A couple of people have asked me how I select the subjects for my blog. I told them the catalyst is usually something I read or information sent to me.
I was recently sent pictures of my high school, Allidina Visram HS, in Mombasa, Kenya (thanks Prem Saint) and it brought back a flood of memories as well as a chance to reflect and ruminate on four critical years I spent there before I left for England to pursue Chartered Accountancy. AVHS looking at the pictures appears to be in remarkably good condition and exactly like I remember it from almost 50 years ago!
AVHS, was probably the premier high school for Asian students in Mombasa. Kenya was still a British colony and education like many other facets of life was racially segregated in practice, if not the law. It was a high school for boys since the sexes were also segregated. The school was built by a philanthropist after whom it was named. The only students allowed admission into AVHS were Indians, Pakistanis and Arabs. There were other schools for Africans (the term used to describe the indigenous people) and for Europeans (the term used to describe anyone who was white). Almost all of the teachers were Asians though there were a few who were British, one Canadian and a couple from Australia. My father, AG Joseph, taught English there from the early fifties until 1961 and my brother, George, taught Economics at AVHS from 1960 to 1966.
One of the striking contrasts in terms of the education at AVHS and the schools in the US are the methodologies used and what was deemed the norm. Teachers were not allowed to paddle students but errant students would be sent to the principal where one was “caned” on the buttocks. The severity of the caning would range from one strike to a maximum of six. There was no need for any parental notification and students who were caned were anxious that their parents knew nothing of it – and if they did, it would probably mean a round of punishment at home as well! Teachers disciplinary methods included making an errant student stand on his chair for all or part of the duration of the class while all the other students were seated! If one were the victim of this punishment, it was not so much a humiliation as much as a feeling of sheepishness and concern about not losing one’s balance while standing!
The high school consisted of four grades (to use US parlance) before one graduated. What was amazing, upon reflection, is that each grade had four “streams” (A to D) consisting of about 30 students in each stream. The brightest students were in stream A and the least academically proficient were in stream D! So it was considered to be very much the norm to, in effect, “label” the students as being “bright” or “less than bright” (being polite) from the very start. Once one ended up in a particular stream, it was usually not easy to be “upgraded” because it required someone else to be “down-graded” to maintain class size. Upon reflection, it really was a very retrograde system though we never had a second thought about it. Just as we never had a second thought about the races being segregated.
We were graded on “marks” received out of one hundred. The passing grade was around 40 and anything over 70 was considered to be a “distinction”. Scoring over 70 in any subject other than mathematics was a rarity. If one scored as high as 80 one was considered to be a genius! Very different than the grading in the US! Each month and at the end of each term (semester) the cumulative “marks” obtained in each subject was posted for every student on the notice board in the class and we were all ranked based on those marks from the first to the last! The ranking was something that anyone could view – whether from within the class or from another class! I think part of the thinking was that publicizing the results like this would motivate students by encouraging those who did well and humiliating those who did not so that they would strive harder. Never mind that any such ranking system would inevitably result in someone being ranked first and someone else being ranked last no matter how well the latter fared overall!
The education we received was generally excellent and the culmination was having to sit an exam called the Senior Cambridge which was conducted under the auspices of Cambridge University – the questions were formulated there and the exams were evaluated there as well.
Kenya was still a British colony and the text books were generally by British authors with all of the biases one would associate with a colonial regime. For example, we were taught that Columbus “discovered” America and Vasco da Gama “discovered” India! Never a suggestion that both countries existed well before they were “discovered” and no suggestion that, perhaps, both these explorers were the first ones from Europe to visit these countries. But we students would repeat all of this as a matter of routine.
We were taught British history including British rule in India. The text books referred to the Indian Mutiny in 1857 when Indian soldiers “mutinied” against their British masters. We came to accept that what occurred was this unlawful rebellious group of soldiers acted against the legitimate authority. Never a second thought about its implication that British rule was legitimate. We were taught that the main reason for the mutiny was that “the sepoys had to bite a newly issued bullet cartridge open. It was believed that the paper cartridges that were standard issue with the rifle were greased with lard (pork fat) which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (beef fat), regarded as anathema to Hindus” as quoted from Wikipedia. The reasons were much more complex and Wikipedia offers some interesting background. Today the so-called “mutiny” is referred to by other labels such as “India’s First War of Independence”.
Much of what we learned had a Euro-centric focus. All the great discoveries in the sciences, mathematics and the arts were attributable to the West. I don’t recall a single discovery being taught to us as having emanated from a non-Western country, whether it be China or India or Middle Eastern countries. My brother, George, wrote an authoritative book called “The Crest of the Peacock” which focuses on the Euro-centric slant with regard to mathematics that exists to this day and the lack of recognition of the considerable contributions of other countries and cultures.
A recent blog entry regarding a speech by Dr Karl Paulnack about the contribution of the Greeks to music brought forth these comments in an email from a friend:
“Whether it was the Greeks or the early Indians ( Saraswats) who considered music as an integral element of life is I suppose a position one may take depending on their upbringing but in my childhood I was told those many stories about early Indian holy scriptures, Goddess Saraswati was the one who was revered as embodying the value of art, music and knowledge. Her images are always shown as holding a musical instrument.
