Tag: Old Lawrencians

"Glimpses of a Glorious Past", The Lawrence School, Lovedale

Farewell, dear Moira!

A little after a month past her 100th birthday, Old Lawrencian (OL) Dr Moira Breen Ph.D passed away on January 26, 2024 at Libertyville, Illinois, a short distance away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago and very far away from Madras (present day Chennai), India, where she was born on December 18, 1923.

I offer this tribute to dear Moira on behalf of Old Lawrencians  from Lovedale cutting across many generations from all over the world. At the time of her passing, she was most likely the oldest living OL in the world! 

Moira, I understand, is a girl’s name of Greek and Irish origin. In Greek, it translates to “destiny,” “share,” or “fate”. It is said that when babies were named “Moira ” they were encouraged to believe that their future was in their own hands.  Dr Breen, in that sense, was most appropriately named. She was a totally self made person . Her many accomplishments are all the more remarkable considering her humble beginnings. She was dogged by many difficulties starting with her father abandoning his family when his children were quite young. 

In the 1930s, the pupils of the Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School , Lovedale , were not quite associated with higher studies. Many of them joined the  military service in the UK or took up Govt service in India in the Railways, Customs and other Government departments. In this milieu, Dr Moira Breen’s academic and scholarly research reflected in many published papers stand out in testimony to her hard work, diligence and ability to overcome challenges that came her way.  “My old school in India gave me the backbone to live up to its motto “Never Give In” she wrote, summing up her life succinctly.

Family circumstances sent Moira and her younger brother to Lovedale in February 1932. Lovedale was home for her for most of the year, till she completed her Senior Cambridge examination with a first class. She then went to Queen Mary’s College in Madras ( present day Chennai) to complete her Bachelor of Science degree- once again in the first class.  Five years in the Christian Medical College , Vellore and the Women’s Christian College, Chennai as a teaching laboratory assistant fuelled in her the passion to study more. Appreciating her mettle, her Professors recommended her for a Master’s program where she could study and do research at Vassar, Poughkeepsie N.Y. It was only the second institution to grant degrees to women in higher education in the United States. 

As a 25 year old Anglo -Indian lady, who had never set foot outside the Madras Presidency before, she travelled from Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka) in a Dutch freighter heading to the United States. After a successful stint at Vassar, she did her  doctorate in Biochemistry from Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois in 1960. Subsequently, she became a Senior Medical Research Scientist with The Federal Government of the USA  in which capacity she worked till she retired in 1988.  

She loved art and even at a fairly advanced age showed a proficiency that belied her years. Apparently, she also drove a car till into her 90s!  She was known to be genial, helpful and a respected member of whichever community she lived in. She loved dogs and took in many over the years, her favourite being a Sheltie . 

Sadly ,from childhood, Moira was afflicted with a facial deformity which she took in her stride with her customary courage. She wrote, ” I am glad you liked the photo of myself.  I owe a lot to my 3 “facial and reconstructive surgeons” – one in India and two in the US – who over the years have performed a total of 22 surgical procedures on my face making me more socially presentable.”

Some of us Old Lawrencians like Joseph Thomas, (ARA 1957)- (who first introduced me to Moira), Yohaan John (VIN 1991) and I, Prem Rao ( NIL 1967) corresponded with Moira and spoke to her once in a while but we never actually met her. I still remember her kindness in readily sharing her memories for  ” “Glimpses Of A Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale” that I edited some years ago. (For those of you who are interested, there are several posts on this project in this blog. )

Remember, we spoke of destiny earlier? Here’s how Dr Breen happened to meet Rahel Abraham (DEO 1994). Moira wrote, ” It was a lovely Fall day, sunny and cool and Rahel was sitting outside a bakery shop with her two children and a big black Labrador dog.  I noticed the dog and stopped to talk  to her on my way in to the bakery store.  When I came out with a big grocery bag filled with 3 coffee cakes ( I was taking them to a party) she very kindly offered to help me.  My car was packed in the parking lot in the next block. So Rahel, her two young girls and the black dog accompanied me to my car.  On the way we introduced ourselves and she told me she was from Kerala. The following Sunday she visited me with her two girls and her black dog. The following week she invited me for dinner at her house where I met her husband and other members of her family. 

She was delighted to have met another OL who left Lovedale 55 years after she did! To add one more co-incidence to the story, it turned out that Moira knew one of Rahel’s relatives Dr Liza Chacko at CMC Vellore from many decades ago!! 

Starting from where she did and going through so much in her long life, for me, Dr Moira Breen was “Never Give In” personified.  Her life reminds me of the old saying, ” Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears!” May her soul rest in peace! 

I cannot end without thanking Joe, Yohaan, and Rahel for kindly sharing material and pictures for this post. 

reminiscences, The Lawrence School, Lovedale

“Pothe!” A Tribute to Pratap Pothen (1952-2022)

The world lost a talented film actor and director- and I a dear old friend-  with the passing away of Old Lawrencian Pratap Pothen,  Class of 1968, on July 15, 2022. 

There have been many tributes paid to him praising his acting and directorial skills. The aim is not to list all of them but two stayed in my mind: I liked Anand Kochukudy’a article calling him the “Original Hippy of Malayalam Cinema” and Suhasini Maniratnam’s straight from the heart personal tribute , “Farewell My Dear Friend Prathap” in The Hindu. She describes him as an “adorable eccentric” in this tribute to him on India Ahead. 

