KTWV Volume 13 Issue 13: First time

Dr. S. Y. Qureshi

In my almost 70 years and over 48 years as an adult with deep interest in politics, this was the first time I actually spent a few hours, in Finland, watching an election process in India.

In the 70s I was close with many politicians of all parties and knew exactly how corrupt all of them were. So I kept my distance.

Votes appear to have been cast this time in 5 States over a period of time and today was the counting and declaration of the results.

Results were announced from Goa (1.5 million), Manipur (2.7 million), Punjab (28 million), Uttar Pradesh (200 million) and Uttarakhand (10 million).

Over 240 million people were choosing their local politicians to serve them for the next few years.

It was a mixed bag of results with the National Parties less successful than the regional parties.

Watching on an Indian internet TV Channel, NDTV 24x7, I was quite intrigued by the mixture of languages being used by the participants.

Since I know English, Hindi, Punjabi (a bit), I wondered whether this channel was watched by the majority of Indians who are only familiar with their regional language.

Obviously not.

Quite a few of my juniors from my alma mater, St. Stephen's College in Delhi, were on the box, either as politicians in different parties, as tv anchor men or women, or as "experts". It was quite easy to recognise them as they had a different air about the way they handled the subjects.

I thought to myself whether I was the same!

I hope not, as I consider myself as individualistic rather than moulded by my alma mater characteristics, especially with regard to politics!

On the whole, following the election was an interesting experience, especially as I could view it from a distance and not be involved with it in any other way.

The main thing that struck me was that several corrupt politicians fell by the wayside.

The independent Chief Election Commissioner, Dr. S. Y. Qureshi, is also a product of my alma mater, about 10 years my junior. His interview on NDTV was very interesting as he has to keep his head above the murky waters of Indian Politics.

This experience was also followed by an interesting news item I noted in an Indian internet newspaper which said that the top two jobs in the Indian Administrative Service and in the Indian Police Service were also filled by Stephanians. These are IAS officers Pulok Chatterjee, the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, and Ajit Seth, the Cabinet Secretary, and IPS officers, Nehchal Sandhu, Intelligence Bureau Chief and A. B. Singh, Central Bureau of Investigation Chief.

Many of my classmates and those who were in College during my years there, have served in very senior Government positions (62ers Mani Shankar Aiyar, Rathikant Basu, Ashok (Tony) Jaitly) and also as Ambassadors (62er Niranjan Desai, 63ers Siddarth Singh and Aftab Seth, etc.) in different parts of the world. They have also served in the United Nations, 74er Sashi Tharoor, the Commonwealth Secretariat, 62er Kamlesh Sharma, the World Bank, 63er Montek Singh Alhuwalia and 62er Sarwar Lateef, the Asian Development Bank, 63er Karthik Sandilya, and many many more such world bodies.

It would be interesting to compile a Who's Who of Stephanians!

KTWV 10 Issue 24: Meeting Another Heap

(Also posted on my main blog - Jacob's Blog, where I am posting all the entries during this extended trip around India.)

Lunch yesterday at the India International Centre in New Delhi was a most pleasant experience. (Not just the Thali meal!)

I renewed contact with another of my dearest St. Stephen's College friends - Niranjan Desai (also know as Heap 1: Ajay was Heap 2: I was Heap 3 - meaning a Heap of TROUBLE!). Niranjan was a year senior to me and was studying English Honours. He was from East Africa. He was and is still is a thorough gentleman with a great sense of humour.

In college, we were a group who lived between 1960 amnd 1963 in Mukerji East residential block. (Mukerji West did not exist in our time.)

Even though I say it myself, we were a great crowd. Besides Niranjan and myself, Ajay (Sweden), Badri (Switzerland, youngest every Padma Shiri), Choppy, Daisy (London), Norval, late Rajen, Rajiv, Ramani, Ravi, Rijwhani, Sujit (Kolkotta), Titch, etc., were just a few of our very happy and lively bunch. We were like one family.

The group consisted of Eco, English, Chemistry, History, Maths, Physics, and General Science students - but that did not make a difference, as we were all on the same wavelength.

When I met Niranjan this time, it was not as if a day had passed since our college days. He was looking trim, and except for his white hair, like mine, he was still the same smiling jovial self.

He has seen much of the world as he took up Indian citizenship, joined the Foreign Service and after being declared persona non grata in Uganda, when Idi Amin was on the rampage, he has served in various capacities including his Ambassadorship to Egypt, Switzerland and senior appointments in London and USA (both New York and Washington D. C.). He organised the Festival of India in both London and the USA, both of which received wonderful international coverage.

Of course, I did not know all this, but learnt a lot during our lunch together when time just passed quicker than one wanted.

Niranjan now works for an interesting organisation run by a brilliant young NRI presently based in Mumbai, who was described by Niranjan as a talented workaholic, Neville Tuli. Known as the OSIAN's, their contribution to Indian Culture is something which takes the breath away. They could not have found a better Ambassador than Niranjan.

