MEMORIES OF SAINIK SCHOOL SATARA

 

Joining the School

We had just moved to Satara from Mumbai  in 1961 and I had been admitted to New English School, when one fine day I was told that I would now be going to another School. Although I don't recall the exact date, as we proceeded in a Tonga to the School with a Steel Trunk and other items beyond Powai Naka which was virtually the limit of the city then, there was a sense of foreboding and disquiet surely. As we entered the School Gate, little did I know that the School would not only define and shape my career but completely overwhelm my lifestyle forever. The residents of the Wada we stayed in, weren't so optimistic though, many of them said I was being sent to a Remand Home, which was also in the area!

Foundation Day

I vividly recall the School foundation day, hopefully correctly, more so because that's the first time saw a Helicopter when it landed  where the then Parade Ground was, in the process the amount of dust it raised was mind boggling. That and the huge Brass bell which collapsed are ingrained in my mind. The then Defence Minister had arrived to inaugurate the School.

Initial Years

The reminiscences of living away from home for the first time are surprisingly rather vague. Living in those barracks which once housed Prisoners of war or so the stories went, must have been strange but don't recall feeling overly homesick or anything of the sort. We were probably just about 150 or so in the beginning, till the School expanded slightly in early 1962, and later almost doubled in 1965/66. I had joined in the 5th class. Most of us had come from Marathi/regional language  medium schools hence at the end of 6 months, almost all of us had to repeat the 5th class from January 1962. The academic year changed to January to December too. There were select few students who spent only 6 months in class 5, I came to know only very recently why but it doesn't  matter now.

The Initial Lot

The School had an interesting mix of students, overwhelmingly  Marathi but we also had a fair sprinkling particularly from Punjab, children of defence forces personnel from all over, I was one too, some from Southern/ Eastern India. That taught us, right from then,  about living life in a cosmopolitan environment. As days went by, we realised that there were students whose parents were famous and rich, some prominent politicians including Ministers too. Not that it mattered much as far as we or the School curriculum was concerned. But on visiting days or while returning from vacations, one could see some coming in fancy cars with loads of eats and stuff.  Even in our class we had our share of such students. Since we were the first students to get in, our induction was easy, hope it still is.

 Fun Times 

One of the pastimes  some of us used to indulge in, was recalling the School numbers and the student associated with them. even now, one can recall especially those up to School number 150 without going too wrong.  There were many games and sports we got to play in School but the one good habit picked up was getting up early, going for PT regularly. We used to enjoy those road walks and runs too,  especially during Monsoons, when we could go out of the School. Mainly due to the School but also NDA and Army later, this habit has stayed and the day doesn't begin well unless there's a strenuous walk or a round of Golf early morning. Since we joined the School in its infancy when the infrastructure was just coming up, we didn't have a swimming pool or the Gymnasium till both facilities came up towards  the final years of our Schooling. That meant that many of us couldn't learn to swim well.

In the initial stages, the school was a novelty in the sleepy town that Satara was. I recall that a boxing exhibition was organised in front of the Rajwada featuring students, probably locals were given preference. Uday Godbole and I had one of the earliest bouts, being in lowest weights, don't recall the result now but wonder if that show put off some locals from joining.

Later, we used to take part in or visit Science exhibitions in local Schools as also Republic Parades. If I am not too wrong, we also marched to a theatre to go and see Battle of the Bulge, also remember watching Hatari similarly, those were enjoyable outings. There used to be lots of sports fixtures with the Schools in Panchgani and it was always a pleasure to go there to witness the matches.

Nicknames

In Maharashtra, at least then, it wasn't common to have nicknames, the most popular probably was Bandya but when the School commenced, many of the fellow students were given nicknames like Gunda, Gabru, Laddoo etc most of them by Ghadge sir. These have stuck.