 It was my good fortune to have known him well since 1959 when I joined The Lawrence School, Lovedale, in the 3rd Std in Prep School. At age 7, leaving home and going to stay alone in a school far away was a totally new experience for me. Pratap, already a boarding school veteran having joined in the 1st Std took me under his wings and we remained close friends ever since.

He was one of the most creative persons I have known. I think he exhibited this trait all through his schooldays (1957-68) at Lovedale.

In 1961, when we were in the 5th in Mr K C Jacob’s Kailas House, our Housemaster “Jakes” asked us to put up an entertainment show with performances of different kinds. Pratap directed and acted in a skit propounding the benefits of the well known Eno Fruit Salt. When he shouted, “Oh no!” he, S N Mohanty and I – who made up the cast- had to hold our guts, moan, and make a sick face, as if in agony. This was repeated a few times till the audience too must have got sick of it. On the shout of “Eno!” we had to be magically transformed as the fizzy Eno did its trick, and become happiness personified.

After being together in Prep School and Kailas House, we went different ways for 6th and 7th – he to South Block and Siwalik, I to North Block and Himalaya. 

We were re-united in the 8th in Mr W J “Mac” McMahon’s Nilgiri House. 

Older OLs of the 60s and 70s may remember that in the mid 60s, Hindustan Lever brought out an innovative toothpaste called “Signal” with its distinctive red stripes. Mr Mohammed Naeem ( known far and wide naturally as “Neem”) was teaching us Health Science. He held forth at great length about Rana tigrina ( the common frog). Male staff in Lovedale in those days taught in suits. The one that Neem wore that day was quite natty- a dark black- grey with thin pin stripes in red. 

As was the custom those days, Pothe (as he was called affectionately by us) raised his hand to ask a question. “Yes, Pothen? What’s your doubt?” asked Mr. Naeem.

With a most innocent look the skilled actor that he was even in those days, Pothe asked, (pointing at Mr Naeem’s suit) , ” Sir, those red stripes!! Do they contain hexachlorophene?” 

In our school days, we used to write home every week. Our letters- almost universally – went along the lines of, ” My Dear Father, How are you? I am well and happy here!” 

Our House Master, “Mac” insisted that we maintain this habit during the holidays and write to him every week! One year on our return to school, Mac addressed us, ” I received letters every week from all of you. Some of them were quite interesting! The most interesting of them all was from Pothen. He wrote to me on June 28 and said, ” How are you, Sir.? I am waiting to see you in three days. I hope you received my letters of June 21, June 14, and June 7! ” I must say, Pothen, you have demonstrated the skilful use of the calendar.!” 

Lovedale and the school were always close to his heart. He was an integral part of the Class of ’68 and took part in most of their re-unions. This picture of their 50th Year Reuinon at Lovedale- like the others in this post- is through the kind courtesy of Viju Parameshwar, also of the Class of ’68 and also of Nilgiri House. 

Pothe was fun loving, creative, and lived life ( as he famously sang) “In My Way”! 

I know you will want us to laugh with you all the time, Pothe! Stay blessed wherever you are, old friend. 

"Glimpses of a Glorious Past", In The News, The Lawrence School, Lovedale

“Looking At Life” My Days At School

Speaking of my school days, you will find a number of posts of my life as a school boy in my old blog, “Looking At Life”. I don’t use that much anymore, having consolidated all my writing and blogging work in this website/blog.

A few recent events flooded my mind with many memories of my days at School.  For us ” School” meant The Lawrence School, Lovedale, where I studied from 1959 to 1967.

The first was the recent passing away of Mr N S Selvapackiam. The second was the return to Facebook of Mr V M Mohanraj. The third was, in these days of Covid19 and Lockdown, the creation of an on-line Virtual School Assembly by some enthusiastic Old Lawrencians like Kartik Raghava Murty and Gul Panag.  Continue reading ““Looking At Life” My Days At School” →

"Glimpses of a Glorious Past"

Book 3 of “Glimpses of a Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale.”

Some of you, I know, have been following here the story of a school that is today over 159 years old. I speak of my Alma Mater, the good old Lawrence School, Lovedale. This is located in the scenic Nilgiri Hills in the state of Tamilnadu in the south of India. You would recall that a bunch of us who are alumni, (we are called Old Lawrencians or OLs for short), have attempted to write a book on the history of this old institution.

 

We decided to call it “Glimpses of a Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale.”  Book 1, which covered the first fifty years from 1858 to 1908 was uploaded to the website of The Old Lawrencians Association, Lovedale on June 10, 2017. I shall not describe this because I would like you to read it for yourselves.

Later came Book 2, which covered the next fifty years from 1908 to 1958.  This was uploaded on July 26, 2017. The period covered in Book 2 saw the zenith of the old British Raj and later the coming of Independence for a new, democratic India.

I am pleased to inform you that yesterday, Book 3 of “Glimpses…” has been uploaded. This covers the third fifty years from 1959 to 2009. By then the School already had a reputation for being one of the finest public schools in India. I use the term ” public school ” in the way it is used in the UK as distinct from the public school in the United States.

Here’s hoping Old Lawrencians all over the world across many generations would enjoy dipping into this work from time to time to savour the sense of the past. Many have contributed by sharing their reminiscences and giving their inputs.