informal meeting with members of the IPSS in Delhi, shortly after I joined. I was to share my first impressions of School. Unfortunately, two nights earlier, a godown at School had burnt down and with it, a recently donated Eicher tractor. An electrical short circuit had caused the fire. So, when I met the IPSS empathy levels were low and a few voices were raised.

My first impression of the boys was how wonderfully at home they were at school, though I was a little taken aback by their outspokenness. You, Govind, as editor of The Weekly, announced my arrival theatrically with the words, ‘The eagle has landed!’ a reference which I realised referred to the physical appearance of the bird rather than its grace and nobility. (Surely all of that too was implied! – Ed.)

Another odd thing was that frequently when I asked a boy a question he’d cock his head and say, ‘Sir?’ inviting me to repeat myself. This endemic weakness puzzled me at first till I realised it was

a device to gain time to compose an appropriate answer.

Q. What was the trickiest thing about balancing running of school and keeping cantankerous Old Boys at bay?

Of cantankerous Old Boys, there was hardly one. But I heard a constant rumbling in the distance about things I did or didn’t do. One sensitive area was ‘busting’, seen by many as a legitimate rite of passage; a sentiment I failed to indulge for fear of some young adventurer being kidnapped in the middle of the night.

Q. To what length will Doscos go for food?

The ant community has a system of scouts who signal the presence of food for the tribe. So do Doscos at School! I’d ordered a rather lavish tea, in the triangular park, for an evening event that was poorly attended. While regarding with dismay the mountain of goodies remaining, I saw a young fellow in games kit, loitering with intent. ‘Bring some boys to finish this food’, I said and he sped off, shortly to be accompanied by half his House. They started at one end of the table and ate their way steadily to the other end, leaving nothing!

Q. What moment from your time at School typifies the Dosco character?

I’d been watching the PT competition for some years and felt it could get a fillip if backed up with martial music. Jayant Lal and I broached the idea with the House PT captains who listened stone-faced and did nothing. The only sign I got of how the boys felt about the idea was when,

John A Mason

JOHN MASON


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after the Display, the School PT captain expressed satisfaction in his address that the competition had not changed its character!

Q. What do you remember of our beloved ‘Bond’?

Sheel didn’t fuss. Once he mentioned he was attending the wedding of an Old Boy on Saturday night in Delhi. He was on Main Field cricket pitch at 10.00am on Sunday, having returned on the overnight bus!

Q. Have you noticed much change at School?

I’m normally at School every Founder’s but don’t have any insights into the young Dosco in his natural element. Music and drama are as brilliant as ever. The Weekly’s not cheeky but Board results are excellent. Well-designed buildings have sprung up but I miss the old Martyn, Foot and Headmaster’s house, even though they weren’t comfortable to live in.

Q. What’s the biggest challenge to education in India?

The availability of teachers who can inspire and motivate.

Q. Do you think Doon could work as a co-ed school?

Yes. The masters’ daughters almost invariably flourished at the School, and that too when they were in a minority. A sizeable presence of girls

would raise the index of achievement at all levels. It would also bring balance and perspective in an aggressively male domain.

Q. Did you ever consider it necessary to get wound up in the legend of former HMs like Foot and Martyn?

No. But I have a high regard for both as they defined and set the ethos and values of the school, as they pertain even today.

Q. What was your favourite season at Doon?

Autumn, after the rain, between late September and mid-November when the light softens and the campus is in many hues. The heroics of football are in full cry and the Founder’s play is under production in the Rose Bowl. Mid-term in October is followed by Founder’s Day and its attendant celebrations and observances and crowds of parents. And then, ‘the silence surges softly backwards’, as the campus is reclaimed by its own.

Q. What was your favourite meal at school?

Sambhar-chawal, and the papads were great. Nobody made it better.

Q. What did you make of that horrid green and red roohafza we got served at lunch?

Can’t remember the roohafza. Must have been pre-Mason!


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You say hog, we say gourmand. For Doscos, it’s a wonder most don’t pursue food for a living considering they’ve pursued it all through their school days. Here’s a snapshot of some of our boys in blue who do what they do best - food.

AmiciAndrea Aftab Pauro210 T, 1996

Growing up, I had the fortune of having parents who loved to travel - not to Disney World, but to remote islands, ancient cities and throbbing centres of humanity! I learned always to discuss the local food with locals before deciding what and where to eat, learning to appreciate their food just the way they like it and not adapting it to my tastes. I knew from the start that if I wanted to earn a buck and enjoy doing it, I would have to become a restaurateur!

In 2006 after completing my studies in Hotel Management in the US and Switzerland and working all over the place in hotels and restaurants, I opened my first restaurant in Delhi. It was christened Baci and its mission was to introduce Delhi to real Italian food. Through my experiences at Baci, I came up with the idea for my next venture - Amici (‘friends’ in Italian). Amici is a concept that revolves around wood-fired Pizza and other fun Italian food.

