We are delighted that my son is making his first visit to India from the US where he has gone to study. My wife and I were talking about this when I suddenly said ‘ I wonder how much of “Indian cash” I should keep for him”. My wife naturally asked ” Indian cash? What on earth is that?” and then I realized I had unconsciously used a phrase I had perhaps not used for 40 years or more.

At School – The Lawrence School, Lovedale- during my times at least, we were given what we used to call “tokens” in lieu of notes and coins that made up currency in the world outside of School. This was- in our words- “Indian cash”. It is laughable now but perhaps we were given about Rs. 1.50 per week – if memory serves me right- as pocket money.

In the initial years- may be till the mid 1960’s we actually had funny metal token with Chinese like designs engraved on them which were naturally called “Chinese tokens”. Possibly they had their origins in China but how they reached Lovedale in the South of India is anybody’s guess. Perhaps they were used in decades gone by in the British army.

In later years, the Chinese tokens were replaced by the more modern- but not as elegant- plastic tokens with different colors for different denominations.

Yet all the tokens- irrespective of their shape, color or design had but one destination- the School Tuck Shop. Using them we could buy such delicacies as were available there. “Indian cash” was strictly forbidden- because it led to our going to Pichis in Lovedale market to buy the forbidden fags in School lingo. By the way, I speak of the distant past and fags were what we used to call cigarettes.

Interesting that a phrase brings back so many memories!

A newspaper item caught my attention recently. Cliff Richard was making an appearance at a show. I asked myself- could this be THE Cliff Richard-the pop star of my childhood. For many of us at The Lawrence School, Lovedale at that time- he was a  major hero. It turns out it was.

The event was the-  you won’t believe this-

- the 50 th re-union of Cliff Richard with his original group- The Shadows. Long before the Beatles, the Shadows were one of Britain’s leading rock bands.

A look at Cliff on Wikipedia tells me that he is Sir Cliff Richard now. He was knighted in 1995- the first rock star to be knighted. In the late 50s and the early 60s, Cliff was the rock star.I remember with nostalgia some of his old numbers. ” Summer Holiday” comes readily to mind. I vaguely remember seeing the movie too- a big hit in those days.

Another memory is of a friend – who shall remain unnamed- speaking with a lot of passion about “Chummer Holidays” -which was the way he pronounced “Summer Holiday”.

Cliff looked well kept in a recent photograph. He has come a long way since he was born to Anglo-Indian parents in Lucknow in 1940. That would make him 69 now.  One thing is for sure, he has given a lot of listening pleasure to to many over the decades.

Thank you, Cliff- or should I say “Sir Cliff” for bringing back happy memories of those days.

We were lucky to have a terrific library at the Lawrence School, Lovedale- presided over- in those days- by Mr. Mohan Raj. He was in some sense instrumental in making me a voracious reader.

As a schoolboy, I was nuts about the Second World War and read almost every book I could lay my hands on about the War. One of my big time heroes was Douglas Bader- the legless RAF ace. His story – captured in Paul Brickhill’s ” Reach For The Sky” remained my favourite for many, many years.

I recall seeing the movie too in School- an old black and white flick with Kenneth More acting as Douglas Bader.

Talking about the fighter pilots of the RAF Fighter Command, Winston Churchill described the Battle of Britian in one of his most famous quotations – ” Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”.

September 15 is celebrated as Battle of Britain Day. This brought back memories of Bader and all the stories I read in those days.

As a kid studying at the Lawrence school, Lovedale, I used to be crazy about cricket. The fact that my father was a well known cricketer in the Madras ( of those days) of his youth made this more than an interest- it became a passion.

In my childhood, I recall spending hours on the scrap books maintained by my father and his brothers in their childhood, seeing newspapers clippings of the feats of Don Bradman and Len Hutton. From a relatively young age, I was conversant with cricket records and one that I well remember was that for the 4th wicket – 411 by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey. This was made against the West Indies way back in 1957.

Records, they say, are meant to be broken but such big records last an extraordinarily long time. It was delightful therefore to see the Sri Lankans- captain Mahela Jayawardene and  Thilan Samaraweera break this long standing record – of 52 years-recently

Against Pakistan in Karachi recently, the pair put on a staggering 437 run stand. Jayawarane scored 240 and Samaraweera 231 to take Sri Lanka to a very imposing total of  644-7 declared.

Surely, breaking this record will take some doing.

If you are a fan of P G Wodehouse, join the new network I have created at Ning called ” Celebrating Wodehouse”. To me he remains my biggest stress buster! Every one has their special way to relieve stress.

For some active physical exercise does the trick. For others it’s listening to music. To each his own, in a manner of speaking. To me, consistently over the years, one stress buster that never fails- is reading ( or should I say re-reading) P. G. Wodehouse.