Punctuality and Discipline

One incident I vividly recall is when most of us were, for some reason or the other, late for the evening roll call in February 1965,  which used to be held near the Dining Hall. Just 28 were on time. As a punishment, it was announced that we won't get to see the next movie which was a weekly feature. And the movie was Kabuliwala, we had just read the famous story in our English class and kept hoping, nay were almost sure that since most of us were late, the authorities would relent and that we would get to see the movie. But came the day and we were still not allowed to see it. That one incident taught us the importance of punctuality and more importantly the need to persist with a decision taken, else people might take you for granted. Army life further reinforced this but when a joined a PSU after Army, punctuality became the biggest casualty, so much so that I had to change this habit since many a time, I would arrive on the appointed time only to find the preparations had yet to be completed. Punctuality remains one of our bigger weaknesses. Atul Lakhe, my classmate used to maintain a diary, extract of which he was kind enough to share with me

Art

For some reason, in spite of an excellent teacher like Late Mr Kukkal, I just could not pick up the art of drawing/painting. Somehow used to manage to pass. It was probably in 8th class, that we were asked to paint a Kabbaddi match scene. For me, drawing one person used to be difficult, here I had to draw very many in different poses. I approached Ajit Magar, my classmate to help me out since he was good in drawing (also singing by the way), and he promised to help. But as the date of submission approached, somehow things didn't work out and I had nothing to show for my efforts. I somehow managed to create something and submitted it. When the result was announced, turned out I had got a Zero, it was that bad. Luckily, it wasn't a mandatory subject and didn't affect the promotion to the next standard. And from the next session, one had to choose between Art or Craft which was carpentry, my choice automatically went to Carpentry. There with another classmate Amar Patil, we created a model of the Obstacle Course which had just come up. That was quite well liked. Till date, haven't tried my hand at drawing or painting, in fact one of the reasons for not opting for Biology was because I was told that one would have to draw a frog!! Not that it mattered, since I went on to join NDA.

Expansion of the School

Since the School had come up in old barracks, we saw great activity in creating the present day dormitories, Main Building, the Dining Hall etc. It was great fun watching all this coming up, climbing up the trees and then jumping on to the sand that would be stored close by for the construction. When the foundation stone for the Dahanukar Auditorium was laid, we watched in awe as the local artist painted the whole stone one evening. The intake of the students almost doubled and the School went to have three more houses. That also meant that now it wasn't really possible to know everyone.

Delhi Party

Sometime in 1964, from being a local student I went on to become part of the Delhi Party since my father got posted to Lucknow. The Delhi Party was only for the vacations when all of us would go under the supervision of one of our teachers by ST bus to Pune, then onwards to Mumbai by a special bogie and then by one of the trains (was it Punjab Mail?) where I would drop off at Jhansi to continue to Lucknow. Return journey was similarly undertaken in the reverse order. Till then my coming and going used to be to home in Satara, hence this was a big change for me, kind of liberating. Remember finishing off almost the complete pocket money on the journey on eats etc between Pune & Mumbai apart from the mandatory halt at Shirwal on the bus journey to Pune when we would get down and buy  Parle peppermints.

Academics

Apart from the hitch in 5th Class, the move through the School session was quite easy. We had an excellent, dedicated set of teachers who took great care in helping us through the syllabus. Although its almost impossible now to remember everyone now, recall with fondness and gratitude Ms Sapre, the strict Maths teacher, Mr G Devasahayam, the English teacher who was fond of calling everyone by their full names eg Deebak Keshav Khar (he was probably a Malyali hence the pronunciation). At that time, the West Asian countries had just discovered oil and getting rich and he used to tell stories about them and the Americans which we used to hear in awe and bewilderment. Mr R P S Chouhan replaced him. Then there was Mr P C Sharma who taught us Hindi and had an unusual punishment of keeping pencils between fingers and squeezing the hand if we misbehaved in class. Also recall Mr Kapoor, was he, who taught Physics for some time. Mr Kirtikar was a Naval NCC officer to boot and although he never taught us, remember his smart appearance at NCC in his uniform and singing the song Life in the Navy....And there was Mr Asnare also smart in his NCC uniform and our additional Maths Teacher. I was rather fond of the subject and used to enjoy the classes. Then There was our House Master, Mr Babar and Mr Deshmukh in Shivaji and Mr Pandit in Karve. Mr Pandit used to be a good cricketer too, its he who coaxed me to write for the School journal which is how I had an article on Mihir Sen a swimmer of repute who had just swum 7 different Seas then. Throughout School I was the only Kher, till Mr V G Kher joined as a teacher, no relation of mine though. There was Mr Marathe too, one of the few to own a bike Motor Cycle then. And then we all remember Mr Ghadge and the two Jadhavs who were PT instructors, Gadge sir was much more than just that, he was the one who could control the students, taught us nuances of PT, games, boxing etc and probably knew everyone by name and idiosyncrasies. A tough but popular teacher, there's a lesson in that, if you are good, people will remember you even if you are strict.