What I love most about the food business is the creative aspect, designing new dishes that my travels have inspired. It’s by far the most rewarding side of a business that’s mostly stressful and tiring.

My favourite product from my company is the Pepe pizza, which has fresh mozzarella, Italian tomato sauce, Parma ham, rocket and parmesan flakes.

Tuck shop was great, but my tuck shop was just outside School and it made the best bulls in the universe. I’d always order with extra butter! Of course there was no money exchanged as he was a friend and thus I don’t think I was breaking any rules. Tuck shop should be scrapped and replaced with an Amici Café. Haha.

My top places to eat are Rome - Due Ladroni, Nino’s, Da Francesco and Il Caminetto. Florence - Da Mario. Bangkok - Thon Krueng, BoLan, Doody,

D O S C O S I N F O O D


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Water Library, and Opus. Dubai - Em Shariff, Coya and Zaroob.

Baker’s Circlewww.bakerscircle.co.in

Dev Lall185 K, 1990

I’m the managing director of Baker’s Circle.

What I love most about the food business is its constant challenges and the immense amount of creative juices that get flowing in dealing with assorted tastes.

My favourite product from my company is my frozen dough line.

My favourite things to eat at Tuck Shop were ice cream, and noodles.

My top places to eat are Indian Accent

and Havemore in Delhi, Trishna in Bombay, Mom’s Kitchen in Goa and Kewpies in Kolkata.

Biryani 360www.biryani360.com

Shayan Italia5 K, 1996

Who would have imagined? Acclaimed songwriter, musician, and Dosco, Shayan Italia - penner of our beloved ‘Doscos Forever’ 75th anniversary anthem, would end up starting a top notch food delivery ser-vice called Biryani360 in Mumbai when he doesn’t even cook! You’re thinking “What?”

Well, I have, and from the media coverage alone, great things are in store.

I got into food completely by accident. We’re doing pretty okay: Forbes Best Food Delivery Startup 2015, CNBC Best Online Delivery 2015, MOAT Best Food Delivery 2015, TimesCity Top 5 Startups 2015. Not bad for being in business only 6 months.

We have only two simple, yet original recipes: Veg and UnVeg™.

My next move is to scale up the business and take a large chunk of the biryani market share within Mumbai.

My favourite things to eat at Tuck Shop were Nestle Crunch chocolate and Uncle Chips.

My top place to eat is Wasabi, Taj Palace Hotel, Mumbai.


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Frugurpopwww.frugurpop.com

Sudheer Grover357 T, 2005

Originally born in Latin America, a ‘Paletaz’ is an Ice Pop made from fresh fruit and other organic ingredients. Using the same concept, we came up with our own paletaz in Frugurpop - a mouth-watering, lip-smacking ice lolly and fresh fruit pop available for the first time in Gurgaon and Mumbai. Our search for ingredients has taken us to Italy for fruit compotes and succulent berries, Belgium for chocolate and Madagascar for Vanilla. The food business is long-term and gives one ample scope to innovate and use one’s culinary skills.

My favourite things to eat at Tuck Shop were bondas and bun tikkis.

I got into the food business because mixing, matching and concocting different ingredients with varying techniques has always been a passion. I love to savour a meal and then make an innovation. While experimenting one day in my kitchen, I developed the Fruitilicious flavour for my products and ever since, there has been no looking back...

My top places to eat are Wasabi. I love the yellow tail tuna there and in London, Nobu for the black cod with miso.

Hmmmuttonwww.facebook.com/Hmmmutton

Rathin Mathur23 H, 1989

I’m the head cook and I run a kitchen in Gurgaon by the name of Rumi’s Kitchen for Hmmmutton. The eponymous dish is my invention and it was the first dish that I created. It gained immediate popularity and that was a very thrilling experience. I draw inspiration from my memories. From my days as an army brat where dining was serious business at the Officers Mess and yet, the regimental langar produced wholesome and delicious food. I even provide a Gurkha Langar Chicken curry on my menu, which is a tribute to langar food. Another dish I do is called Brogun Josh - an attempt to correct what we were fed in School in the name of Rogan Josh! Hmmmutton is inspired by coastal dishes across Asia during my travels.

What I love most about the food business is the ability to satisfy my own hunger!


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My favourite thing to eat at Tuck Shop was cheese toast.

I got into the food business because I

love cooking. Cooking is a process that starts with selecting ingredients, researching recipes, experimenting and finally hitting a flavour that I had set out to achieve. Since I am not a trained chef, I work extra hard.

My top places to eat are the Sri Velu Military Hotel in Chennai. I love the seafood parade that is brought on at every meal. Bangkok for the incredible street food.

Mamagotowww.mamagoto.in

Kabir Suri327 J, 1998

I co-founded Azure Hospitality and am a director with the company.

I love the food business because it helps diverse

people grow and gives them purpose. I love experimenting with ingredients. Serving people and adding experiences to their life and little moments of delight through our food keeps me going.

My favourite product from my own restaurant is fish in chilli oyster sauce - simple, fresh, light and well-balanced.