Among the many things that have been established, two stick out. They have attempted and succeeded in launching the first serious Auction House in India, much on the lines of Sotheby's, Christies and Philips.

Niranjan gave me the Catalogue they had prepared for the first auction which took place on 29th October 2009. It is a publication which can be treasured as it is of the quality that one expects only from the large international auction houses. And Osian's has built up the in-house expert group which is the only way such an enterprise can succeed over the long term.

The second interesting avenue that this group has organised is film festivals covering a range of subjects. This is something which is different from the film festivals which used to be the attraction for those interested in seeing flesh exposure in the old days!

Anyone who is serious about buying genuine Indian Antiquities and Modern Art, may I suggest that they get in touch with this group. They know what they are doing. Their catalogue explains all the laws and procedures in the simplest of terms, so anyone following their guidelines will hardly fall foul of the "laws" as they are practiced in India!

Niranjan was a bit sceptical about the future of India. Like me, he is of the opinion that the country is fast moving into a state of terminal decline. He agrees with me that civic society has collapsed and the only driving force is the bottom line, which is neither Indian culture or heritage. Corruption has increased to such an extent, in his opinion, there is no meaning in the rule of law. He too is of the opinion that the Naxals will wait and make their move at the appropriate time, resulting in horrific bloodshed.

Having been a diplomat and a civil servant almost all his working life, his assessment coinciding with mine was indeed very strange.

We also agreed that what is happening in our alma mater is a sign that that too is in terminal decline. The college is not about education any longer, but persons in the "administration" jockeying for more power as they file suits and counter suits in the law courts. Even today, the High Court chided the Principal for his misuse of power. Further, the battle between the Bishop and the teachers has hotted up!

Is this what one wants appearing in the Press day-in day-out?

1. St Stephen's row: Court pulls up principal


2. HC chides Stephens Principal for misuing power


3. Stephen's tense over bursar appointment

Are these the examples to set for the students of this august institution?

And, is all this "Christian"?

My visit to the college certainly demonstrated that what is important in the college is being forgotten, while all these external battles are in progress. As I had already mentioned, it appears that no one cares about the state of the college.



The Junior Common Room (JCR) is in shambles. That pained me immensely, as when I was the JCR President, it was my close work with the then Principal, Mr. Sircar and the Vice Principal, Mr. Shanklund, that had driven the JCR to become something of a force in the college for the college residents. The students earned the respect of the staff by the way they organised all the different events and finally the JCR Evening.



The beautiful lawn and rose garden which stood in front of Mukerji East is no longer there - it is just a barren piece of brown earth. The lawns have not been swept of the fallen leaves.

The white interior walls of the college are dirty.



The pictures in many places do not hang straight.

It feels like one is in a third rate institution.

Where is the order and pride in the alma mater that had existed in our time?

It is obvious that people are more concerned of their own political ambitions rather than the state of the college.

Niranjan also expressed that many of our friends had changed over time with their own priorities weighing in their lives. Natural, but unfortunate.

What values we shared when we were in college are those that are worth standing for, even today. A strong alumni can influence the happenings of the alma mater.

Thank you, Niranjan, for showing me that we can still hold our principles, whatever we have been through in the intervening years.

KTWV03 - Issue 5: Thanks to all...

Dear Stephanian,

What kicked my butt into putting up this issue of Kooler Talk (Web Version)?

I have masses of material, but some personal aspects of life have kept my usual active self from being virile on the computer keyboard.

It was two posts that I received in today's mass of email - I get around 300 to 500 every day - Sunday to Saturday. It included the very first negative post about Kooler Talk (Web Version). The other showed up a very dire dry situation in Bombay.

My duty is to bring to light a message which shook me to the very core. It was from one who signed himself as Shujoy Dutta although the email address is of one Gaurav Srivastava!!

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Subject: sorry for being so anti your page
Sent: 7/11/98 23:15
From: Gaurav Srivastava, gausri@geocities.com

dear jacob

let me first say how shocked i am that kooler talk has become a chat page for stephanians. inspite of the fact that it was hardly the forum for chatting in college. but then what better way to attract stephanians.

well anyway, college has changed !

little surprise considering the fact that everything around it is changing too. so has kooler talk. in the 4 years that I spent editing and writing for it, it was just a trip-taking ragmag. substituting for spice, the black widow and pretending to be intellectual and snobby. not to mention literate. about 20 people understood the jokes.

am i cynical ?

not really.

college is too. captured by the mtv generation and administered by a group of british raj types. totally mixed up. you wouldn't recognise the place. but it still is a beautiful place.

i miss the cockiness of stephen's in this kooler talk page. i miss kooler talk. and i get very upset by goody-goody stephanians thinking of college as some sort of idealistic Camelot.

sorry for being so anti your page it's just post-college angst.

shujoy dutta.