Then of course we have Krishna and his flute. Some of the stories I have read, the effect of his flute playing had on ‘ gopies ‘ in essence is what appears to be the key thrust of Paulnack’s speech.”
But these thoughts about Euro-centrism, text books authored with a decidedly colonial bias, etc were things we never even thought about. It was a much simpler time in many ways. We were wonderfully happy in our school which overlooked the Arabian Sea. There was never a thought about integrating schools or fighting the system. Our fondest hope was to complete the Cambridge School Certificate with a First Grade and, at the least, obtain a Second Grade!
Ranachayan,i loved this post of yours.I liked the way you told about the caning and the punishment thingy…lol
Be it 50 years back or today,the punishments stay on.As they say “For men may come and go, but i go on forever”, Students may come and go but no kid would be left out without being awarded a punishment.
Great post.
First, I like that you used “reflect and ruminate” in the first paragraph :).
Second, your school is beautiful. In today’s world here in the US, that would be considered a historic landmark.
Third, I did get a kick out of the punishment methods..none of that would ever fly today in a US school. Can you imagine the uproar by the parents?
Finally, while you talk about how Euro-centric your education was, my US based education was almost all US-centric. I’ve never had any kind of world geography course and I believe had a grand total of one semester of world history and one semester of world literature when I was in high school. And it has all been to our detriment. We had a “Name that Country’s Flag” game at a party recently and most of the participants were hard-pressed to identify the flags that were shown (myself included :(…)
Vishal & Saira, you both probably want to know how many times I was caned! I think I’ll save that information for another blog entry. 🙂
Yes, education in the US is very US-centric. Pretty amazing how little the average American knows about the rest of the world.
The interesting thing is that the educational system in Kenya was based on that in the UK and it was administered by the Brits in Kenya. So the the caning of students, the “streams” based on academic proficency, the class-room punishment, etc was all stuff that was approved by them. Presumably they used the same methods in the UK at that time otherwise I can’t see it as having been allowed.
Very interesting account! The photo brought back happy memories of my first job at the school. I think caning in public had been long discarded by then and its administration was confined rarely to a visit to the principal’s office. During the six years I was there I must have sent one boy to the principal’s office because of his persistent lateness. Also, as you will remember, once Forms V and VI were introduced, girls were also admitted. You also spent a short period apart from the four years in Form V before you left for England. Allidina Visram produced some remarkable people who one keeps meeting in all sorts of places
George
Plase find me contacts.Did my senior cambridge in 1959 and HSC IN 1960–1961.
George, you are correct that I did spend a couple of months at AVHS in Form V before I left for the UK.
There were about half a dozen girls admitted to Form V and VI – the only classes that were co-ed – commencing around 1959, I think. They were very much in the minority in terms of numbers.
It never struck me until it was mentioned in one of the comments but AVHS was really quite a majestic building. We of course took it for granted.
Incidentally, one of the things we were taught was precis writing – something that is not taught in the US as far as I know. Given the length of my postings, I must not have been very good at it. 🙂
Satish, thanks for your comments. I will contact you directly by email. One of my regrets is that our generation tends not to be computer savvy. My daughter has been able to reach many of her school/classmates from the 80s’ through Facebook. I wish the AVHS alumni from the 50s’ and late 60s’ had the computer skills to use social networking sites like FB.
[…] via Reminiscences about Allidina Visram High School « Rana’s Reflections, Ruminations & Recollect…. […]
V. interesting. A lot of my friends lived in the vicinity of that school, and my two sisters did their a levels there. I could not do my A levels, there, because the school was not admitting girls at that time.
By the way, if its the same Prem Saint that I am thinking of, then I met him in England whilst I was studying there, and he too was studying there, I have never met him again after I left England to return back to Kenya. I would love to know what he is doing, where he is and how he is. We were good friends. I doubt whether he will recognise my married name. I was not a Moosa at that time.
zizi, thanks for your comments.
I will alert Prem Saint to your comments and if you are agreeable, I will forward your email address to him.
I am not sure if your sisters did their A levels prior to 1966. If they did so, then it is possible they were taught Economics by my brother.
thks TJ. My sisters were at Allidina,and I dont think they mentioned studying economics, but I dont remember, its quite a long time ago.
I was a student at the Aga Khan High School in Mombasa in the 1940s. However,I shall never forget the Allidina High School for, in common with boys from all other schools, that is where I had to go to sit my Kenya Preliminary exam (which I failed), and my Senior Cambridge exam in 1945 (which I passed) I visit Mombasa frequently and usually put up at the Tamarind Villas on the Nyali side. I look out from the balcony and can see the Allidina Visram High Schhol directly across the water and it evokes many memories.
Thanks for your comments, Ameer. My brother went to Aga Khan High School in the early/mid fifties. Not sure why he did not go to Allidina.
It never struck me until it was commented on above that the AVHS building was really a magnificent structure. It still looks great in that picture.