My favourite things to eat at Tuck Shop were bulls, Maggi, bonda and chicken chow mein.

My top places to eat are Delhi: Naturals Ice Cream and in London/Singapore/Hong Kong Zuma for their black cod.


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Meltwww.saffronleaf.com

Vaibhav Gupta509 O, 2012

I am currently the director of this restaurant and am managing the property. Based in Dehradun, we are just five minutes from School!

The best part about the food business is that we

learn about various cuisines and cultures related to it, meet crazy food-loving people, and receive appreciation after an event or a get-together.

My favourite product from my own restaurant is the kebabs, salads and obviously the butter chicken, even though President’s is famous for it.

My favourite things to eat at Tuck Shop were the newly-introduced momos and spring rolls. I was the in charge of Tuck Shop.

My top places to eat are Mumbai: Burma Burma, they serve amazing steam buns and chickpea tofu.

Wai Wai Noodleswww.chaudharygroup.com

Nirvana Chaudhary473 J, 1998

Presently I’m a managing director of the Chaudhary Group. Food is essential to our everyday life. We can make products that are more fortified and also help the entire backward integration of our agro economy creating thousands of jobs. There are various kinds of noodles from all over the world. Korea to Italy. And with the over growing demand for instant noodles 30 years ago we decided to provide this product and today export to 30 over countries. We’re currently selling two billion packets a year. By 2017 we should be up by another 1 billion and have a manufacturing presence in 6 countries.

My favourite product from my own restaurant is Wai Wai Noodles. You can munch it, lunch it or soup it. It’s fast and healthy.

My favourite things to eat at Tuck Shop were bulls and more bulls.

My top places to eat are Shalom and Kainoosh in Delhi. Baday Miya in Mumbai. London I feel has the best restaurants by far but The Original Sin in Singapore is top notch.


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DSOBS Executive Committee Meeting 2015A meeting of the DSOBS executive committee and the Board of Governors, IPSS was held on Friday 22nd, May 2015 at Claridges Hotel.

A healthy and fruitful dialogue took place. Below are the salient points of the meeting.

1. The Chairman of the Board assured the DSOBS that out of all the funds available in the school for bursaries, a portion would be set aside solely for children of Old Boys who satisfied the criteria laid down by the Bursary Committee.

2. The Board agreed that any boy who was eligible for studying in the school would not have to leave school owing to financial restraint.

3. The President of DSOBS conveyed to the Board and in particular to the Headmaster, the appreciation of the Old Boys to the

successful organization of events in school, particularly those involving Old Boys.

4. Since the Old Boys were keen to have updates of happenings in school, the Vice President requested the Chairman and Headmaster to allow the Chief Editor of the Doon School Weekly to be co-opted as a member of the editorial board of the Rose Bowl. This request was readily granted.

5. The President informed the Board of the role the DSOBS played in helping the victims in the earthquake disaster in Nepal. He also informed all that the initiative was so positively-received that many non-Dosco groups chose to route their funds through the society.

Gautam Thapar, Chairman BOG, IPSS chairs the meeting

The meetings in progress

RPN Singh, President DSOBS looks pleased at the progress

Arjun Malhotra, Haripal Singh, Sumanjit Chaudhary, Indresh Narain


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I N C O M E & E X P E N D I T U R E A C C O U N T ( 0 1 . 0 4 . 2 0 1 4 T O 3 1 . 0 3 . 2 0 1 5 )


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B A L A N C E S H E E T A S O N 3 1 M A R C H 2 0 1 5


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B A L A N C E S H E E T A S O N 3 1 M A R C H 2 0 1 5


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1 MR GAUTAM KUMAR KHANNA 037-K 19392 MR KESHAV BHALCHANDRA GOKHALE 223-K 19423 BHANWAR RANJEET SINGH 194-K 19424 MR BOOBLI GEORGE VERGHESE 150-J 19425 BRIG R K KOCHHAR 037-T 19436 MR SIDDHARTH KATHJU 087-T 19447 NAWABZADA MIR AZIZ ALAM KHAN 058-K 19458 MAJ SOM NATH 284-J 19459 MR P SRINIVASAN 256-T 194510 MR HARI SONI 004-T 194611 GP CAPT G K BAKHLE 085-H 194912 MR ASHOK M BHAVNANI 231-T 194913 MR RAJENDRA SINGH 083-T 1950

14 MR BHISHAM KUMAR BAKHSHI 168-J 195115 MR J K LALWANI 015-T 195316 DR BEHMAN MINOO DAVER 220-H 195517 MR HASSAN BILGRAMI 102-T 195818 MR RAJENDRA NATH SINGH 294-K 195819 MR AJAI KUMAR 283-J 196020 DR B ASOKA RATNAM 327-T 196021 MR PAVAN K. HARI 258-K 196122 MR SAMIR LANBA 220-T 196123 MR HARISH KUMAR NAYAR 287-T 196424 MR RAJINDER DESWAL 062-H 196725 MR ARJUN RAHA 180-T 196826 MR NADIR ROHINTON BABAYCON 103-KB 2002

