1971
My first year at Senior School and the house assembly in the SLR. The SLR was the Savage House girls assembly room and that's probably why it's so sad that the SLR no longer exists. I am sure all Savage House girls have great memories there.
The house captains - girls - Vijayalaxmi Jannah, Rhea Jefferies and Duriya Dawoodboy.
boys - Jameel Tyebjee (can't remember the others).
This was our first true taste of belonging to a house and we little std 7s were quite daunted by our house captains. They looked scary to us even though they were actually very nice. Duriya looked friendly so she was the one we ran to and hid behind. She was so sweet and great at athletics.
I won the individual junior Hindi debates prize for Savage house - a proud (and embarassing) moment when acknowledged and announced by the house captains and the house mistress (Mrs Anthony) at house assembly.
1972
House Captains - girls - Ragini Kochar and Chandra Damani
boys - Rohingtan Nariman (can't remember the others)
This will be remembered as the "marching" year. The umpteen marching practices conducted by Ragini Kochar (secretly nicknamed Hitler by us) and Chandra Damani. You never wanted to get on the wrong side of Ragini, so Chandra was the one we ran to. Ragini was always serious and barking orders at us. Chandra was the smiley, sweet one. Despite everything, Ragini was an awesome house captain.
Back to the marching ... I can still hear Ragini scream .... SAVAGE HOUSE, dig your heels and swing your arms and MARCH. I think if we had lost the marching Ragini would have executed us all. However, Ragini's marching training set the foundation for the future years. As I recall we won every year - definitely 1975 if not the others.
One "oh my God" moment was when my name came up on the Savage house junior swimming team. Heaven knows what these captains were thinking. Dipping my toe into the water was a herculean task for me. If there was a prize for drowning, I'd be a guaranteed gold for Savage.
Unfortunately I forgot the words of my hindi poem and made a complete hash of it during the hindi elocution contest. My house captain never let me forget that I had let the house down very badly.
1973
House Captains - girls - Archana (Archie) Basu, Amreeta Mathews, Kiran Prakash
boys - David Ashkenazi and Alan Ganguly(?)
Archana Basu was the sweetest house captain we ever had. Archie and David were also my class prefects (std 9C). This was really the best year in school - the one I enjoyed the most. But that's another post on the blog. I'll stick to the Savage house memories here.
Archie was my favourite house captain. She was just so lovely. Always smiling, encouraging, soft spoken and so kind. And she was so pretty too.
To atone my sins from 1972 - in letting the house down - I decided the only way to overcome the fear was to get on the horse again - and so I did. Mr Wagh gave me the most difficult piece of prose for the hindi elocution contest called "Ma" a most tragic story with several emotions within it. I came third - proud moment again at house assembly. Being congratulated by my favourite house captain was the icing on the cake. The smile on her face was just worth it all.
1974
House Captains - girls - Roopa Sukhthanker, Gulnar Bandukwalla, Martina Chowdhary
boys - Tappan Datta (can't remember the others)
Strangely enough, this is a year that I have the least memories of in terms of Savage House. Probably because I did nothing spectacular - like letting down the house. I did however represent the house at the usual Throwball, Hindi elocution and debates.
1975
House Captains - girls - Padmaja Kelkar and Ila Raiji
boys - Mehul Mehta, Ricky Lamba, Abeezer Essabhoy.
Marching practice - over and over again Puddy and I tried to emulate Ragini - yelling the usual SAVAGE HOUSE dig your heels and swing your arms and MARCH - failing miserably as we dissolved into giggles. But where it mattered: the synchronised yell of the captains - SAVAGE HOUSE, EYES RIGHT - and the synchronised, precise timing of all left legs out in front at just the right angle, the heels dug into the ground, the sharp turn of the heads to the right, the right hands straight out in front parallel to the ground, the left hand swung back again at just the right angle, knuckles clenched tight, the thumb over the knuckles pointing straight - secured the first spot for us. Will we ever forget this? I don't think any Savage girl will ever forget. In Puddy's words, it's been dinned into our brains.