---

This not being Kooler Talk, but Kooler Talk (Web Version), which settles the raging debate as to whether I should name this as Kooler Talk (Online) - which it is not, I did promptly reply:

---

Hi Shujoy,

That is because you were not around when Kooler Talk was launched in 1961-62. It was not an anti-establishment operation then. It was a rag which was meant to be enjoyed by those in college - and it certainly was.

I did write one of the earliest articles of the nature you describe but it was rather an exception. Sarwar, Swami, Montek and Prakash were certainly not anti-establishment, neither were Peter, Zaffar and others who were behind the launch. At that time, I was JCR President and we all enjoyed the issues when they came out.

There was no confrontation except the threat to rusticate the three HEAPS - Niranjan Desai, Ajay Verma and myself!! However, even Princi Sarkar saw sense when it came to investigative journalism.

Thanks for your input, the first negative one in the history of my Web Version - and, of course, there must always be a first. I am however gratified that the readership which spans a good 40+ years of Stephanians, has found this Web Version as one which transcends the generation gap - which was what I was trying to do.

It is possible to castigate a few people but that will not draw the readership - and that was what I set out to do from this remote Arctic corner of the globe, and your letter proves I have reached many (Ed: although the one from Alok, given below, will certainly raise some doubts!!)

Thanks a lot for your input.

Regards

Jacob
Oulu, Finland

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Which brings me to the subject of Little Heap - Niranjan Desai. I received this letter:

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Subject: Niranjan Desai
Sent: 4/11/98 23:40
From: John Hobbins, john@lib1.lan.mcgill.ca

Hi Jacob:

I notice in your Kooler Talk you mention Niranjan Desai. I am trying to get in touch with a diplomat of that name who in 1966 was working in the Human Rights Division of UN Secretariat. It seems this could be your friend.

Do you have an address for him?

Thank you,

John Hobbins
Associate Director of Libraries,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

---

When I expressed doubt whether Little Heap and the Niranjan Desai of the 1966 era were one and the same, I received further input from John.

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Subject: Re: Niranjan Desai 2
Sent: 5/11/98 08:30
From: John Hobbins, john@LIB1.Lan.McGill.CA

Thanks Jacob.

I have found a website that tells me of an Indian diplomat who was recently ambassador to Venezuela and had been Director General of the ICCR and Administrator of the Festival of India. I suspect he is in fact your friend and hopefully also the person I'm looking for.

It seems to be a common name, alas. I have found 8 in the USA alone.

John

---

Will someone out there tell Niranjan - the original Little Heap of the original Kooler Talk forum, that there is a search party out here looking for him!!

Now comes the second letter that shook me.

But the ones following this from Arpit (in Bombay?) and Akash (in Singapore) should, hopefully, get things sparkling for Alok.

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Subject: Re: Kooler Talk (Web Version) latest issue is on line NOW
Sent: 7/11/98 22:06
From: Mr. Aloke Chandra, aloke@blr.vsnl.net.in

Jakes,

Caufth your recommendation for a bottle of Smirnoff for Gopkiran Rao's little gem a bit late - nevertheless, will honour all committments - if only people would TALK to me ! (OK, will settle for message from cyberspace).

Seriously, not one Stephanian in BBY has yet called - my tel no (off) is 495-2558, and, guys - we're in the process of merging with United Distillers (the Johnny Walker guys) so VALHALLA !

Alok

---

Gopi - hope you collect your due!!

Can what Alok writes possibly be true - or does Alok have to add a dose of Viagra with his offer to get Bombay Stephanians to raise their dopey heads and call him?

Maybe Alok should contact Arpit:

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Subject: Re[2]: Kooler Talk (Web Version) latest issue is on line NOW
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 12:42:09 +0900
From: Arpit_Agarwal@pcmailap.japan.ml.com (Arpit Agarwal)

Jacob,

I will send you a little note on the Stephanian Western India
Society in a day or two.

I will also mention the name of some of the extremely well known
Stephanians like the Director of Bandit Queen Movie,
"Shekhar Kapoor", MD of Bajaj Auto Mr. Rahul Bajaj.

Thanks

Arpit

---

Arpit, I am awaiting that note eagerly. In the meantime, Shekhar has hit the world headlines this last week with his new film ("Elizabeth", I think is the name) which is grossing many a ton in the box-offices around the world!! Well done Shekhar, and hope you give us an exclusive for Kooler Talk (Web Version). What ho, Arpit can you manage that for us? I am sure Alok will compensate you liberally for that act of kindness.

There is an important message I want to get across, possibly from all Stephanian readers of Kooler Talk (Web Version) - hopefully before the Singapore Stephanians get together for their reunion today. It is congrats and all best wishes for a long and happy wedded life to Akash and his newly wed, Manali. (Annikki and I will be celebrating our 32 wedding anniversary in a couple of months time!!)