2. Confirmation of the Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting held on October 19, 2014 at The Doon School, Dehra Dun

3. Any matter arising from the Minutes.

4. Approval of Accounts as on 31st March 2015.

5. Approval of the Vision Statement

6. Approval of changes in the process of elections.

7. Rose Bowl Subscription for hard copy.

8. Election / Re-election of EC Members.

9. Appointment of Auditor.

10. Any other matter with the permission of the Chair

Sheel SharmaExecutive Secretary

Agenda for the 76th Annual General Meeting of the DSOBS being held in Doon School, Dehra Dun on Sunday October 18, 2015

1. To pass a condolence resolution in the memory of the following members who have passed away. A report by the President on the activities of the year.


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1 MAJ MAHESH CHAND SHARMA 009-T 19372 MR ANANT RAM IYER 250-K 19393 MAJ GEN S S CHHACHHI 236-K 19404 AIR MAR T S BRAR 085-J 19415 COL SURENDRA SAHAI 035-H 19426 MR S N TALUKDAR 014-K 19437 MR MIANGUL AURANGZEB KHAN 167-H 19458 MR RAJIB GUPTA 145-K 19489 MR KAMAL T JAGTIANI 063-T 194910 MR LALIT KUMAR CHOPRA 005-J 195011 MR ITAAT HUSSAIN 176-H 195112 MR AMARJIT SINGH PURI 051-H 195313 MR OM PRAKASH YADAVA 111-K 195514 MR IFTIKHAR-UL-HASAN KHAN 005-T 195615 MR PRAKASH SHANKER PANDYA 314-H 196016 MR VIJAY MADHAV KATRE 044-T 196417 MR RAVI SHRINAGESH 266-H 196618 MR RANJIT SAHGAL 329-J 196819 KR ZORAWAR SINGH 288-JB 197220 MR AMAR P SINGH 379-J 197421 MR KAMAL KANT SINGH 045-K 198322 MR DEEPAK JAIN 191-HB 198423 MR CHANDRA BHANU 410-TA 1986

Draft Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting of the DSOBS held in Doon School, Dehra Dun on Sunday October 19, 2014

Present: The President Ratanjit P N Singh, Headmaster Peter Mclaughlin, Mr Sheel Sharma, Executive Secretary and 105 members including 7 Executive Committee members.

The secretary announced that since there was no President at the moment the Vice President Mr Ratanjit P N Singh may be allowed to chair the proceedings. Mr Pramod Chawla proposed that the Vice President Mr Ratanjit P N Singh be allowed to chair the proceedings, seconded by Sumanjit Chaudhry.

Accordingly Mr Ratanjit P N Singh took the seat to chair the proceedings

1. Mr Ratanjit P N Singh welcomed all to the 75th Annual General Meeting of the DSOBS.

A condolence resolution in memory of the departed members of DSOBS.

It is my sad duty to request this august gathering to rise in respectful remembrance of the many Doscos who are no longer with us having passed away between October 2012 and today.

He requested the members present to let him know if there were any names missing.

2. A report by the President on the activities of the year.

In this changing world what are the values we should focus on, how can the Society help the school, help the fraternity and help the teachers who made us what we are today.


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We are a very distinct body yet we are closely working with the school and the Board of Governors. We are in fact all working towards the betterment of the school and help take this great institution forward.

I intend to hold a summit wherein eminent members of the DSOBS will brain storm to chalk out a Vision Statement that will help us decide where we would like to take this society in the next 75 years. This will be a large committee and those unable to attend can write in their suggestions. As we are a distinct body we also need to have a goal, a vision, and I hope we can use the Dosco vibrant talent pool to really make this society relevant to the current times. One of our major challenges is to make this society truly inclusive by reaching out to every old boy. I will be requesting the Class Reps and the Regional Reps to reach out to all the boys, especially those who feel left out or have lost contact. Everyone should feel part of this family, part of the society.

A special warm welcome to the Class of 1989 who celebrate their Silver Jubilee, the Class of 1964 who celebrate their Golden Jubilee, the Class of 1954 who celebrate their Diamond Jubilee, the Class of 1974 who celebrate the 40th re-union, the Class of 1979 who celebrate their 35th re-union. Our congratulations to all on achieving these milestone years and re-unions and thank you all for being with us today.

I also extend a warm welcome to our Headmaster, Dr Peter McLaughlin. I would also like to take this opportunity on behalf of my Executive Committee and all Doscos present here to thank the Headmaster, the Chairman Gautam Thapar, Members of the Board of Governors, all Teachers and staff of The Doon School for the most wonderful 3 days of celebrations of School’s 79th Founders. We greatly appreciate your efforts and

thank you for your warmth and hospitality. Special thanks to Vikram Batra and the Batch of 1989 for hosting the fraternity over a lovely evening yesterday.