House Games - Tuesday was the Savage House day - my job was to mark the attendance - I don't know how I inherited this task. My one vivid memory of house games - all the std 9 girls had decided they were going to sit one out and came up with a flimsy excuse. I offered them a last chance to change into their PE gear and start practicing a game or be faced with 2 weeks physical detention. That got them scampering. I think it's the only time I ever threatened anyone with detention.
House Assembly - the first one - standing in front of the house - what a moment. So many dreams in our hearts. The juniors - lovely std 7s and 8s - so cute and so enthusiastic. the outstanding but mischievious std 9s, and the seniors std 10s and 11s - so supportive and helpful.
House Assembly - the last one - the choc cream icecreams handed out - the gifts from the girls received (mine was a silver chain with Ila on it) - I had tears in my eyes. What a journey this had been. I enjoyed every moment of it. Lira, Puddy and I lined up to say goodbye to the house and as each girl filed past us, almost every Savage girl from std 7-10 gave me a hug, some little std 7s even dared to pull my cheeks. We came last but I think we won the hearts of all our Savage girls and in the end that was all that mattered. And we got a big hug from Mrs Kochar too. She was an awesome house mistress.
Mr Elisha - my rare moments of cheek - the girls were doing okay - second, third in most events and the boys ... not so well. So I walked up to Mr Elisha and said to him "What are your boys doing?' his reply hands on hips: "Miss Raiji, my boys are doing just fine. Wait and see, the cricket cup is in my pocket". Sadly the cricket cup never came Savage's way. So having lost the cricket cup I walked up to him again and said "I think there's a hole in your pocket Sir". To which he said "Miss Cheeky Raiji, your brother was an angel. You..." (35 years later I'm thinking ... my brother, an angel? - yeah right!)
Other Savage House memories - Receiving the vice-captain badge and pinning it onto my uniform each morning, Puddy and I discussing practice sessions for various sports, taking elocution practice in the SLR at lunchtime, encouraging the little juniors before they took their turn on the podium for elocution or debates, consoling the girls when they lost and were discouraged, screaming ourselves hoarse at sports events with the "1234 what are we here for 5678 who do we appreciate ... SAVAGE ... 9 10 11 12 PALMER HOUSE go to h.ll" (usually Palmer and Savage were side by side at the athletics so Palmer it was).
The highlight of the year was Savage winning the athletics - I think it was a pretty clean sweep we won every event bar 1. Head held high, the Green flag proudly fluttering.
Another memory is winning a game at Throwball to come second overall in the Senior girls. We were the underdogs and we surprised I think it was Barham. It was an almost forgone conclusion that Savage would come last so that was a moment of pure joy.
And now to the boys captains:
All the Savage House boys captains (1971 - 1975) were lovely. My memories of them are:
Jameel Tyebjee - tall and lanky (he seemed tall then) , a real smiler - he just smiled. I remember him wearing the school blazer.
Rohingtan Nariman - another smiler - I bumped into him on a road in New Delhi the year he left and he yelled my name across the road and completely embarrased me.
David Ashkenazi - so polite, soft-spoken, kind, sweet, and ever so cute.
Tappan Datta - very pleasant
Mehul Mehta - a man of few words, quiet and very serious
Ricky Lamba - quietly mischievious - he did it with the straightest of faces
Abeezer Essabhoy - very pleasant, also a smiler.
These and many more are Savage House memories that will never die.
Some other Savage House facts
4 Savage House head girls:
1972 - Aarti Pandit
1973 - Anjini Kochar
1974 - Brenda Raine
1975 - Lira Cheriyan
Savage House Motto -
Palmam qui meruit ferat - Let him bear the palm who has deserved it
The girls had their own Savage House Motto - Excelsior - ever higher
Savage House Master and Mistress 1975: Mr Elisha, Mrs Kochar
Savage House named after Thomas Arthur Savage, the longest standing principal in the history of Cathedral. He also adopted the school motto Clarum Efficiunt Studia - Studies Maketh Famous.
