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SaikapiansAbroad Annual Summer Picnic 2010 - Event Pictures |
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Written by Gurjit Gill (Courtesy Gurpal and Raja)
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Friday, 27 August 2010 00:00 |
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click on the picture above to view the slide show of photographs from the day.
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Written by Mithrandir
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Thursday, 26 August 2010 00:38 |
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People don’t really get out of the place with magical wands in their hands and spells on their lips, they are not really wizards by the time they pass out, neither the place is reached by entering into a quarter of a platform but the place is no less magical than the Hogwarts, if a comparison can be made. One thing which can’t be helped but said is that the people who go in are special just like they are when they are selected for Hogwarts but unlike most leaving Hogwarts the souls that leave this realm are of questionable variety. Yet it’s a place worth all its perils.
There must be dark arts and magic at work there. Habshi is sure of that now. For how else can he not see the darkness that day. Then again a ten year old has not the best defense against the dark arts.
Getting down at DC chowk they hailed a rickshaw. It was not much of a chowk. But in that city that was best available option for a chowk so they called it one and the DC lived close by, hence DC chowk. Mother haggled with a rickshawalah and got the price to whatever was good enough to be paid in 1991. As the rickshaw pulled away from the chowk towards the pink-walled-silver-gate realm, a magical realm Habshi thinks now, of Sainik School Kapurthala, the sounds of the world faded. Calm descended onto the world. Habshi was too young to know about the calms before the storms, of raising guard against the unknown charms, of staying alert to the stabs at the heart and he let the fascination take him and sweep him.
That gate for sure was possessed, the gate and the extension of it towards left side as the rickshaw approached from the DC chowk, the extension facing the thandi sadak. It wasn’t thandi enough to give you a chill. It was thandi if you knew how the magic worked. Habshi only ten and too young to understand and his mother too eager to meet her elder one hardly paying any heed to the magic around. The food was getting cold and to linger too long near the thandi sadak didn’t seem such a good idea. The rickshawalah was paid his due at the gate and they pushed forward.
Habshi could not take his eyes from all the heads that were jammed in the grills of the gate and the arms that slowly raised themselves to point at the regular flow of rickshaws coming towards the gate. The arms would point, some of those will withdraw back and the body that particular arm belonged to will run to the gate with extended arms to hug and be hugged. And the space that was created in the grills was momentary before another head got there and before another set of arms showed. The gate and its extension of grills were alive.
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Read more: A Magical Realm
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Written by Noel Ellis (DS50)
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Monday, 31 May 2010 00:00 |
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This was an e-mail sent to me by fellow Saikapian Rakesh Gupta
Hi Noel,
My name is Rakesh Gupta and I am from the 1966 Batch. I couldn't believe that both your parents have left this world, I remember Ellis sir, from 7th grade, he gave me the name Banke Bihari. I still wonder how he came up with that name, but, I never dared to ask him. I still remember following him on his hunting trips with his bike on one hand the Air rifle on the other, and if he would get few large birds, then I would get a ride back on his bike, otherwise we both walked back. He had a great aim, I don't remember him missing a single shot. That was the time when he was not your teacher but a friend, and talk to you differently; I mean he really influenced our lives. Noel, I remember you as toddler and now I saw your picture with your daughter. I live in New York; please try to stay in touch.
Rakesh
It’s been ages that I have handled an air gun now, but I subtly remember using it in school very often. That time shooting was open and we had two air guns at home. I accompanied my Dad on umpteen occasions and every trip used to be unique. There were lessons to be learnt and values to be picked up. The birds didn’t matter, pigeons, doves, partridges, horn bills or fish.
Some of these I want to share with you. You all know that Dad stood on certain principals but you may not know how he applied them to his own life and passed on to his children. Here is the other side of the story…
Never go unprepared for a task. Prepare in advance and prepare well
It used to start two days in advance. It included cleaning of the gun, collection / purchase of ammunition, target practice in the rear of the house on a match box, then graduate to a match stick. Prepare the ladies cycle (Helicopter to some). Never go unprepared for a task. Prepare well and prepare in advance.
Know thy enemy (shikar), its habits, habitat and vulnerabilities
I have gone with him many a times before dawn. Partridge is one bird which is the laziest in the morning (so am I). They remain in their bunch even after one is shot.