Today, 34 years ago, he passed on – a legend in his lifetime. He wrote nearly a hundred books and has a devoted fan following all over the world.

What set “Plum” Wodehouse apart? As far as I am concerned it is his style of writing. He had the ability to conjure up interesting plots built around characters who are so well depicted that we feel that we know them – individually and collectively. Without doubt he stands amongst the best of all time writers of humor.

For the uninitiated, here is a small sampling of his writing from The Quotations Page. I am sure this will give them as much pleasure as it does to die hard fans like me.

Cricket, they say, is a great leveler. One moment you are riding high and the next you are down and out. An event that caught the attention of the world’s sporting media last week was the second auction for the Indian Premier League at Goa.

The team owners bid for the best players on offer. Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were “sold” for the highest amounts ever. A full $1.55 million each. Enough to last not just some families but several generations fed and clothed in India. Much was made of their prowess and skills.

Shortly after came the Test in Kingston, Jamiaca which saw England -which included Pietersen and Flintoff- humiliated by being shot out for a lowly 51.

Jerome Taylor the fast bowler who wrecked England with his 5 for 11 spell had been sold in the same auction to Kings XI Punjab for a comparatively  lowly $ 150,000.

The man behind the IPL success is Lalit Modi. He has marketed the event like no one has ever before. Everyone saw him as the star of the event. He could no wrong . Today, we read that he could be guilty of forgery.

Pietersen and Flintoff will do well again and Lalit Modi may do better than even last time but seeing their ups and downs, one must say that cricket is a great leveler.

English is not our native tongue but I am one of many in India who have had the privilege of studying the language from a young age. Yet, the intricacies of English pronunciation continue to interest me.

As a matter of fact one of the first words that gave me trouble was “tongue” itself. At the Prep School at Lovedale’s The Lawrence School, I struggled to figure out how “tongue” should be pronounced “tung”. Years later I became a World War II buff.  I remember talking about the battles in North Africa with my class mate Manjit ” Bunny” Gill- horrifying him by speaking of Field Marshal “Mont-go-mery” which he was quick to point out was actually “”Mont-gomery”. He ought to know as his father was a Lieutenant  General himself.

Reading Wodehouse brought me in touch with more mysteries of English pronunciation. I am not talking of the simple “Psmith” being “Smith”. I am talking of Pall Mall being “Pell Mell”, Worcestershire being “Woostershire”, Stanley Featherstone Ukridge being “Fanshawe Ewkridge” and  Mapledurham being  just “Mum”.

If you have had a similar experience, what were the words that bothered you?

It’s amazing, as you grow older, how you remember something that happened a few decades ago so very clearly- yet forget what was said by someone just a few minutes ago:)

I admired Premjit Lall, India’s tennis star of the ’60s and wrote about him recently when he passed away last week. Yesterday -from out of the blue, I suddenly remembered his wife’s name was Georgina- if I am not mistaken. A reason for admiring Premjit could also be that he was one of the very few sporting stars whose name -in a sense- was similar to mine.

I also remembered- again from out of the blue- a famous Australian cricketer from those times. Norman O’Neill. A quick internet search told me that Norm passed away in March 2008. During my schooldays at the Lawrence School, Lovedale, Norman O’Neill was -for many of us- one of the most exciting cricket stars. In 1964 the Australian team dropped in at Holland where my uncle managed to get O’Neill to autograph a cricket bat for me. For a schoolboy like me, this was my most prized possession in the world.

Another icon of my childhood passed away recently. Indian Davis Cupper, Premjit Lall died at the age of 68 in Kolkata. In the 60’s and early 70’s, you could not say “Premjit Lall” without saying “Jaideep Mukerjea” his doubles partner.

As kids, we read with awe as Lall hit the headlines by reaching the finals of the Wimbledon Juniors in 1958- a terrific feat for those times. He later became a permanent member of India’s Davis Cup squad for many more years. He and Mukerjea were the first choice doubles players for India in those days.

He was a natural tennis player and a great team man. Many years have gone by but people still remember how he almost beat the legendary Rod Laver in a Davis Cup tie in 1960 when Laver was at the peak of his career.

He gave us many moments of enjoyment. May his soul rest in peace.

I would love to stand corrected on this one- but to the best of my knowledge , no Lawrencian has ever played cricket for India. Perhaps no one has come remotely close to doing so.

In this context, I was delighted to hear some news from David “Booch” Boosey recently. He was the Nilagiri House prefect way back in 1964 at the Lawrence School, Lovedale.

In response to my mail with best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Booch tells me  that the Australian Test cricketer, Stuart Clark is his nephew. Clark is the son of David’s sister, Mary, an Old Lawrencian herself (ex-CHA). Old timers might remember the Booseys who were all excellent athletes.

Let me close by wishing all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Great 2009 ahead.