A few interesting tit bits about the Allidina Visram School. It was Allidina’s son Abdul Rasul who built the school in his fathers memory, and the architect I believe came all the way from Pakistan though it would be India at that time, and he received an MBE from the british, but you already know this. Years later, when I was a student in England, I met one of his daughters in law, at the ismaili centre, 5 palace gate,she was such a gracious lady, she mentored all the new students, kept in touch with them, talked to them,and there was at that time, an influx of refugees from the Congo and she was more than a mother, and a friend. We called her Bebibai. After my return to Kenya, some years later, I also met one of his great grandson, who was working for an oil company in Nigeria and was on holiday in Kenya, and had taken time to look at the school. I believe there are quite a few Visrams around, some became famous in Uganda during Idi Amin’s time also. Incidentally, Ameer Janmohamed, one of your commentators above has recently published a book called The Regal Romance And Other Memories and I believe he is working on another book. Those of us who loved Mombasa, will defintely find this book very interesting.
zizi, I am looking forward to reading Ameer Janmohamed’s book when I return to the US in mid-April.
AVHS, has many happy memories for me quite apart from having given me a solid educational foundation. What an amazing legacy the Visram family left for posterity through their philanthropy when this school was built. It was the source of education for several generations of Asian students and now for students of all races.
I am glad that you and Prem Saint were able to re-establish contact as a result of this blog entry.
I too was a student of AVHS in the forties. I visited the school 3 weeks ago, met the pincipal Mr. Mwangi and the governors and was very impressed how this beautiful building and its education has survived. I am one of the Governors of a school in Southampton, England and must say feel very proud of being a student at AVHS which far surpasses the state schools in the UK. I took some photo’s and made contact with the old boys network who still maintain close contact and assist the school. I believe they meet regularly and I await a response from Manilal Solanki the chairman to attend their meeting.
Anver, I also visited AVHS in 1996 during a visit to Kenya with my family. It was a nostalgic visit. I saw the very classrooms where I was a student. I did not meet the principal or any one else other than someone who wondered if we needed help. It truly is a magnificent building.
I also visited one of the houses that we lived on Hobbly Road right next to the stadium. The current occupants gave us permission to see the house. The thing that struck me more than anything else is how small the house was and my parents and five children lived in that very small house – and we never even thought of it as being small!
I was at AVHS from 1959 to 1964, did my A levels there too. Your brother George was one of my teachers. I remember you in one of my biology classes being taken by Mr Ivor DeSouza. All of my classmates have done really well in life – a testimonial to the excellence of schooling that we received.
I live near Toronto, Canada – alas, we don’t have an AVHS old boys network here.
I was at AVHS from 1956 to 1960, stayed only up to the O levels, went to the States after that. Mr. Joseph Senior taught me English. I can still picture him so clearly. Such fond memories.
I am Sotantar’s brother. We, along with our younger Brother, Kamal, were at AVHS.
I am in Portland, Oregon, USA, still working at age 66.
Sotantar and Kamal are in Toronto Canada.
A fond Kwaheri to all AVHS types.
my dad studied at AVHS in the forties.i still have his graduation certificate.it was the dream of every primary school student in mombasa to proceed to AVHS for their secondary school.it was number UNO.I STUDIED at technical high school 1970-1973,pity we do not have an alumni.
Sotantar Sood, you were supposed to be in my class at AVHS from 1959 to 1963.
Did your dad teach in our school?.. I suppose geography? Were Osman Miyanji, Gulamhussein Panju, Ashok Tiwari, Zulfikar Datoo and there were other two singhs ? Preetam Singh and Mohinder Singh (Middle distant runner)
I am based in Dar Es Salaam practicing General Surgery. I will be pleased to know more about you.
With regards.
Dhanji
Wow! All this brings back some great memories. I was at AVHS between 1971 and 1974 and prior to that my older brother was there doing his A Levels.
Even during my time the school was one of the best in East Africa. The building still looks fantastic in the pictures. I had a really great time then.
I remember Mr Tailor who was a teacher there and his son Suresh was in my class.
I have not had the chance to visit the school since, and, unfortunately, have no contact with former pupils. I would really like to get in touch with those who were at the school during my time.
I came to AVHS when I reached puberty and the nuns at White Sisters convent got scared! HA HA. This was during the 2nd world war. I had to walk to school from Makupa Road and I was always scared of being late as if one was one got canned by a headmaster then who enjoyed punishing boys. I escaped his cane but I saw other boys being canned almost publicly. There were no girls then. I think the fees were 4 shillings a month which my parents could ill afford to pay at the time.The Jeevanjee Empire had just collapsed and no one would help as I was perceived to be a millionair’s son. I remember, I was in teacher Mr. Karia’s class when he announced the ‘The Prince has been born today’ and gave us all a holiday. Indeed the building is still well maintained, I guess by the noble Agakhan.
I would dearly love to join the alumni to network and reminiss the old days and assist the school with funding etc. I have sent several emails to Manilal Solanki (email: filmline@africaonline.co.ke) as well as Mr Mwangi the Principal but have not received any reply. I have lost touch with the old boys network – I am now 78 and everyone is welcome to contact me in UK and revive old friendships. A lot has happened in my life since I left AVHS. Brief Profile: Anver Jeevanjee – 2007 – Nationality, Ethnic Origin, Birth & Religion: British, 3rd generation Kenyan, Multi Faith / humanist / liberal approach to all religions. Great regard for the Quakers traditional role of fairness and justice since my first arrival to UK in 1950.