Before I come to the other item on the agenda for this meeting, let me give you an overview of the various events and achievement of your Society during the past year. These are reflective of the hard work put in by the various Sub Committees of your Executive Committee and others over the past year.

Establishment & PremisesLalit Nirula wanted to know the legality of the present place. It was best that we moved out. The President stated that as informed at the last AGM we had moved office to D-318 , Defence Colony. In the meanwhile we had been trying very hard to put the office at Bhikaiji Cama Place on rent. I am glad to inform the house that we have finally found someone who is willing to take this place on rent. Negotiations are at the final stage.

Regional Get-togethersAs usual many regions had their annual get togethers. All these were well attended. Mr Ravi Chaudhary organized his get together in Toronto. Neerja Raman organized a get together in San Francisco while Vibha Chadha organized one in Los Angeles. The New York Chapter had their get-together organized by Amit Sawhney and Shubho Ghosh. The London get together was well organized by Vivek Thadani and Nimai Swaroop. The Chennai region kick started the DSOBS-75 by organizing a Golf get together in Kodaikanal in which Arun Murugappan had the distinction of scoring a hole in one. Apoorv Aggarwal and Pradip Bhatia organized the Bombay Get together. We also kick started the DSOBS 75 by organizing a dinner at ITC Maurya Sheraton on October 14 which was well attended by a large number of Doscos. I was particularly very happy that the Headmaster was able to take time out and be


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present at this get together. Also we were happy to have amidst us the Chairman of the board of Governors Mr Gautam Thapar. One important factor from this dinner was that we were able to raise some money for the J & K Floods. Though the amount is not very large but it is the thought behind it that makes it a happy note. This also goes to show that all get togethers are not merely for enjoyment, but also serve for a good cause.

Website www.dsobs.net – working perfectly alright. All doscos have been sent their login details. If anyone is still having difficulty in accessing the site, please get in touch with the secretariat. The President requested Rahul Kohli to once again give a demonstration of the procedure of log in and give a brief overview of the various sections like Archives, Rose Bowl, and Memorabilia.

Sports

Results of DSOBS Sports fixtures for the Year 2014

Results of The DSOBS Inter House Hockey 2014Winner : Jaipur HouseRunner Up : Oberoi House

Results of DSOBS Inter House SquashWinner : Kashmir House (Dhruv Dhawan, Jatin Bery, Himmat Singh, Raghav Malik & Pragyat Singh)Runner Up : Tata House (Rahul Nayar, Avneesh Sangwan, Prithvi Singh Gill, Umed Singh Gill & Shiv Palta)

Dhruv Dhawan was Adjudged The Most Valuable Player of The Tournament

Results of the DSOBS Inter House Cricket 2014Winner : Tata HouseRunner Up : Kashmir House

Results of the DSOBS Inter House Football 2014Winner : Tata HouseRunner up : Jaipur House

Results of the DSOBS Inter House Golf 2014Harsh Gupta (Pokey) 453 H, 1987 was given a special presentation for his brilliant round of 2 under 70 at the Inter house Golf held in 2013

Best Nett ScoreWinner : Paveet Kothari 202 HA, 1990 Runner Up : Santosh Kumar 173 KA, 1990

Best Gross Score Winner : Vivek Narain 564 K, 1994 Runner Up : Harsh Gupta 453 H, 1987

House Cup Winner : Kashmir 189 Pts; Hyderabad 184 Pts; Jaipur 176 Pts; Tata 155 Pts

Winning Team : Vishnudharee Lal 183 K, 1958; Santosh Kumar 173 K, 1990; Vishnudharee Lal 183 K, 1958; Vivek Narain 564 K, 1994; Jayatendra Singh 416 K, 1987; Kartik Bharat Ram 94 K, 1989

RPN requested Donny to let everyone know about the Cricket fixture he was planning to organize in school during the holidays. Also he thanked Donny for letting the boys win the annual Cricket fixture against the Old Boys.

Donny informed the members that a triangular fixture between Mayo, Sanawar and Doon will be played in the Doon School on December 5-7. All old boys are welcome to come and cheer for the Doscos.

MemorabiliaDOSCO RECORD - Available at the DSOBS Memorabilia. For more information please contact Gaurav Bhagat of Consortium Gifts at [email protected].


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Vivek Sehgal felt that since consortium Gifts had been given the sole usage of the Dosco Logo and that for every memorabilia sale a certain percentage came to the DSOBS, it became imperative that we promote this group. In fact Old Boys in the corporate world can use him for their corporate gifting. As per our understanding with our vendor, any Old boy who by his position in the company is able to influence his company to route their corporate gifting through our vendor, then a certain percentage of all the sale of the company’s corporate gifts will come to DSOBS.

Ajay Mehta wanted the licensing the brand on every item, it may even be pencils.

Mr Gautam Thapar wanted that the categories that Consortium Gifts can make must be specific and clearly indicated. We need to check the MOU.