Ek goli ek dushman
He rarely missed as he was a sharp shooter. He never left an injured bird, even at the cost of abandoning the game that day.
No collateral damage
Go over the area once; see if there are any road blocks. Basically, he used to see that no one was working in the vicinity (a day prior).
Ability to differentiate
One not only had to be a sharp shooter, but also had to be a keen listener. The birds used to reveal their location by calling, and a wrong bird could be avoided from being shot.
Blend in with the background
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Read more: Lessons From Dad to Son
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One on One with Mr. Dev Dhindsa (1934) |
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Written by Gurbakhshish Singh (3782)
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Monday, 24 May 2010 00:00 |
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Mr. Dev Dhindsa, School No. 1934, nick-named Kubba, graduated from Saikap in 1983 and joined Khalsa College, Jalandhar to pursue his college. He immigrated to Canada in 1987 and currently works as an enterprise architect with Oracle Canada. He is happily married and has two kids. He and his wife Kuldeep are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this year. Their elder son Vikram is graduating from University this year with his Bachelor’s Degree and wants to pursue a career in medicine. His daughter Amrita is graduating from high-school this year. His parents also live with the family since 1993 when his father retired from the Indian Armed Forces.
SaikapiansAbroad: Thank you for agreeing for this talk. Please tell us in a nutshell about your career journey starting from Saikap till now?
Mr. Dev Dhindsa: It is a pleasure to share small snippets of my life with my brothers and sisters. My career journey so to speak has been...well…somewhat interesting. Never being a “Yes Sir” sort of person, I knew even in my senior years at school that the army would not be a good career choice for me. And if you recall, the mid 80’s were not the best of times to be a young man in Punjab, but I will not go into any details in that regard…let sleeping dogs lie…! So after graduating from SSK, I enrolled in Khalsa College Jalandhar for my BSc. Actually I was sort of recruited by the college for their hockey program. Some of your readers may recall, I used to play in the left full-back position for the SSK team. But, while I did join Khalsa College, I did not join their hockey program. Instead, in my free-time I pursued acting/compeering opportunities with Jalandhar Doordarshan. Needless to say, this pursuit did not amount to anything…otherwise you would have been reading about this in my famous biography or something. But all joking aside, I never played hockey competitively after leaving school, till I immigrated to Canada in 1987 after marrying an Indo-Canadian. I immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta in January of 1987 and played on the provincial (state) Field/Grass Hockey (as it is known in North America) team. As North America (and specifically Alberta) was in a severe recession in the mid-late 80’s, so I had a tough time finding a job. If I applied for a “white collar” job they would say that I did not have enough experience or the qualifications and if I applied for a “blue collar” job or even a job at a fast-food restaurant or convenience store, they would say that I was over-qualified and would leave them as soon as I found a better job (which was obviously true). In desperation I went to see a career counselor (one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life) and acting upon the counselors recommendations I enrolled in a 2-year computing program at the local Community College, and the rest as they say – is history..! I currently work as an enterprise architect with Oracle Canada in the Information Technology field.
SaikapiansAbroad: Based on how your career has evolved, what stand do you have in favor of Saikapians serving in armed forces or other alternate careers than army after +2?
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Read more: One on One with Mr. Dev Dhindsa (1934)
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Written by Gurbakhshish Singh (3782)
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Tuesday, 30 March 2010 14:41 |
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He was always 5 minutes early but now he will be called as Late Mr. Y N Sharma (YNS). I still remember the sorrow in my heart when I uttered these words in the farewell speech for YNS. Not that it was one of the rare occasions when I was able to attract the attention of the Saikap crowd amidst my plethora of failed attempts on the stage, but because what YNS was for me.
Like every other Saikapian, I might have prayed at least once in my school days for a holiday break and had made a death wish for one of the teachers I hated the most, but it was never YNS. He was one who understood me and everyone. A heart that was an untouched diamond. Utterly outspoken, he never shied in saying whatever he wanted. The memory of his first words in the Class Six A is as wet as the rain pouring outside. Aeh Barish toon itna naanh bars ki woh aa naan saken, Jab woh aa jaaen to itna barsna, ke woh jaa naan sakein. The back benchers applauded him. The would be future lovers might have understood it. But I am very sure; these words never touched my insipid heart. One reason I remembered these words for years, was because I hated these words form the tongue of a teacher, whom I would later never be able to forget.