And lastly, apologies for any misspelt names.
My first year at Senior School and the house assembly in the SLR. The SLR was the Savage House girls assembly room and that's probably why it's so sad that the SLR no longer exists. I am sure all Savage House girls have great memories there.
The house captains - girls - Vijayalaxmi Jannah, Rhea Jefferies and Duriya Dawoodboy.
boys - Jameel Tyebjee (can't remember the others).
This was our first true taste of belonging to a house and we little std 7s were quite daunted by our house captains. They looked scary to us even though they were actually very nice. Duriya looked friendly so she was the one we ran to and hid behind. She was so sweet and great at athletics.
I won the individual junior Hindi debates prize for Savage house - a proud (and embarassing) moment when acknowledged and announced by the house captains and the house mistress (Mrs Anthony) at house assembly.
1972
House Captains - girls - Ragini Kochar and Chandra Damani
boys - Rohingtan Nariman (can't remember the others)
This will be remembered as the "marching" year. The umpteen marching practices conducted by Ragini Kochar (secretly nicknamed Hitler by us) and Chandra Damani. You never wanted to get on the wrong side of Ragini, so Chandra was the one we ran to. Ragini was always serious and barking orders at us. Chandra was the smiley, sweet one. Despite everything, Ragini was an awesome house captain.
Back to the marching ... I can still hear Ragini scream .... SAVAGE HOUSE, dig your heels and swing your arms and MARCH. I think if we had lost the marching Ragini would have executed us all. However, Ragini's marching training set the foundation for the future years. As I recall we won every year - definitely 1975 if not the others.
One "oh my God" moment was when my name came up on the Savage house junior swimming team. Heaven knows what these captains were thinking. Dipping my toe into the water was a herculean task for me. If there was a prize for drowning, I'd be a guaranteed gold for Savage.
Unfortunately I forgot the words of my hindi poem and made a complete hash of it during the hindi elocution contest. My house captain never let me forget that I had let the house down very badly.
1973
House Captains - girls - Archana (Archie) Basu, Amreeta Mathews, Kiran Prakash
boys - David Ashkenazi and Alan Ganguly(?)
Archana Basu was the sweetest house captain we ever had. Archie and David were also my class prefects (std 9C). This was really the best year in school - the one I enjoyed the most. But that's another post on the blog. I'll stick to the Savage house memories here.
Archie was my favourite house captain. She was just so lovely. Always smiling, encouraging, soft spoken and so kind. And she was so pretty too.
To atone my sins from 1972 - in letting the house down - I decided the only way to overcome the fear was to get on the horse again - and so I did. Mr Wagh gave me the most difficult piece of prose for the hindi elocution contest called "Ma" a most tragic story with several emotions within it. I came third - proud moment again at house assembly. Being congratulated by my favourite house captain was the icing on the cake. The smile on her face was just worth it all.
1974
House Captains - girls - Roopa Sukhthanker, Gulnar Bandukwalla, Martina Chowdhary
boys - Tappan Datta (can't remember the others)
Strangely enough, this is a year that I have the least memories of in terms of Savage House. Probably because I did nothing spectacular - like letting down the house. I did however represent the house at the usual Throwball, Hindi elocution and debates.
1975
House Captains - girls - Padmaja Kelkar and Ila Raiji
boys - Mehul Mehta, Ricky Lamba, Abeezer Essabhoy.
Padmaja Ila Nasreen (house secretary)
 |
| Mehul Rakesh Abeezer |
House Games - Tuesday was the Savage House day - my job was to mark the attendance - I don't know how I inherited this task. My one vivid memory of house games - all the std 9 girls had decided they were going to sit one out and came up with a flimsy excuse. I offered them a last chance to change into their PE gear and start practicing a game or be faced with 2 weeks physical detention. That got them scampering. I think it's the only time I ever threatened anyone with detention.
