The annual OS lunch in London was held with success once again on 19 May 2024 at the Bombay Brasserie restaurant in South Kensington in Central London

Here is the report of the fine event, exactly one year late. Excuses later, but let us enjoy the day first.

It was another sunny spring Sunday in May 2024 and a large contingent of OS from all over the UK were in attendance. The restaurant was the same as we had used for the previous three years, an upmarket place with an old India atmosphere: wooden panels, large, framed photographs and palatial chandeliers.

Just outside the main dining room there was a large, groundglass covered courtyard, with much greenery. In this lovely porch, we were meeting again for our annual lunch. Some 20 OS were assembled, having paid £48 each for the privilege.

And welcoming us this time was the new team, at last letting poor Aruna Mongia (N 1967) and her husband Max, rest after some 25 years of organising these lunches.

The team this year was headed by Ms. Srishti Mahajan (N 1996) and Akshay Dalal ( N 2008).

Srishti, smartly dressed in white, striped, tight- fitting dungarees, was full of energy, smiles, and on top of her duties.

We gathered from Srishti that her father was an HCL engineer, a rocket scientist, and so travelled the world. Srishti thus grew up in Sanawar, Australia, Japan, and Switzerland. Srishti is a single working girl who spends an hour a day in the gym, whence her trim figure and abundant energy.

Helping her in her welcome was the head of our chapter, Akshay Dalal ( N 2008). He is the convener of our UK OS WhatsApp group and has brought it to life. In recent months he has organized many Sna events, and we are lucky to have him sparing time from his high powered IT job at Amazon. He is a top AI engineer.

So our leaders welcomed us and seated us at the two long tables that were reserved for us. On the first came to be seated a mixture of middle timers (1950 to 2000) and new timers ( 2000 onwards.) There were some new faces, but also the regulars who come every year. And so we were pleased to see fashionable Harry Randhawa, in a bandgala shirt, and his lawyer wife, Veera. Another regular couple were Harbir Singh and his wife Satwant. Harbir was sporting a peaked hat and Satwant on the contrary was displaying her lovely red hair. Harbir is a poetry fan, a golfer and a general man about town, several towns, because he was last espied in India.

Another familiar face was Hamir Ratanje and his son Komit. Hamir in conversation was very up-to-date on India’s economic progress, a subject that brings much relief to us all.

A new face on this table was Karoki, a photographer with photogenic grey hair, in a blue shirt . Alas we didn’t get a chance to talk much.

Another familiar face was Ms. Richa Ranwat ( H 2000) dressed in a glamorous long dress. Richa was a previous chapter head but has passed on the baton to Srishti and Akshay this year. She has a hard job, a young son and a husband to look after. But today she was enjoying the day free of duties.

As the first table filled up, we began to sit at the second table. Here we met three young OS girls, making their way newly in London. Gaurika Mehtani ( H 2008), a financial analyst, Roohaney Sekhon (N 2008), studying law, and Bimalika Thapa ( V 2008) working in public health in Kent We thank them for coming from afar, being so well dressed and colourfully made up, bringing beauty to our gathering. We hope to see them again.

Some seats were reserved on this table for our chief guest, who this year was an old and familiar face, Mr. Derek Boddington (Sna' 1942 to 1947). He arrived punctually around 1 PM, with his lovely daughter Coral and her husband Alan. Derek was in good shape and alert. When we welcomed him and remarked on his long 19th century-style side burns, he was quick to notice your reporters new mustache , and fired back: « you too are sporting new whiskers! ». When a 92-year-old man can be so sharp and outward looking it commands respect.

Derek was a chief guest today for his long service to the OS community. He was in Sna from 1942 to 1947. He was born in India to a military family and knows both south and north India well. In particular, he went to two of the lawrence schools - Ghora Galli and finally Sanawar. After the war, he served as an officer in the British army and then as a civilian in the foreign office. He speaks fluent Hindi.

But his greatest contribution to Sna has been a wonderful website that he has constructed and maintained over the years. You can see this on:

https://www.dvboddington.com/school-alumni/

It is called the lawrence Royal Military School Sanawar. it has a wealth of photographs, articles and history about Sna. If ever you have not visited this site, do take a look.

And so our Chief Guest was seated with his daughter Carol and son-in-law Alan at the head of the table. And we had many happy exchanges with him. One sad note was that this year none of the other pre-1950 old timers were able to make it to our lunch. Their numbers have been decreasing gradually over the years. At the beginning of these mixed lunches, from around year 2000, there were as many old time Britisher as the new 1950 onward Indian OS. And so there would be easily 20 old timers and 20 new timers, with an attendance in the 40s and 50s. But sadly over 25 years, their numbers have gone down to a trickle. But there are still many old timers who are at home and read these reports. We reach out to them, to wish them well and to invite them to join us whenever they can. Remember, third Sunday of May, every year. So next on 17 May , 2026.

But this unhappy absence of other old timers did not overly perturb Derek, who was in full cheer, enjoying his lunch and his chief guestship! And so were we! Your reporter noticed how Derek would note down names of young OS presented to him pronounce them correctly in Hindi and try to commit them to memory. It was an astonishing sign of alertness, of bandwidth.

After chitchat, we helped ourselves to the large choice of delicious food on display. Derek picked up on a dish marked “Nilagiri potatoes“, a delicacy from the region of his birthplace. It was another moment of grace on this day. A reminder of the long presence of the British in India and the bonds of affection and friendship that have developed between the two peoples, despite the context of empire and conquest. This is the continuing story of the long love affair between the people of Britain and India, and we in Sanawar are the closest witnesses to it.

And so it was in this spirit of grace that the present president of the OS society in India, Mr. Pankaj Sapru, sent to our chief guest, a special trophy for his services to Sanawar, the first OS Lifetime Achievement Award.

To this end, chairman Akshay Dalal called us all to assemble and then made a speech in praise of Derek‘s work for Sna. He then presented him with the golden trophy, inscribed with words of tribute to Derek. There was much applause. Derek thanked us briefly and , in conclusion, recited a naughty ditty in Hindi, bringing us all down in laughter. After this moving ceremony, we sang the school song and posed for a group photograph. Slowly, we dispersed, lingering to finish conversations, take photo graphs and exchange addresses. It was yet another visit to our wonderful school and our childhoods.

And now for the apology for this late report. It is already too long, so suffice it to say that it got delayed by dint of work, misplaced papers, a computer hack - a horrible concurrence of circumstances. And then guilt delayed it further. But then , finally, duty pushed me to write and submit this report at this late hour. Better late than never.

So with apologies and ready to take the rap from you this coming Sunday 18 May 2025, when we meet again for this year’s lunch,

your reporter,

Harbans Nagpal (N 1956-64).