C

H

O

O

L

W

A

T

C

H

Discovery Glory For Vasant Valley

Nikhilesh Chand came in 4th in the Discovery Channel Debate. This was a competition held for the whole of Delhi, so coming in fourth was no small feat. Well Done! We hope that there will be more of this in future to look forward to.

Short Story Writing Competition Results

A short story telling competition was held for classes X, XI and XII. The winner of this was Megha Singh, while Sakshi Sharda and Ajitesh Arun were in joint second

NAVY TALK HELD

Students from Class XI and XII who were interested in joining the Merchant Navy as a career option attended a talk given by Captain Rajiv Khanna. It proved to be an extremely interesting interaction.

VVS WINS

Vasant Valley School played against DPS RK Puram, in the Brother Mahony Tournament and beat this top Delhi team convincingly, by a 2-0 scoreline. Karan Lamba and Abhishek Haldar scored for our school. A full report is on page 4.

EXPRESSIONS

Ranikhet: The Raj Relived

Two days of riding through the UP plains ought to have been enough……. enough to drop dead. Passing through the ‘Armpit of India’ (Yes!! That’s the Anglo term for Moradabad!!!), other than giving me badly inflamed nostril, it also insured that I had an ice – pack on my head throughout the journey. My head was throbbing with the stink, stray tufts of humanity everywhere and above all the obvious, absolute lack of sanitation.

Well, I didn’t drop dead. I decided to go for the pot of gold (though it was not exactly at the end of the rainbow!!). As the car entered the quiet town of Pantnagar, I relaxed. The suffering was over.

As our car wound up the Kumaon Himalayas, I felt the Autumn winds brush my ears. The pine-woods of Ranikhet suddenly burst into view. So orderly yet so natural. The Mall of Ranikhet with its ancient British windows hid the inside story.

Stories of love, stories of remembrance, stories of the long lost British Raj….. As I got out of my car and strolled onto the pebbled side street, I noticed the title, ‘Roberts Sussex Bakery.’ I warmed at the thought of warm cupcakes and muffins.

“Barry Roberts (Retd. Colonel) at your service young man.”

“Hello Sir, two cupcakes would be nice.” As is habitual with old people, he rambled on about his heydays in Ranikhet. The days when every ‘Sepoy’ saluted him. It was a fascinating account of a man who had lived his time, and lived it well. But the meaning was lost on me, in view of the magnificent view from his terrace. The view of the pine laden hills. The hills, though not snow capped, had a very subtle beauty. A beauty, which was not lost on me.

“A fifty years ago,…..”.I was a fifty years ahead. But anyhow, under the influence of the warm cupcakes, I warmed to his story. His story about the ‘good’ old days. He had lived in Ranikhet and lives on Her Majesty’s pension. His family has abandoned him and he has only thought about the Raj to subsist on. I thanked him profusely and paid him and jumped off the low terrace.

Ranikhet as many others used to be the summer retreat for  the British. They had indeed built   (Continued on Page 5)

Old world charm at Ranikhet