CBS

Like millions of others, the world over, my school days were definitely the happiest times of my life.

I was a student of Calcutta Boys’ School which was passing through its golden era. From the times of Ashoke Sanjay Guha through Ranjan Bhattacharya, Surya Sekhar Bhattacharya, Anup Sinha to Swapan Chakroborty and others, our school churned out country and state toppers at regular periodicity.

Besides studies, our seniors and contemporaries carved out a niche for themselves in high profile talent search scholarships like NSTS and JBNSTS bagging about one third of all the awards. That’s not all; we excelled in sports as well. At one time, if my memory does not betray me, we were winners in th Patterson Memorial Inter School TT Championships, year after year. It was our alma mater that could boast of Dipak Ghosh, who represented the country in the 1952 Stockholm World Championships. It was Mr Clifford Hicks, our principal, who always referred to him as the “great Dipak Ghosh.” Besides TT we were well known for our prowess in football and other extra-curricular activities. We used to do really well in quizzes, elocution and debate competitions.

Mr Hicks was an institution by himself. He had nurtured and developed CBS from a fledgling to a magnificent giant eagle, monarch of all it surveyed from its imperious heights.

Mr Hicks had certain traits that made him stand out toweringly among contemporaries- both metaphorically as well as physically. He was about 6 feet in height with a matching waistline. His booming voice was enough to send shivers down the spines of one and all. He was “famous” for his caning. Corporal punishment was a common feature in those days like in many other schools, some four decades back.

Discipline was the watch word, along with tidiness, punctuality and good manners. He used to demonstrate certain issues personally, often enacting the item for our benefit! Our chapel session was a daily source of many such pieces along with reading of the Bible and an invariable joke to culminate the day’s programme. I cannot ever forget some of his actions and observations. While remonstrating a boy for not covering his mouth while yawning, he commented, “I can see your intestine!” He’d also advise us before our summer vacation, “Don’t make your home a refuelling station by day and a parking lot at night. Your parents should feel dejected and not relieved when the vacation is over.”

And again, “When the telephone rings, don’t jump to grab it. Let it ring a couple of times more and then respond at your convenience.” He used to jump from the podium and swing his massive hand mimicking one grabbing the receiver! I shudder to think what he would have done in these days of our inseparable mobile phones.

“When there’s a banana peel lying on the road, pick it up and throw it into a waste bin close by. Don’t stand to observe the next person slip on it!”

Yet, when Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaideep Mukherjee and Premjit Lall beat the formidable German team at the South Club, Calcutta, Mr Hicks immediately declared a holiday! The reason, India had reached the Challenge Round of the Davis Cup for the first time!

All good things must come to an end; our school days were no exception. We phased out into different professions, settled in life and had our own school going children. I often wonder whether Mr Hicks would have been relevant today. No doubt what he taught us has made us what we are now…Thank you Sir!