Family: Married 1959 to a Mumbai lady, Sara a Chartered Physiotherapist / Acupuncturist now in part-time private practice, International acupuncture trainer. Two daughters educated in local Shirley State Schools, London University, Tokyo, Stanford, Brazil, Geneva etc., employed USA & Switzerland. Grandson Adam age 12 currently at Millfield Prep. Passionate cricketer.
Past Social & Voluntary Agencies Worldwide: Member of the first non-racial United Kenya Club, Nairobi 1964 – 69. Executive, Southampton Race Relations Council 1970-74, Victim Support Scheme Volunteer 1984-88, Disablement Income Group 1972-81, Executive Southampton City Society 1984-88, Member/Treasurer Anglo Scandinavian Society 1982-07, Anti Apartheid Movement in South Africa 1971 – Amnesty International, Alliance François, Executive, The Liberal Party Executive Council member, Southampton City Society, Parole Review Board, Private Prison Escort Observer, Board of Visitors HM Prison Services 1989 – 2000, Social Security Appeals Tribunal 1986-1999, Child Support Appeals Tribunal 1990 – 1999, Asylum & Immigration Appeals Judge 1982 – 2004. Prison Service Race Relations Policy Group at PSHQ 1992-1998. Best Value Accreditation Board, SCC remuneration Panel, Chair, Seniors Council etc.
Current Voluntary Involvements: Chairman Upper Shirley Residents Association 1971, Founder / Patron National Action for Prisoners Family Support Groups 1991, International Association of Refugee Law Judges, Various Prison Reform Groups, National Black Prisoners Support Groups, Restorative Justice in the Community and Prisons, Founder & President Cultural Diversity Advisory Group to the Media, International Association Cultural Diversity in the Media based in Ottawa, Voice of listeners and Viewers (UK), Mentor Prince’s Trust, Parliamentary Media Forum, Hants CPS panel, Nacro Young Offenders Committee, Hants Constabulary Independent Advisory Group, Chairperson Southampton Seniors Council, Exodus-Switzerland, Campaigner against all British Colonial based titles / awards.
Research Papers Published: Addictive Drugs, Diversion from Prisons, Racism & Human Rights, Immigration laws for Black Britons, Reports about visits to various local and overseas Penal Institutions, Visa Sections official reports of various British High Commissions & Embassies, Visits to overseas court systems in India, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe etc., Historical perspectives in respect of Home Office’s version of country information. Various published submissions to HMG’s Select Committees in respect of the Judiciary, Tribunal systems, Prisons, Media, Published “Diversity in the Media” book etc.
Extra Curricular Activities: Gardening, Woodwork, DIY, Cooking, Baby sitting. Travels.
Other languages: Kiswahili, Gujarati, Hindi, German. (In descending order of rustiness!)
I wish those of us who are on this page could start up an Alumini as the Principal and others I met at the school do not seem intersted. Some of you are much younger than me.
Email me: anver.jeevanjee@virgin.net
Tel: 00442380773435
I was at AVHS from Jan 1961 to Dec 1966. I can relate to all the comments on this blog.
I am in the process of capturing as much as I can of my days in Mombasa and AVHS and so if there are any of the students from that period please contact me.
I am now in Austin Texas.
Dilip Patel aka batuk aka makomo
letap4@gmail.com
614 937 1034
I recall the days of Allidina Visram High School vividly although I was there over 55 years ago from 1950 to 1955. I would be happy from people who were present during this time as the memories will come flooding back!
REMINDER
Happy to be involved in forming an alumini network of old Allidinians and contributing to the advancement of this fine school
Email me: anver.jeevanjee@virgin.net
Tel 00442380773435
Hi Old Allidiania,
My name is Satish Chowdhary and I have been living in Miami, Florida since 1984.
I attended AVHS from 1957 to 1960. I was a Queen’s Scout. My pic apears in the 1962 School magazine and again in the the 50 years Magazine.
I would love to talk to or e-mail Old Allidinians and help if necessary to set up a Group.
Contact: schowdhary43@yahoo.com
I was at AVHS from 1963 to 1966 and remember George Joseph who might have taught me English for a brief period when I was in form 3. Your excellent description of academic segregation and school discipline does bring some memories back. I remember that during W C Davies’s regime one was not allowed to walk in the school grounds with ones hands in the pockets. Mr Davies had a house in the school grounds and during breaks he used to take a short walk from his office to the house. I recall an incident during one such break a friend walking with his hands in the pockets and bumping into Mr Davies whose rsponse was “Feeling cold eh!come and see me in my office after the break and I will warm you up”.
Anver, et al
If there is sufficient interest, I will be happy to create a forum for old Allidinians to gather and post their recollections and experiences.
Initially, there would be no cost to doing so since my hosting agreement should cover the necessary band-width but if the forum becomes active and successful there may be a minor cost which members can contribute to on a voluntary basis.
Obviously our hope would be that there would be lots of members and activity as the forum becomes known through searches as well as referrals.
I will wait and see how much interest there is before implementing such a forum.
I am a former student at Allidina in the noughts. Finished my studies in 2002 to be precise. The class of 02 was the best in the school history. With records having 5 students in top 10 and number 11 Nation wide. 60 of us went to university.
I am glad that you all still have the school in your hearts.
Stay Blessed you all.