Here is the message received from Akash from the equatorial region.

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Subject: Hi Jacob
Sent: 4/11/98 18:47
From: Akash & Manali, manaliakash@pacific.net.sg

Hi Jacob

As usual, it was a pleasure to go through the Kooler Talk. And I liked the pictures.

An update on the Stephanians in Singapore - we are meeting up this Saturday, Nov 7th. at 7 PM, in a restaurant called Bukhara (Welcome Group).

There are about 30 families here and I shall send you the updated address list and a few photographs after the get-together.

Incidentally, there is a Stephanian who has recently joined Welcome Group as the head of strategy - Nishi Mukherji. He was a faculty at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila and moved back to India last year.

Please note my new Email address:

manaliakash@pacific.net.sg

I got married to the 'best girl in town' - Manali - and decided to change my email address along with my life - I am enjoying my new life - so the bachelors out there, I highly recommend marriage.

Here is for the information for Alok who wanted names of Stephanians in Bombay.

Alok, here are a few names.

Pravin Chatterjee (7572699 - a very enthusiastic Stephanian who has an excellent PR),
Sanjay Sane (TIFR),
Tara George (6121223),
Ricki Husseni,
Vivek Chachi,
Murli Dhar Madhur (Railway Accounts),
Rashmi Shukla Dave (Railways - last heard was ACM goods at 3085555 Ext 212),
Shantanu Nagpal (Tata Administrative Service),
a big gang in Arthur Andersen, and
another big group in TIFR.

My information may be a little dated as I used to be in Bombay a few years ago. We used to have get togethers quite regularly.

Look forward to read the next issue of KT.

Regards

Akash

---

And now for some real sentimentality and pure nostalgia. I received this message from one Deepak Mukarji:

---

Subject: Hello
Sent: 28/9/98 16:07
From: Mukarji Deepak, deepakm@lucent.com

Hi Jacob,

It was delightful to have read Kooler Talk on the Web. It brought back a lot of very fond memories of a time past.

The family has had a very close association with the college since the early 1900s. And I am constantly amazed that no matter where I may be, there is someone who knew my father, my cousins, my brother. From the streets of Tokyo to the bars of Cairo and on to the waterfront of Seattle, I have met Stephanian's of every generation. And some have been brought to me by acquaintances.

Most recently, an 80 year old man rang up through a family friend to ask if I could give him a photograph of my grandfather's since he had dreamt of him every night for three months.

I had but one, but willingly parted with it. I was touched that at an age when most people forget all but the most dear, this venerable gentleman remembered little other than his time at St.Stephen's.

I would love to correspond with other Stephanians since in my industry I don't get the opportunity to meet with too many. It was fun for a while in the early nineties when I worked for an organisation where a college friend sat in the cabin next to mine and we had as a wonderfully supportive colleague another Stephanian ahead of us at college by some 10 years. Do keep in touch.

Deepak Mukarji
General Manager
Communications & Operations

---

I promptly replied asking whether Deepak was the grandson of Principal Mukarji? To which, I received this reply.

---

Subject: RE: Hello 2
Sent: 30/9/98 07:15
From: Mukarji Deepak, deepakm@lucent.com

Jacob,

Your assumption is quite correct.

My father was Ramesh -- the youngest son of Rai Bahadur S N Mukarji.

As of now only two of the five sons are living -- Sadanand Mukarji and Nirmal Mukarji.

But ... when my father was alive in the early 90s, one warm November morning, Principal John Hala invited him for lunch out of the blue. We thought it rather strange, particularly as my father was recovering from a heart attack. But having spent his childhood growing up at St.Stephen's, my father was excited to be going back and agreed readily despite words of caution from me. Also, he was very fond of Principal Hala.

I drove Papa to the college and as usual went to Alnutt Gate despite his protests. Sure enough the malis and the guards sent us round to the front gate which was wide open with a guard placed to welcome us. Papa couldn't resist his wicked smile saying, "remember, I too am a Stephanian and know which gate to use when".

Principal Hala ushered us in to his office where, for the nth time, I was told by Papa that the chairs in the room were brought by my grandfather from Cambridge. A pleasant cup of coffee in the staff room with many of my teachers whom I was delighted to meet again, and then Principal Hala and Amin Sa'ab coughed gently and requested that Papa please walk through the new library.

Old portrait shots had turned up in the archives and now graced the galleries but no one could identify them. Happily my father straightened up, and for someone who was barely 10 days out of hospital, brought a bounce into his step as he walked the halls of college. An exercise that should have taken 5 mins. ended up taking one hour since my father had to tell me and the others around all about T E Lawrence (of Arabia's) brother and Charlie Andrews (not my nick-name but my father's, since that is how he was taught to address the Rev. Charles Freer Andrews) amongst the many others. He kept his audience regaled with practical jokes played on various members of the staff and his father.

All in all a very warm memory for me today. Just the thought is making me tight in the throat. Lovely to have heard from you and do keep in touch.