House Assembly - the first one - standing in front of the house - what a moment. So many dreams in our hearts. The juniors - lovely std 7s and 8s - so cute and so enthusiastic. the outstanding but mischievious std 9s, and the seniors std 10s and 11s - so supportive and helpful.
House Assembly - the last one - the choc cream icecreams handed out - the gifts from the girls received (mine was a silver chain with Ila on it) - I had tears in my eyes. What a journey this had been. I enjoyed every moment of it. Lira, Puddy and I lined up to say goodbye to the house and as each girl filed past us, almost every Savage girl from std 7-10 gave me a hug, some little std 7s even dared to pull my cheeks. We came last but I think we won the hearts of all our Savage girls and in the end that was all that mattered. And we got a big hug from Mrs Kochar too. She was an awesome house mistress.
Mr Elisha - my rare moments of cheek - the girls were doing okay - second, third in most events and the boys ... not so well. So I walked up to Mr Elisha and said to him "What are your boys doing?' his reply hands on hips: "Miss Raiji, my boys are doing just fine. Wait and see, the cricket cup is in my pocket". Sadly the cricket cup never came Savage's way. So having lost the cricket cup I walked up to him again and said "I think there's a hole in your pocket Sir". To which he said "Miss Cheeky Raiji, your brother was an angel. You..." (35 years later I'm thinking ... my brother, an angel? - yeah right!)
Other Savage House memories - Receiving the vice-captain badge and pinning it onto my uniform each morning, Puddy and I discussing practice sessions for various sports, taking elocution practice in the SLR at lunchtime, encouraging the little juniors before they took their turn on the podium for elocution or debates, consoling the girls when they lost and were discouraged, screaming ourselves hoarse at sports events with the "1234 what are we here for 5678 who do we appreciate ... SAVAGE ... 9 10 11 12 PALMER HOUSE go to h.ll" (usually Palmer and Savage were side by side at the athletics so Palmer it was).
The highlight of the year was Savage winning the athletics - I think it was a pretty clean sweep we won every event bar 1. Head held high, the Green flag proudly fluttering.
Another memory is winning a game at Throwball to come second overall in the Senior girls. We were the underdogs and we surprised I think it was Barham. It was an almost forgone conclusion that Savage would come last so that was a moment of pure joy.
And now to the boys captains:
All the Savage House boys captains (1971 - 1975) were lovely. My memories of them are:
Jameel Tyebjee - tall and lanky (he seemed tall then) , a real smiler - he just smiled. I remember him wearing the school blazer.
Rohingtan Nariman - another smiler - I bumped into him on a road in New Delhi the year he left and he yelled my name across the road and completely embarrased me.
David Ashkenazi - so polite, soft-spoken, kind, sweet, and ever so cute.
Tappan Datta - very pleasant
Mehul Mehta - a man of few words, quiet and very serious
Ricky Lamba - quietly mischievious - he did it with the straightest of faces
Abeezer Essabhoy - very pleasant, also a smiler.
These and many more are Savage House memories that will never die.
Some other Savage House facts
4 Savage House head girls:
1972 - Aarti Pandit
1973 - Anjini Kochar
1974 - Brenda Raine
1975 - Lira Cheriyan
Savage House Motto -
Palmam qui meruit ferat - Let him bear the palm who has deserved it
The girls had their own Savage House Motto - Excelsior - ever higher
Savage House Master and Mistress 1975: Mr Elisha, Mrs Kochar
 |
| Mr Elisha Mrs Kochar |
Savage House named after Thomas Arthur Savage, the longest standing principal in the history of Cathedral. He also adopted the school motto Clarum Efficiunt Studia - Studies Maketh Famous.
And lastly, apologies for any misspelt names.
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