Hello Old Allidinians,
I am delighted to come across Rana’s reflections which very much relate to my own of the wonderful times I had at our unique Allidina. I was there from 1958-1962, and continued onwards into “A Levels” for a few months before moving to Nairobi and then to the US for further studies, returning in 1971. I am in the US since 1994. I remember Satish Chaudhary, and Sotantar Sood of course as he was my classmate!! It would be nice if we could form some sort of network/organisation.
Narendra C Patel : my name is Muru Khunti and we were in the same time frame at AVHS from 1963 thru 1966.I live in California ,USA and have not been able to find any one fro AVHS. Please let me know the email adresses,phone numbers or physical adresses of any one from that period.The last person from the school who visited me here was Mr S I Patel,one of the teachers from that era.
If there is an old boys/girls network fro AVHS please let me know .
My contact is : murukhunti@yahoo.com. I live in beautiful Central California,not far from Yosemite national Park and any one who is here please contact me.
TJ If you want to form a forum I would be more than happy to share any costs with you.Please contact me via e mail : murukhunti@yahoo.com
Muru, I will write to you separately but given the interest in the concept of a forum for ex-AVHS students, I will work on something. The forum is actually pretty easy to do since there are templates that accomplish it.
The cost is not a factor either at this point – it may become one down the line if we use a lot of bandwidth assuming the forum becomes really active. For now, the existing bandwidth I have for the blog and family website should be more than sufficient.
Where I will need help and input is in two aspects: first some broad headings/subjects so that people can post in a more organized way based on subjects that may be of interest to them. Second, if the forum becomes active then I’d need a couple of co-administrators to approve membership and just make sure that the content is in accordance with reasonable standards.
Thanks for your comments on the blog and your interest in developing a forum.
I really appreciated your accounting of your experiences at AVHS. I am an American pastor and will be visiting there in a few weeks, this helped me to appreciate a more nuanced experience now that I’ve read your blog. Thank you.
Subject: Jambo – habari ya pigana pate uhuru nyumbani yetu – MauMau
You may have seen recent articles in the Times about British atrocities in
Kenya and the suite filed in the High Court.
I attach some of my evidence submitted to the Court in support of the
victims and hope it helped somewhat.
You might find this story rather chilling even in its present form, but the
bulk of it was edited by KHR solicitors Leigh Day & Co, the leading human
right lawyers in Britain.
Anver Jeevanjee.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
Claim No.
B E T W E N :
MAU MAU
Claim No.
– and –
THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Defendant
______________________________
WITNESS STATEMENT OF
ANVER JEEVANJEE
______________________________
I, Anver Jeevanjee, of 132 Bellemoor Road, Southampton U.K., WILL SAY as follows:
1. The contents of this statement are true to the best of my knowledge, memory and belief and are from my own knowledge unless otherwise stated.
Background
2. I was born on the 23rd October 1932 in Nairobi, Kenya. As a child I continued to live in Nairobi, where I attended a primary school, until about 1936. I then moved to Mombasa with my parents.
3. I lived in Mombasa for about five years where I went to study at the Allidina Visram school. I then moved back to Nairobi when the great European 2nd World War broke out and we were evacuated from Mombasa. Just before the end of the War in about 1944 we returned back to Mombasa and I resumed schooling and after completing my final year of schooling I applied for a scholarship for further studies, which was granted. I moved to Morogoro, then in Tanganyika (now known as the Republic of Tanzania), to complete a diploma in agriculture up to early 1949.
4. I studied in Morogoro for approximately 2 years. There were no job opportunities or available land for non-whites to farm. However, I managed to obtain a temporary job in Lushoto, Tanganyika, working as an Assistant Manager on a relative’s coffee plantation. I did this job until early 1950 when I decided to travel to England to try to continue my studies and possibly find a better future. I had limited savings and intended to work and study part time.
5. I arrived there by a French cargo ship in its ‘quatrem’ (4th lowest class – in the hold) for a fare of Kenya Shillings 400.00 (£40.00 then but £3.50 today) to Marseille and then by rail via France to London in the spring of 1950. On arrival in London I met a few African and Asian Student’s at East Africa House and at the YMCA where I stayed. I then registered my arrival with the Colonial Office as one was required to do. I worked, saved and skimped to survive and learn. The Colonial Office tried to control my activities as it had all other highly funded Kenyan Asians from wealthy families. Nevertheless, I have vivid memories of being able to live freely for the first time without the yoke of apartheid and fear of the British authorities persecuting one. I was amazed at seeing white folks sweeping the streets and doing other dirty jobs as we were required to do in Kenya. I was then determined to find a farm apprenticeship and submitted my applications.
6. During my time in England I also became very interested in the Communist movement which sympathised to my core element for freedom, equality and racial justice.
7. I would attend political meetings in London and gained support from the Quakers in Euston. The Quakers’ philosophy of freedom appealed to me a lot. I also met several Methodists who were appalled at the stories I told them about British colonial oppression in Kenya. I also attended political lectures in Hyde Park which was an excellent and enlightening experience. The Colonial Office and the British Council were unhappy with my activities and often sent me some advice or warnings about keeping out of trouble.