Deepak

---

To this I did express some of the present difficulties in putting up Kooler Talk on time as I was facing a problem on the family front. Our youngest son of 24 is recovering in hospital from a third major surgery during the last three months to his vertebra and he will be unable to walk for a very long time. To which I received this touching reply.

---

Subject: RE: Hello
Sent: 30/9/98 08:05
From: Mukarji Deepak, deepakm@lucent.com

Jacob,

My heart goes out you and your family. Even though I am not a Roman Catholic, I will visit the Infant Jesus church in Bangalore this afternoon and light a candle for your son. And I promise when I return next week to get Mass said for his complete and speedy recovery. May God bless you and the family in this trying time.

Its amazing but it suddenly got cold for me when I read your note. I look forward to much happier notes about very much happier circumstances in the near future.

With very warm regards to your family.

I am still a happy bachelor and the family for me is Mama and a younger brother. I had a fight with him last week and therefore do not want to discuss him at this moment.

Maybe next week.

Thus a small and close family.

Oh yes! Lucent. It is a break away from AT&T in 1996 and comprises the research, manufacturing and marketing of telecom products that were part of the AT&T stables. I am part of Bell Labs in general management since I really should have graduated in theater having spent more time in SkakeSoc than Eco lectures or Tuts. However, God has been good to me, that in a limited sense, the world has expressed value for my specialised talents of writing, communications and people interface.

Deepak

---

Deepak - brother's are meant for fighting with. The best part is making up later. The same goes in marriage - (Akash and Manali, please note)!!

Mika, our son is recovering steadily, thanks to prayers being said, like the one by Deepak, for him all around the globe by the many readers of our, now sadly irregular, webletter, Findians Briefings. But it is still a long haul before Mika will walk again. From this, you will probably guess as to one of the reasons for the delay in putting up this issue of Kooler Talk, and probably a few more of the issues to come.

What was enlightening during the intervening period was the message I received about the "unofficial": web site for our college which has been put up by Kevin D'Souza.

Here was his message.

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Subject:St. Stephen's College Unofficial Web Site
From: Kevin D'Souza

Dear Alumni,

It's time to update all your Links & Bookmarks. The unofficial website of St. Stephen's College is now on the World Wide Web. It is available at :

St. Stephen's College Unofficial Web Site .

This makes Stephen's one of the few colleges affiliated to Delhi University to have its own website. You have been registered automatically into the alumni directory. If you want to make changes to you existing entry please use the online registration form available in the Alumni page. I would be very grateful if you could visit the site and provide your valuable feedback.

Please do not hesitate if you can contribute in any possible way.

Thanks

Kevin
WEB MASTER

P.S. Kevin D'Souza ( Web master ) is a first year student studying B.Sc. Computer Science. Email Technical enquires to him at kevindsouza@technologist.com

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There is a page of links to Stephanian related sites and sure enough, Sreeni from Columbia University and myself, had our links put up almost immediately. May I suggest that all of you put your links on that page.

In that context, Dr. Anthony P. Stone sent me this message:

---

Subject: Include Web Address Link
From: Dr. Anthony P. Stone

Dear Jacob,

If it's not there already, I should appreciate having my web page listed:

Dr. Anthony P Stone's Home Page

The India section gives some of my experiences. Otherwise a lot of it is mathematics.

Regards

Tony

---

and here was a message about the change of link address from Royans K Tharakan.

---

Subject: St. Stephens: my home page has changed
Sent: 7/11/98 16:02
From: Royans K Tharakan, rkt@sprintrpg.com

My Home page address has changed. The bookmark is

Royans K Tharakan

Would be kind of you to reflect the change against my name on your pages.

Regards,

Royans
Sprint RPG India Ltd
+91 11 6961722/6863172

---

With pleasure Roy.

And now to more nostalgia - if you can stomach it!!

I had written a letter to a few ancient Stephanians like me on the lines of:

"Being one of the oldest Stephanians registered at the Stephanian Alumni Registry, I would be grateful if you would kindly send me a few words about yourself to be included in one of the coming issues of Kooler Talk (Web Version)."

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Subject: Re: Hi,
Sent: 14/10/98 01:07
From: Enver Masud, wisdom@twf.org

Judging by the dates, we must have been in Stephens together.

I have two resume's on the web. The shorter one at

E Masud

will lead you to the second. If I can add anything please let me know.

By the way, what do you do in Finland? I was supposed to be traveling to Latvia this weekend, but the trip has been delayed.

I have copied Sanjoy Acharya in Canada - a classmate at Stephens.

Enver Masud

---

And this was the continuation message including my reply to Enver:

---

Subject: Re: Hi 2
Sent: 14/10/98 14:59
From: wisdom@twf.org

Jacob wrote:

* Hi Enver,

* Till now, I was claiming to be the oldest Stephanian to maintain a web
* page - but now, and publicly, I will gladly hand over the title to you. I
* did not count Dr. Stone in that calculation as he was not a Stephanian by
* education, but that he later taught Mathematics there.