Rose Bowl NewsletterWe would like to thank Valentina Trivedi for the excellent work she did as Editor of the Rose Bowl. Her dedication has helped take the Rose Bowl to greater heights. She has requested that owing to pressing demands she would like to relinquish her post of Editorship of the Rose Bowl. We have accepted her request with a proviso that she will remain the Editorial Director and Govind Dhar will be the new Editor.

Presently the corpus of the Rose Bowl is Rs. 1.00 crore. The Interest from this helps to send 4 issues of the Rose Bowl each year, but only because of the gracious donation of paper from Gautam Thapar.

While on this topic Rahul Kohli explained the planning of the special Rose Bowl that will be released this Founders. The DSOBS had managed to collect a large number of letters written by Mr A E Foot to his mother and also some very relevant documents pertaining to the school. Part of this Rose Bowl will be the Arthur Foot archival which

will showcase some of his original manuscripts of work done for public services. There are 40 pages of his autobiography. We intend to publish this with your help. This will a great fun filled document wherein all Old boys can contribute to this by buying a page. A page may be around Rs. 10,000 and the sponsor will get to have at the bottom of the page a tag line that will indicate the name of the sponsor.

Pushkar Bhutani at this point felt that there seems to be a problem with regard to the subscription owing to a lack of communication. The President assured him that this will be taken care of.

Bursary CorpusThis year, eleven applications had been received by the Secretariat for the bursary and for the year 2014, a total of Rs.8,40,050/- had been disbursed by way of bursaries to the sons of nine old boys of the Doon School.

Total DSOBS Bursary Corpus is now Rs. 126 lakhs. It was felt that a more concerted effort should be made to try and build a Bursary and Post School Education Assistance Corpus of Rs.10.00 crore. For this every EC Member was requested to earmark young dynamic Doscos who are heading various Companies so that they could be approached to help build this corpus. The President proposed that 5 years after leaving school we should levy a minimum amount of say Rs 500 pm as subscription. This works out to about 6000 annually. This will be solely for the Bursary Fund. He hoped to have the full support of the House in this venture and that they will fully endorse this and actually help to give back to the fraternity.

Umang Verma felt that the Bursary given to Old Boys should be treated as a loan, to be repaid after they start earning.


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Amrendra felt that after 7 years of leaving school the Old boy would be in a position to start repaying the loan and so after 7 years it would be better to start the subscription

To increase the corpus the DSOBS should start charging the Old Boys Rs 400 to Rs 500 per month. This would be only for The Bursary Fund and the Teachers Fund.

Jaspreet and Gautam Thapar both felt that this should be made compulsory to all Old Boys .

Ravi Chaudhary felt that Rs 100 should be compulsory and more is optional.

Darshan Singh felt that we should start with the banks as had been done with Standard Chartered bank but Haripal said that this may not be possible now since then it was an upcoming system.

The idea was liked by one and all and Amrendra Nath Singh proposed that this should be passed seconded by Ravi Chaudhary and so this was passed.

The DSOBS Kashmir Flood Relief effortsThe State of Jammu & Kashmir was ravaged by a devastating Flood last month with its epicenter in the Pakistan administered region of the disputed territory of Kashmir and whether in Pakistan or in India, it left thousands dead, injured and homeless. On the Indian side many houses were destroyed and many houses/properties were washed away in Jammu & Kashmir.

In consonance with the larger role the DSOBS has adopted – in not only being an alumni association, but being one with a social purpose – to (amongst others) bring succor to those in distress – we decided to contribute our mite and lend a helping hand to the large scale operations already mounted by various governmental agencies and NGOs in rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts

of and for the victims of this natural calamity in Kashmir.

We appealed to our brethren for contributions. Contributions came in thick and fast and within a couple of days we had received Rs. Two Lakhsfrom Doscos and friends and family members of Doon/Doscos.

We propose to spend donations received in purchasing blankets/apparels and sent to the people through DOSCO NGOs.

This way the Doon School Old Boys community once again demonstrated that it could rise to any occasion and reach out to those in need and distress. My thanks once again to one and all who contributed so spontaneously and generously to this cause and our efforts.

3. Confirmation of the Minutes of the 74th Annual General Meeting held on October 20, 2013 at The Doon School, Dehra Dun

The minutes of the 74th AGM held on October 20, 2013 had been circulated earlier and the President requested that if there was no objection it could be passed. Mr Indresh Narain proposed that the minutes may be passed, seconded by Bhai Manjit Singh. Accordingly the minutes of the 74th AGM were unanimously passed

4. Any matter arising from the minutes.

There was no matter arising from the minutes.

5. Approval of Accounts as on 31st March 2014The accounts for the financial year 2013-2014 had been placed before the house and the president requested all the members to have a look and give their approval. All seemed in order and Bhai Manjit Singh proposed that the accounts may be passed, seconded by Lalit Nirula. Accordingly the Accounts for the financial year 2013-14 were duly passed.