8. In the late summer of 1950 I managed to secure a paid farm apprenticeship at a farm in Tiverton, Devon. I had to as my savings were fast dwindling. At weekends I travelled to Bristol and Exeter where I had a friend from Mombasa. I heard that Jomo Kenyatta had also worked on a nearby farm before he returned back to Kenya. I met several workers in the cucumber nursery who remembered him. I continued to learn a lot on the farm and realised how different British agricultural practices were compared to those in Africa.
9. In the early spring of 1951 I moved to Exeter. I took up an Agricultural Diploma Course at the Polytechnic, as well as a part time sales job. It was at this college that I met a new arrival from Kenya. He was a quiet and nervous Kikuyu whom all the Kenyan students hated who knew more about him than I did. He only told me his first name, Rawson. I got on well with him as a person. He later confided to me that he was persuaded by the Kenya ‘establishment’ to swear a false affidavit on oath at the Kapenguria Trial of Jomo Kenyata, which I knew was on but was not aware of the up to date details. He told me that it was his coached false evidence that was crucial in convicting Jomo. He was coached each day before the Court hearing presided over by a white settler Magistrate who would have convicted Jomo regardless. As compensation for his lies he received substantial cash and was brought to Exeter, protected by the British security services and offered a placement to learn about local government administration at the University at Her Majesty’s Government’s expense and promised a job back in Kenya, to which he was fearful of returning. I discussed with him what would happen as some day he would have to go home and face the consequences from at least the Kikuyu tribe. He told me that the perjury he committed was worrying him a great deal and he felt very lonely in Exeter.
10. In the spring of 1952 I was offered a place at Bristol Polytechnic so I moved there and lost touch with Rawson. Later in 1958 I read that Rawson had returned back to Kenya and tried to swear another affidavit claiming that he had perjured at the Kenyatta trial. I would then realise that it was Rawson Macharia. The result might have meant that the Kenyatta trial would be rendered as null and void and if the whole story was revealed Kenyatta would be immediately released from false imprisonment. I did not believe the corrupt authorities would accept this. As I expected the authorities arrested Rawson and charged him for swearing a false affidavit and sentenced him to 2 years imprisonment. I was glad that Rawson had the courage of his conviction to do this.
11. I began studies in Business and Legal Studies as well as Animal Husbandry at Avonmouth. I worked at weekends and evenings with Betterwear Household Goods Company. I liked Bristol and made many new friends there and stayed there up to the summer of 1953.
12. In 1953 I began to feel home sick. I went to the Colonial Office to look for work in Kenya as I was eager to get home and put my experiences and education into practice. I saw several jobs in the Agricultural Department in Kenya which were being advertised in U.K. newspapers, but I was told that as a local Kenyan I would have to return back to Kenya and try there.
13. After completing my studies in England I managed to obtain an exchange scholarship for young agriculturists through the National Union of Students and went to the small village of Emden in Holland to learn about animal husbandry on a small holding for about 3 months during the summer of 1954.
14. Whilst in Holland I met three American students who were hitchhiking around Europe and who invited me to join them, I accepted their offer.
15. Whilst travelling in the U.K. earlier I had met a wealthy business gentleman named Adamjee Heptulla in Scotland who gave me his card and mentioned that if I was ever in Karachi or Mumbai that I should visit him.
16. I continued to travel around Europe with these new found acquaintances for some 3 weeks and later ended up in Turkey. From there we bought discounted cheap tickets to travel on the old Orient Express to Baghdad / Basra and finally by deck class ship to Karachi. It was an eventful journey on this British India liner and we had several abrasions with the captain during the voyage about what we considered to be the inhumane treatment of his old, infirm, women and children passengers. I got off at Karachi on Christmas eve 1954 where I met Mr. Adamjee. I also found that several other relatives turned up from the woodwork, so to speak. It so happened that Mr. Adamjee was also a distant relative and he arranged for his son Akber to meet me and accommodate me at his family house in Mumbai.
17. Upon arriving in Mumbai I met up with Akber and he kindly invited me
to stay. As I had almost run out of money I accepted. Whilst there I contacted my father to ask him to find some cash to send me a ticket back to Kenya. I waited for a month for the money to arrive and during that time I met and became friends with Mr Adamjee’s daughter, Sara and we agreed to stay in touch. Once the money arrived I used it to buy a ticket to Mombasa, Kenya. Sara and I married in 1959.
Returning to Kenya
18. I arrived in Mombasa in January 1955 and it was immediately apparent to me that there was a tenseness in the air. This was evidenced by the fact that many European settlers were carrying guns.
19. Upon my arrival I started to look for work. I went to the Agriculture Department in Nairobi by appointment with the Chief to apply for a position but was asked “why I did not do shop keeping as this was what most Indians did”. In any case he said there were no vacancies in his department for “you people” as he put it. When I questioned why then the department was recruiting from the U.K. he evaded the issue and dismissed me. This behaviour was indicative of the racism which dominated Kenya at this time.
20. I was upset at my treatment by the Agriculture Department and accordingly wrote to Mr Blundell, Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Rift Valley Constituency Kenya 1948-63, as well as to nominated MLCs W.W. Awori and Mr Chanan Singh. In response to my letter Awori and Singh raised the issue to the Legislative Council, while I sat in the public gallery. Blundell denied that there was any question of racism and patronisingly rebuked the two members. He maintained that that Kenya was moving forward and “you blacks are still dreaming of racism under your beds all night”.