Enver:

How time flies.

Jacob wrote:

* You passed out in 1959, one year before I joined - but you would have
* been there the same time as my elder brother, Dr. Ranjit Matthan
* (now in Madras), who used to live in Q-block and he was a part of the BSc
* General crowd consisting of Anil Kumar (Annie) now in New
* York, T. J. Joseph (Josey) now in Bangalore and Kazim Raza
* who used to work as a steward inAir India till he died. You may also
* recall Ranjit Jacob who was part of that crowd, who fell off the
* train at Jamuna Bridge and returned to college a year later.

Enver:

You're right. I had the dates wrong. '60 to '63 is when I went to the University of Oklahoma. My memory must not be so good. Sanjoy's seems to be a lot better. I remember a Promod Chakravarty, and perhaps Kazim Raza. He must have been quite young when he passed away.

Jacob wrote:

* Of course, Kamalesh Sharma, now the Indian Ambassador at the
* UN and Arun Guha (who has just recently been in touch) will be
* those who are in touch with me which overlaps with you. You may also
* recall Chinmoy Banerjee who is presently in Canada. Samuel
* Alexander was also probably your time, but in the last few weeks I am
* having a problem with his email contact address.

* Dr. Peter Phlip joined the year you graduated - he lives in Bombay.

Enver:

Now I'm sure my memory is failing. That's what my sister frequently says. I don't remember any of these folks. And I reply that one remembers what one gives priority to, or that which is reinforced by some other incident., etc.

Jacob wrote:

* PS: I live in North Finland about 700 km from Helsinki and very few
* Stephanians reach here - except possibly Prof. Ajeet Mathur, who
* lives in Tampere, Finland - grand reunion of the two Stephanians in
* Finland whenever we get the chance!!

Enver:

That is way up where it must be really cold. I assume you've learned to ski. My colleagues in Riga come from Norway. I've made several trips there. If it weren't so cold I might have considered relocating. It is beautiful, and the people somewhat more civilized than here in the U.S.

Best wishes,

Enver

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But I had a more informative message from Sanjoy, even though in his first message (not included here) he did take me for being a cross between my brother, Dr. Ranjit Matthan and Ranjit Jacob, both being his year mates!!

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Subject: Re: Hi 3
Sent: 14/10/98 04:30
From: Sanjoy Ahcarya, acharyas@idirect.com

Hello Jacob,

Yes, Enver and myself were indeed classmates together during Raja Ram's tenure at St.Stephen's.

We both scraped through "Compulsory Hindi".

We both enjoyed our 3 years at SS and the University of Delhi, under professors such as Dr. Kichhlu (Physics), Harnam Singh, Dr. Bannerjee (Physical Chemistry), etc. Mr. Sarkar and Mr. Nagpal taught us Mathematics at the SS home base.

We were both day boarders, but stayed for lunch at the college refectory.

Personally, I loved Wednesdays when we had Kaddhi and puri, so I used to sit at the "veg" table that day, even though I was a "non-veg" person normally.

Anyway, we both passed our B.Sc. degrees and I went to London, England to complete my Electrical Engineering degree. I worked at various companies in the UK, got married to Ann and had 3 children, Lalita, Ranjan and Manjula.

Then in 1998 we emigrated to Canada.

I currently work for Atomic Energy of Canada as an Instrumentation Engineer.

Regards to all Stephenians.

From the Acharya family.

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Is it really possible that someone liked any college food served in the Mess? The days I was on the Mess Committee when I was JCR President, the complaints I had every week were mile long - the only acceptable stuff on the table being the green mirchis and the onions - now, I understand, in scarce supply in Delhi. Must be a riot in the Stephanian mess!!

Believe it or not, I must stop now, even though I am loaded wth great post from Stephanians from all corners of the globe (such as Arun, Amit, David, Reji, Deepu, Mariam, etc.....). I do read all my mail - that I prpmise. I will get around to putting up all your comments in some of the coming issues - that I promise, although I cannot quite promise it will be on time as previously.

Don't stop writing as I have the desperate urge to prove to Shujoy that Kooler Talk (Web Version) is something that Stephanians around the world appreciate and enjoy, not because it is just for chatting, but because we all have something to say and contribute to each other's lives - as Deepak's prayers in Bangalore have helped me and my wife, and our son, tremendously.

A short while ago, when the existence of all my web efforts was under threat, over 200 of you around the world sent me cheques to continue this page. Luckily, the issue was resolved and I was able to return all of the cheques, UNUSED!!

That spontaneous response showed me how supportive our community is online, and how much this effort of mine is valued. So, despite Shujoy's comment, I intend to continue it in the same framework, albeit, irregularly. Hope Shujoy will contribute some of those non-understandable jokes for us to digest.