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6. A discussion on committed fund regarding it being time bound and for a specific purpose

The President stated that when we go to the auditors we have a problem with the unused funds lying in our accounts. This is namely the committed fund which batches have collected and are now lying unused. They claim that this is not correct and the funds have to be utilized and should be time bound. After the given time all left over funds should be transferred to the general fund. The President proposed that after three years the balance of the fund left will be transferred to the General Fund. Atul Bahadur Singh fully supported this transfer and further proposed that this money should be transferred to the Bursary Fund. Ashok Malik felt that the Society should be guided by an expert to ensure proper compliance. Shashank Vira stated that there seems to be confusion between 80 G and 12 A. We need not bother of the 80 G but this case was relevant only to 12A. 80 G deals with how the donation is treated by the society while 12A is the Tax exempt status of the Society. The President assured the house that all this will be affected with full consultations of our Auditor Mr Mahesh Sahai.

Atul Bahadur Singh proposed that this resolution may be passed seconded by seconded by Jaspreet Singh. The resolution was duly passed.

7. Election / Re-election of Office bearers

a. EC Memberb. Election of the Vice President

Election / Re-election of Office bearers.

(i) Re-election of office bearersThe President pointed out that this year the following members have completed their two year tenure and are eligible for re-election for a further two years

1. Haripal Singh Gill 2. Dushyant Singh3. Ashutosh Goyal 4. Shivendra Singh

They wish to be re-elected for another two year tenure and I would like the house to approve their election.

GautamThadani proposed that the four named members may be given a further 2 year tenure, seconded by Ravi Bir Singh. The four names mentioned were accordingly accorded membership for a further two years.

(ii) Election of office bearersThis year there is only one (1) vacancy in the Executive Committee after this AGM in the age group of 30-39. Mr Prithvi Singh Gill completes his 4 year tenure.

I had commenced the process of election of new Executive Committee Members prior to January 31, 2014 as prescribed by Rule 6 (2) (a) & (b). I had notified these vacancies in January this year. I had also invited volunteers to constitute a Committee to select new EC Members against these vacancies.

As per Rule 6 (2) (a), (c), (d), (e) & (f), the following applications had been received against the following vacancies, namely:

C - Age group 30-39 years – against one vacancy

1. Jai Indar Singh Chopra 601 T, 1995 2. Apoorva Agarwal 477 O, 1993

After these applications had been received, I had constituted the Selection Committee as prescribed by Rule 6(2)(g) & (i).

To facilitate the task of carrying out the selections, copies of all applications along with their enclosures had been sent in advance to all Committee members.


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Thereafter, the Committee met on September 13, 2014 from 4 PM and unanimously decided that the following names be recommended to the Executive Committee for consideration and for being placed for approval before the House at the AGM of the DSOBS to be held on October 19, 2014 to fill in the under-mentioned vacancies which would arise in the Executive Committee on and from the said date in the following age groups, namely:

C - Age group 30-39 years – against one vacancy

1. Jai Indar Singh Chopra 601 T, 1995 Accordingly, the aforesaid recommended name was placed before the Executive Committee at its 170th meeting held on September 20, 2014

I, on behalf of my Executive Committee therefore, place for approval before the House the following name to fill in the under-mentioned vacancy which would arise in the Executive Committee on and from today in the following age group:-

1. Category C – Age group 30 to 39 years 1. Jai Inder Singh Chopra 601 T, 1995

Raghuvendra (Donny) Singh proposed that Jai Inder Chopra may be elected to the post, seconded by Ravi Chaudhary.

Accordingly Jai Inder Chopra was unanimously elected to the Executive Committee.

Election of the Vice President As per the convention of the Society the Vice President of the Society would take over as President of this Society for a period of two years. Consequently, there would be a vacancy for the post of Vice President.

In anticipation of this vacancy arising this October, I had begun the process for selection/election of

the Vice President of the DSOBS prior to January 31, 2014 under Rule 5(2)(a) and the vacancy had been accordingly notified.

I had also invited volunteers to constitute the Committee to select the new Vice President.

Initially, two Doscos had offered their candidature under Rule 5 (2) (b), namely: 1. Jaswinder Singh 344 - J 1986 2. Ajay Mehta 102 - J 1989

The requisite Committee had been constituted This Committee accordingly met on September 13, 2014 from 4 PM.

The Committee unanimously felt that Jaswinder Singh met each of the stipulations in the aforesaid guidelines and was a fit candidate for becoming the next Vice President of the Doon School Old Boys’ Society.

The Committee therefore, unanimously decided that the name of Jaswinder Singh be recommended to the Executive Committee as the Committee’s choice for the post of the next Vice President of the Doon School Old Boys’ Society. The Committee requested the Executive Committee to place the name of Jaswinder Singh before the House for approval at the Annual General Meeting of the Doon School Old Boys’ Society to be held at The Doon School, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand on Sunday, October 19, 2014

Accordingly, this recommendation of the Selection Committee was placed before the Executive Committee at its meeting on September 20, 2014 commencing 5:15 PM. The Executive Committee unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Selection Committee and now I place the name of Jaswinder Singh before the House today for approval.