Appearing for NDA

As we progressed in School, it was time to appear for the NDA entrance exam. We had been keenly watching our seniors going into NDA and that in any case was the goal of the School as well as for most of us. Passing the written test wasn't much of a problem but there were a few "smart ones" who otherwise brilliant, managed to fail the UPSC test itself to avoid going through the process. We were well coached for the written and even better for the SSB where the Principal Late Col Puri used to personally aided by the teachers supervise our group discussions and tasks. All that preparation helped and many from our class got through  in the first or second attempt, I qualified in the second and last attempt. Unaware initially, the repetition in class 5 in 1961 had left me with only 2 chances, while many had 5 or lesser. While preparations for NDA were on in right earnest, our medical and physical conditions were also being looked at, many of us were underweight. We were then put on a special diet which consisted of boiled potatoes among other things which didn't lead to much increase in weight. However,  we managed to clear the medical as well, though still underweight, the Drs faith in my ability to gain weight later has been fully vindicated as I now try to lose weight without much success.  It was only later that dietary research claimed that it was fried, not boiled,  potatoes which increased weight!! Oh, chips and burgers would have been so very welcome in the School diet then.

The Reading Habit

The School had a well appointed library which I made good use of.  Mr Karhade was always very helpful in the library. Magazines like Life.. English and Marathi books, all fascinated me, the reading habit continues to this day. These days, Social Media, Internet, TV, OTT and Kindle etc have probably led to reduced interest in the published word but for old timers like me, turning the page still retains its charm. this is one habit I hope I continue to nurture.

School Leaving

Ours was the first batch to complete their entire schooling from 5th to 11th, those were Senior Cambridge days, in December 1968. Many of our classmates had left the school earlier days due to various reasons but most did to join NDA after successfully completing 10th in June 1968. It was left to very few of us to complete the Schooling. Having cleared the SSB, awaiting the Merit list, many didn't take the Senior Cambridge very seriously, in retrospect that wasn't  the right thing to do but we were feeling self assured that after leaving School we would join NDA in January 1969. Remember, many including me just waiting for the cup of coffee provided to  help us keep awake for late night studies and then  promptly going back to the dormitories to sleep. Those were such carefree days. After appearing for the exams, we left School, exact date eludes me though. Remember singing the song  in chorus Savere Wali Gadi Se Chale Jayenge during the last dinner that we had in the School.

Looking Back

A we left School, little did we realise then that the bonds developed during that period would remain strong forever, most of us are still in touch with each other. Everything that we learnt in School be it academics, physical fitness, sports, public speaking and social etiquettes  has helped in living a meaningful  life and making a mark in the Society we live in. Our dedicated teaching and associated staff, matrons, ward boys and mess staff deserve our gratitude. The Batch was most fortunate to be with only one Principal all thru their schooling, special mention must be made of the late Col & Mrs Puri who deserve our special gratitude, their love, care and dedication helped us adjust through the various phases of  life that we as young boys of 9 or 10 went through till we left School. I have the fondest memories of the School even now. The uniform I wore for the first time in School in 1961, continued to change colours till I retired from the Army in 2003.

Post script

Wanted to end on that note but must mention that we were fortunate to be in the School on Boxing Finals Day as guests in December 2018 as we gathered in Satara and celebrated the Golden Jubilee of School leaving. The School management deserves our thanks for that too.