Your Kooler Talk (Web Version) Honorary Editor

Jacob

KTWV01-Issue 3: Bloated Head

Hi Web-surfing Stephanians,

Here is Some Late Late News for Stephanians in the New York Area:

Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 16:05:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sreenath Sreenivasan (email supplied)
Subject: FYI... Stephanians in New York

You are invited to the launch of STEPHANIANS IN NEW YORK
-A monthly gathering of former students of St. Stephen's College, Delhi
Wednesday, June 12, 1996, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Lancer's Restaurant / 230 E. 44th St (btwn 2nd &3rd) in Manhattan
Complimentary appetizers, cash bar
Come have a drink and catch up... Please spread the word...
Questions? Comments? RSVP? Sree 212-854-5979; ss221@columbia.edu
As Indian weddings cards would say...
With compliments of:
The '70s
Ramu Damodaran, Amitav Ghosh, Sunil "Mankind" Khanna, Padma Rao, Kanwar Singh, Shashi Tharoor
The '80s &'90s
Alok Kumar Jha, Rajiv Kamilla, Nandini Sikand, Sreenath Sreenivasan)

In this issue I want to show you how large a bloated head I have!

When I joined college in 1960 the JCR was dead as a doornail. A new building with dusty green curtains, a sleepy chowkidar called Sahib Singh, but no action. After the Miss Fresher contest it was not worth visiting. All we had was a very old radio on which it was difficult to even pick up All India Radio, Delhi, and a couple of draught boards. Many of us used crystal radio sets (those were the days - I wonder if I could make one of those now!) in our rooms rather than listen to that lousy one in the JCR!

As a first year student from out of Delhi, it was really boring in the college in the evenings, and especially during the weekends. During the year, some of us in Mukarji East (there was no Mukarji West then) decided that we would take charge of the JCR in the following year. We decided that we would to put up a candidate for the JCR Presidency. (Pardon my memory. The correction of Mukerjee North and South to Mukarji East and West was kindly pointed out - quickly, by Shreyas Bordia whose father and uncle were also Stephanians)

Even before the end of the first year, because I had fairly close links with Principal Sircar and Dean Rajpal, as I used to go to St. James Church at Kashmiri Gate and have breakfast with the Principal every Sunday morning, the lot fell on me to stand for the Presidency. The idea was to use my good contact with the hierarchy to get some things done for the students. It was a tactical plan and proposed, if I am not wrong by shrewd Rathikant Basu, then a second year student of Economics and also a Mukarji Court tenant.

No second year student had ever been President of the JCR before. Many of our group felt it was worth attempting as our strategy was to promote the concept that not having the study pressure of a final year student, a second year student was likely to spend more time making the JCR an interesting place.

When I returned to college for the 1961-62 year, it meant that I had have to forgo ragging freshers as I had to be nice to get their vote. (I only ragged one guy who was escaping ragging by claiming to know me personally - whereas I had never met him before in my life.)

I was fortunate to have a solid supporter in my cousin, a fresher, 64er Mammen Mathew, now the Chief Editor of the Malayala Manorama. He, and a group of his friends became my core vote catchers amongst the freshers.

I also had a cousin, 62er Peter Philip, known as Tubby, in the third year. Tubby did his Economics from college, proceeded to Cambridge to get his Masters and then got his Doctorate in Economics from Stanford. He is presently the Managing Director of India Coffee and Tea Distributing Company in Bombay (known to Mumbaites as Philips Coffee and Tea) and he also heads the plastics metallisation plant in Aurangabad, amongst his many industrial activities. So I had a good activator amongst the third year students.

Unlike Dosco-ites and other northern public school students, there were not many from my old school in Stephens, but IAS Tony Jaitly was very much there amongst the MA crowd to canvas votes for me. 63er Sujeet Bhattacharaya, son of then Governor of Reserve bank of India, and my classmate from Cathedral School, Bombay, was also there to support me.

Being of rather happy-go-lucky constitution I was fairly solid among the second year residents.

If I remember correctly, my opponents were Harsh Tankha, a Physics Honours student of the final year and Gulshan Dua, a first year MA student. Both of these were extremely confident that no second year student was going to land up as President of the JCR.