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Mr Gurdial Singh proposed the name of Jaswinder Singh, seconded by Vinit Khanna. Accordingly Jaswinder was unanimously elected to the post of Vice President of the DSOBS

At this stage it was felt that the election process needed to be looked at. The President was asked to form a committee that would look into this. Rajbir Singh hoped that this committee would not be too large as such a large committee would be counter - productive. This committee must work within a fixed time frame.

Appointment of AuditorsMahesh Sahai had expressed his willingness to continue as Auditor for another year. Mr Sati Puri proposed that Mahesh Sahai be appointed the Auditor for the year 2014-2015, seconded by Ravi Katari.

Mahesh Sahai was unanimously elected the Auditor of the DSOBS for the year 2014-2015

Any other matter with the permission of the Chair.

Ravi Katari announced that the Chennai Old Boys were going to have the Southern India Golf and would like participation from as many Old Boys from all over India.

Mr Jagjit Singh had some important points to make:

A sports club should be formed wherein CD’s from the best coaches/ best players are made available that will help students to get some vital tips.

The school should have at least two guest rooms where an Old Boy can come and stay. He was concerned as to why Old Boys are being made to feel that they are not welcome in school.

Welfare of students and teachers needs to be looked into.

The school should consider Tony Daljit Singh’s suggestions which was to name the main field after Mr R L Holdsworth and the swimming pool to be named after Mr Gurdial Singh.

Pramod Chawla felt that we must give back to the Society after all that it has given us.

Peppy Duggal felt that the attendance at the Inter House Competitions was getting smaller. There should be tournaments for the seniors.

Ravi Chaudhary felt that a regional rep of each chapter should know more about the boys. He felt that it should be their endeavor to sort of act as mentors for boys coming to their regions.

Peter thanked Ravi Chaudhary for this mentorship scheme and felt that this would go a long way in the bonding of Old Boys.

Darshan said that since the meeting was coming to an end Mr Ratanjit P N Singh should be formally elected to the post of the President of the DSOBS. Mr Jaspreet Singh proposed that R P N Singh be elected as the new President of the DSOBS, seconded by Ravi Bir Singh and so Ratanjit P N Singh was elected President of the DSOBS for the years 2014 - 2016

With the permission of the chair the meeting was adjourned.

Sheel SharmaExecutive Secretary


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No. Name Status H./No.* Class 11.11.14 28.01.15 20.05.15 07.08.15 26.09.15 Att.**

171 172 173 174 175

1 Ratanjit P N Singh President 871-K 1982 yes yes yes yes yes 5/5

2 Jaswinder Singh Vice President 344-J 1986 yes yes yes yes no 4/5

3 Haripal Singh Gill Member 328-H 1966 yes yes yes yes no 4/5

4 Anil Malhotra Member 505-HB 1975 yes yes yes yes yes 5/5

5 Narinder Vasisht Member 37--T 1973 no no no yes no 1/5

6 Rahul Kohli Member 81-J 1975 yes no no no yes 2/5

7 Maninder Singh Sahni Member 293-JB 1991 yes no yes no no 2/5

8 Shivendra Singh Member 454-H 2006 yes yes yes yes no 4/5

9 Gaurav Sondhi Member 387-KB 1986 yes no no no no 1/5

10 Dushyant Singh Member 246-KB 1991 no no no no no 0/5

11 Jatin Bobb Member 411-TA 1993 no no no no no 0/5

12 Ashutosh Goyal Member 392-KA 1986 no yes yes yes yes 4/5

13 Jai Indar Chopra Member 601-TB 1995 yes no yes no no 2/5

14 Malvinder Mohan Singh Member 136-JB 1990 yes no yes no 2/4

Attendance Chart of EC Members from 11.11.14 to 26.09.15

*House/No **Attendance

We’ve all been there: you turn up to School wanting to walk around memory lane and you require all sorts of school chits and permissions. Now, the DSOBS and School’s Development and Alumni Relations office have digitized this process on dsobs.net so the process is smooth and hassle-free. Click the ‘Plan your visit to the Chandbagh’ button and fill out the online form, after logging into the site. Aside from options to use a golf cart at school for disabled or senior citizens, you can also select visiting the archives so you can see your school records too. There is also a new lounge for Old Boys to rest their weary feet and have a coffee with Rishabh Sharma (553 J, 1994) our friendly director of development and alumni relations (or ‘our man in Havana’). You’ll find a bunch of treasures in there including Bond’s signature pale green-coloured scooter. Check the dsobs.net site for visiting hours.

Planning a visit to Chandbagh?Read this first!

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The Rose Bowl 2015 | October Edition | VOL . XLVIII No. 4

If undelivered please return toThe Doon School Old Boys’ Society

C-574 Lower Ground Floor, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024

www.dsobs.net | [email protected] | +911 24334808 | +911 41509019@rosebowleditor | facebook.com/thedoonrosebowl

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