I didn’t have much interaction with him during the first three years in the school. I was just an average student with no major qualities. Teachers usually worked with the best and worst ones. What changed me is unknown to me too. But I wanted to get into the top ranks of class. I was always made to listen that I am form “Mand Area” and my primary school teachers always thought that this clique of students are genetically dumb. But, I still perspired. Genius is 98% perspiration and 2% inspiration. With an unknown inspiration in mind, I was perspiring. May be it was Hari Narayan. May be! The kid living next to my bed. The kid who never thought he was a kid. The kid who was a man. A knock kneed chap who would insert bricks between his knees and tie belt strongly around his legs, every time he went to sleep, with a mission that he would be able to straighten his legs. Not for one night. Not a week, but for months together.
I almost forgot sleeping. I kept studying. I ate extra large dinner to get energy going for most of the night and stole some chapattis for the remaining hours. When the light was gone, I used a candle. When the inspectors came to weed out the studious elements, I would hide. But, I kept going. There are a few who try absolute success, others piggy back on relative one. Someone exaggerated a masala story that I had gone mad, that reached YNS. He was not my Housemaster. Neither was I known to him. Still he questioned me: Why do you not sleep? Who told you this? That’s all and it was not one but 3 quick slaps on my left cheek. Poor kid, I could not do anything, but cry. I must have cursed him. I did not give up studying. It was the first “First” position of my life. Never before, I had tasted any victory. I was always second in my primary school, second to the girl whose mother was a prominent teacher in my school.
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Read more: A Diamond in the Rough
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Written by Mithrandir
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Tuesday, 30 March 2010 00:00 |
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Habshi never saw this with his eyes, but many claimed they did. It was his first year at SSK and many legends were finding eyes and ears. This legend though seems to have a ringing of certainty, he thinks, just by the sheer size of the man they were talking about and he saw him, not before the incident but later. So, he was inclined to believe what was traveling through the air even though the adversary was a steel bed who must have seen and been in many battles and survived.
This particular legend went, and in some places still goes, like this. In the first year of the batch of 1992-99, which was the second year for ‘3892’ at SSK, having failed to advance to the next level in 1991 and hence, surviving on the one lifeline that the institute afforded, repeat the class, 3892’s grandfather came to visit him. Fauja Singh. Just a mere Fauji Singh will not justify the man and, hence, the family knowing the stature of their men must have named the son Fauja. And he justified his name. If Habshi thinks from the long ago times, from a child of 11years point of view, Fauja Singh must have looked over seven feet and over 200kg, in actual he is not that large, but large enough to be counted big among big men.
So he came to visit his grandson, who was in Tilak house at the time and when he entered the dorm, they say he had to bend down to half his height (11 year olds seeing things). And after he had somehow squeezed himself in through the door (11 year olds seeing things again) he made his move towards what was to be a defeated adversary soon. They say they could hear the four legs giving in and the crash two houses down the lane, they say even the laziest of buggers in that house who could sleep in the maddening racket made by their matron in the morning got up with a fear of the devil. They say he was not even fully seated, just had a hand on the bed. That and many more things they say. But the legend is only this: that the four legged platform which that iron bed was gave in when grandfather of 3892 sat down that evening in Tilak house.
But this is the kind of stuff legends are made of. Nobody is sure what happened and everyone has a story to tell.
Sainik School Kapurthala was started in 1961. The admission exam was used to select the best of the lot. Students were ranked according to their performance and all got their roll number or school number accordingly. First batch started with 1, and the next batch started where earlier batch ended and by the time Habshi managed to secure a seat in 1991 he was 3969. Habshi’s class ranged from 3936 to about 4065 or something in that range. 3892 was what Amarjeet was to make a legend. He joined SSK in year of 1991.
He was not the brightest in acads, which was clear after he spent two years in class 6th. But perhaps he read the warning signs of broken bones at the hand of his grandfather in the incident of the broken bed and thereon stuck to the task for next five years. But if acads is one thing you never were interested in, giving it a go and surviving that long is a commendable effort. And a name, a nickname, played a major part in the man’s life.
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Read more: Thatti Baanwe
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