21. During this time it became evident to me that tensions were still escalating between the Government and the African population. Kenyatta was still in prison on trumped up charges and false evidence, having been sentenced before a white settler magistrate named Thacker who was said to have taken instructions from the then Governor, Evelyn Baring, in collusion with the Colonial Secretary in London.
22. At this time Africans were subject to a poll tax and the brutal General Security Unit (GSU) were there to ensure that they complied. I would often see members of the GSU set upon Africans who were riding a bicycle or walking around Mombasa. They would push them off their bicycles and beat them with truncheons and kicks before demanding their poll tax receipt. This the GSU would do without even questioning the individuals first about receipts. I would regularly see the pitiless individuals crying and sobbing while they produced receipts from their pockets as evidence of tax payment while being kicked and beaten. A final kick followed as they ran for cover before riding on, seemingly to show them who was boss. This behaviour was typical of the GSU who were widely feared by the African and Asian population of Kenya for such abuses and harassment.
23. Whilst this savagery was happening against the ‘indigenous folk’, I was continuing desperately to look for work and in the month of April 1955 I started a job as an Assistant Gardens Supervisor for the Mombasa Municipality. This I got through a colleague of my uncle, a man named Dr Rana who was a local Asian councillor. I continued with this job under the so called supervision of a highly paid white ‘officer’ who was continuously drunk, drinking gin and tonics throughout the day, and who openly abused young African boys. This I knew as I would often attend his house to receive my orders. There I would see numerous young boys, typically between the ages of 10 – 12 years, around his house, who he would openly stroke and touch in my presence. This was considered quite normal in the happy valleys of the British Raj.
24. I survived this because I had no other choice for months. However, I still continued writing to colleagues and sympathisers in London with copies to the Kenyan authorities about my dilemma and inability to get a proper job in the Ministry of Agriculture. Somehow, completely out of the ‘blue’ and to my surprise, I received a letter offering me a job as an Assistant Livestock Officer to a Provincial Veterinary Officer and posting me to Mariakani, near Mombasa. I suspected this was as a result of my representation to friends in London. I was to work under the command of a Mr Shaw (who I later learnt was a PWD road digger in U.K.). He was the officer in charge of grassland research for North Coast District, contracted to identify the grasses growing in the district and produce his report within two years. He lived in a palatial residence with his wife, government Landrover, Alsatians and a boat. All his research on grasses in the field seemed to entail was sailing on his boat all day long. I accepted the offer and started the job promptly.
25. In 1956/57 I was then elevated to District Livestock Officer in charge of the entire Kilifi district headquarters. I was housed in the ‘Boma’ (government officer’s compound) but in substandard living quarters, whilst very junior European officers were housed in luxurious housing with all the mod cons, membership of the exclusive ‘English Club’ etc.
26. At this time the Mau Mau rebellion was really hotting up and all Kikuyus and any sympathisers with their cause for the freedom movement were being targeted and rounded up and indiscriminately detained in remote camps. Amongst them were some Asians. The Africans, especially the Kikuyu were very scared and my few Kikuyu staff were always asking me for days off as their brother/uncle/father had died. Often my African staff would go absent and then return bearing signs of a beating, or sometimes they would not return at all. They would not talk to me freely about what had happened as they saw me as an associate or loyalist of the establishment and were therefore scared of me.
27. As time went on I realised from discussions picked up at team meetings with my white colleagues, some of whom were in the Kenya Police and security staff and directly involved in the abuses, that assaults and rape were widespread and that it was accepted that wholesale rape and indiscriminate assaults on blacks was rampant and occurring all over the country, particularly towards the Kikuyu tribe. My so called white colleagues in the Boma were at this time trying to convince me that these blacks were savages and deserved every bullet that they got from civilised people like us.
28. In 1959 my father came to stay with me in Kilifi for a few months. Unlike me he was not seen as a loyalist to the Government by my staff and other locals. He would go to their homesteads and socialise with them. They would complain to him about my attitude and would share their dilemma with him openly as he identified himself with their cause. They told him that they were paid very little and that they did not have enough money for food and were constantly beaten up by Askaris (African police officers) for no reason at all. At this time District Officers would frequently pick up members of my staff to ‘question’ them in my absence. They would return with visible signs of assault but they would not share details of what had happened to them with me, as I have already stated, they saw me as a loyalist. My father however would learn the truth of the matter and tell me that they had been severely beaten whilst being ‘questioned’ by the security forces.
29. I had to be careful not to show any sympathy for their just struggle as the consequences for me could also be dire. I knew that from confidential information and a briefing I had once received from headquarters. My father would plead with me to change my attitude towards these downtrodden people and help them. I was caught between my father’s direct knowledge, the people for whom I had great sympathies and my official job trying to do my duty for which I was paid. I could not afford to give up my job or salary on which my parents and family depended. I was in a difficult predicament at the time. In hindsight it is easy to say what I should have done.
30. As part of my duties as a District Livestock Officer I would attend meetings with the District Commissioner and officers from other departments such as education, police and the security forces. At one of these meetings I suggested that we train the local population and use this untapped manpower. My proposal was swiftly rejected and eyebrows rose. It was maintained that these savages had no brains to learn anything. I realised it was a very sensitive subject for the diehards in control.