I won this contest easily thanks to the untiring efforts, not only of those named above but a solid group of my election workers which spanned the entire cross-section of years and communities in the college. They included 63er Ravi Batra (I am still trying to decipher whether it is the same Ravi Batra of the Great Depression fame - he certainly looks a twin of my friend from Assansol with his bushy eyebrows), Pondicherry-product French speaking 63er Ajay Verma (great basketball player), East African 62er Niranjan Desai (now probably an Ambassador in the Indian Foreign Service somewhere), 63er Arun (Tich) Agarwal (the Managing Director of MAS, Delhi), tennis star 63er Rajagopal Narayanan, 63er Abe Tharakan (now CEO of the largest sea food exporter in India), 62er Rathikant Basu (who I think is now in some senior IAS post in Delhi), Physics Honours student 63er R. Badrinath who received a Padma Shree for the way he handled the refugees at the time of the Bangla Desh war, Keraltes 63er Ajeet Ninan, 63er George Verghese, 62er Ranjeet Jacob and artist 62er Prakash Joseph, 64er Azhar Siddique (probably managing a five star hotel in the Middle East after his days as the head of Oberoi Towers in Bombay), 64er Ramu Katakam, now a great architect, (whose dad was the last man to report to the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi every night as head of Indian intelligence), Suresh Mehra (a very successful garment exporter now operating from Hyderabad, to name just a few. I also had a few very good supporters from the MA final crowd as 62er Lalit Mohan, 62er Kamalesh Sharma and 62er Chinmoy Banerjee, as they had been close with my brother who had finished at college just before I joined.

I learnt then how it was to organise and win an election, and in the next issue I hope to tell you what we accomplished in that year to make the JCR a wonderful and lively place during the remainder of our time in the college. I wonder how many of the traditions we started still survive.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in after Issue 2. May I remind you once again to register in the official Indian Alumni Register, both in the Stephanian and Delhi University sections - details of which can be obtained from our Archives of the Letters to the Editor.

If you feel that these issues are too brief, please let me know, as I have lots of material. I hope some of you will start to send in your stuff as well. I am hoping with these regular yarns from the past I will bridge the generation gap as you may recognise many of the personalities mentioned - some may even be your dads, and if so, I would certainly like to know. Since we were not co-educational then, I am afraid I cannot claim knowledge of any of your moms!

Yours sincerely

JACOB MATTHAN
Oulu, Finland
BSc 1960-1963
JCR President 1961-1962
Mukerjee Block S-8 (1960-1963)
Gyp: Kundan Singh - a great guy who helped us out in every way possible from jumping gates to fixing the late night register!!

KTWV01-Issue 1: What is Kooler Talk?

Hello Web Surfing Stephanians,

First question First

What is Kooler Talk?

Kooler Talk was a college rag which was started in the early sixties by such illustrious names as 62er Sarwar Lateef (of Economist fame and he was then a correspondent with one of the major Indian newspapers), 62er Prakash Joseph (a superb cartoonist and the last I heard was busy marketing Indian textiles somewhere in the US), 63er Montek Singh Alhuwalia (Rhodes scholar and now Indian Finance Secretary spearheading the liberalisation programme) amongst others.

It was named after what took place every night at the Blacksmith, where us "studious hard-working" souls, usually having a rest from our intensive bridge rubbers, would assemble to discuss everything under the sun but studies.

Kooler Talk was a great hit. After I left college in 1963 I do not know whether it continued, and if so, for how long.

I, along with two colleagues, did a couple of pieces for Kooler Talk including one exposure of the misappropriation of some Aid material.

Our trio was called the Heap Gang - Big Heap, Middle Heap and Little Heap. Little Heap was none other than 62er Niranjan Desai, an East African student who later took up Indian nationality and is probably a First Secreatry or Ambassador somewhere by now. Middle Heap was 63er Ajay Verma who joined the Indian Army, survived a war with Pakistan by the luck of a cigarette, worked with Bata Shoe Company and then emigrated to Denmark without a penny in his pocket, married a nice Danish girl, had a couple of lovely children, and last I heard had an Indian Boutique somewhere in Malmo in Sweden. Of course, Big Heap, was me, Jacob Matthanand over the course of the next few issues I hope you will get some idea of life in college, as I saw it, during the early sixties when I was there.

What I would like to offer here is a page for other Stephanians to share the experiences of their years, so that others can enjoy and see how the college grew or shrank, as many do not know much of what has happened once they left their alma mater.

I must especially thank 91er Krishna Kumar (Alumini list) for maintaining the Alumini list, which I discovered while web surfing, and if you have not registered, I suggest that you go to his site and register immediately.

Do let me know how you would like this page to develop and I shall try my best, as I am not a net wizard youngster, compared with most of you and do not have the youthful experience to do anything very complicated on the computer. I am a Mac addict and as a result prepare my web pages without knowing anything very much about scripting. We have great Mac tools with which we just type up a file in a text processor and just drop that file onto a program, and hey presto - the web page is ready. As the text processor does not have a built in spell checker, you may rather frequently come across spelling mistakes - for which I ask to be excused!

Some of the items that I wll cover from the period 1960 to 1963, is the JCR Presidency, the first JCR Evening, the introduction of various competitions in the JCR, the Miss Fresher contests, ragging, stories about the Principal, Dean, some staff members, some students - especially those who are well known characters today, etc. Lot of hard gossip in the usual Stephanian style as I can muster after a period of 33 years in the outside world! And hopefully, plenty of PJs.

Regards

JACOB MATTHAN
Oulu, Finland