31. At other meetings between 1959-62 I would often hear members of the security forces who were mercenaries recruited from those experienced in jungle warfare towards the end of the Malaysian uprising. They were of South African, British and German origins employed by the Colonial Government. The security officers were referred to as General Templar’s strong men. Their body language reeked of nothing other than of brutal arrogance and contemptuous language when referring to black Africans. I would often hear these men boasting about how many Africans each of them had killed in their days work, while they settled down to enjoy the ‘sundowners’ in the evening. The numbers boasted would average between 35-75. Horrified and bewildered as to how they could kill so many humans in one day, I once asked at a meeting in Mombasa, called by the Provincial Commissioner, just how they managed to do it. They answered my question in front of the Provincial Commissioner and other District Officers. They said they would send an African loyalist into the detention camp with instructions that he tell the detainees that the British guards were drunk, and had fallen asleep and that if they tried now that they could escape. This of course was not the case. In reality the guards would be wide awake, guns poised and at the ready for the escape attempt. They would then ambush the detainees as they tried to escape and proceed to gun the detainees down, always being careful to shoot them in the back so as to not raise suspicion. The cause of death of these poor unfortunate souls would then be attributed on official papers as ‘shot while escaping’ and certified blindly by relevant District Officers the next day.
32. The rendition of this account was met with a muted silence as no one dared show any blinker of disassociation with what was going on either publicly or even privately. There was also a culture of mistrust and closed shop. One took this in one’s routine daily work related stride. I do not remember even sharing this secret even with my wife. I suspect senior officers like the Provincial Commissioners and District Commissioners must have known or even seen some of this but their body language did not reveal anything untoward or abnormal. Some of these officers had served in the Malaysian campaign and thus might have been hardened to such stories. There was only one exception that I encountered. It was through a pretty young English nursing sister who had become friendly with me in the Boma. She said she was from Essex and I shared my hitch hiking and strawberry picking job experience in Tiptree with her. A few days later, I dropped by at her bungalow to give her some fresh eggs from my deep litter hens and saw her weeping quite openly at her doorway. I asked her what the problem was and she said, while sobbing, that she could not take all these murdered dead black bodies and brutal language in the Boma any longer and couldn’t wait to go back home to the U.K. I made no comment because of fear that she might be a spy.
33. In April 1959 I left Kilifi and travelled to Mumbai were I stayed for a couple of weeks for my wedding to Sara. I had stayed in correspondence with her throughout this time. Adamjee, her father had initially been against our marriage as he saw me as an irresponsible radical and unfit to marry his studious daughter. Sara’s family was against us as I was a non-believer in Islam and particularly its corrupt faction of the Bohora sect. I managed to overcome their reservations by variously disguised compromises. After a couple of weeks of our wedding, Sara and I returned to Kilifi. It was a difficult time for her to adjust from a wealthy lifestyle in the large city of Mumbai to the apartheid riddled village of Kilifi. She soon adapted and we travelled to Mombasa most weekends to meet friends which was a slight relief.
34. As a District Livestock Officer there was no official reason for me to visit the detention camps in the ordinary course of my duties. However, by 1961, in the face of continued rumours and in response to a rare moment of candour in which one of my staff had informed me that a family member had been killed at Athi River Detention Camp (he was suspected of being a Mau Mau), my curiosity and concern got the better of me and I decided I wanted to take the risk and see one of these camps for myself. Accordingly, I travelled to Athi River Detention Camp where upon arrival I drove around its periphery. The detainees I saw there were not the Africans I was accustomed to seeing. Most were unclothed and I could see that they were nothing but skin and bones, their bodies were shrunken and their skin no longer shone brilliantly in the light and was instead grey and dull. After seeing this I could do nothing but turn away and cry.
35. In 1961 I personally witnessed an event of brutality which was indicative of the violence which existed in Kenya at that time and which I will never forget. During my duties as a District Livestock Officer I would attend the local farms, including those of the so called local European gentry. On this one particular day I visited a farm owned by a German farmer named Roman. Roman’s feelings and actions towards Africans were well known by all in the district, the security forces were sympathetic towards him. On my first official visit to Roman’s farm a member of my staff who had accompanied me and my driver told me that Roman was full of ‘tembo’ (illicit liquor) and was well known as one of the most dangerous men, so I should be aware. On this particular day I would witness first hand the violence which Roman was known for. He was sat on his sofa on his veranda with a bottle of gin in one hand and a rifle/shotgun (I am not familiar with guns so cannot tell which it was) in the other. A tall Somali man strayed into his imaginary boundary while chasing his sheep. In response and without any hesitation or warning Roman shot the man dead. Roman then told me that the man had no right to be on his land and that he did it all the time to teach these bastards a lesson to respect his property. He said, as did many white officials and farmers in the Boma, that shooting all the Kukes (Kikuyu tribe) was the only answer for their version of peace. When I put it to him that the man he had just shot appeared to me to be a Somali and not a Kuke, Roman said he had no time or knowledge to distinguish between tribes and as long as he was black that was good enough.
36. I did not dare ask him what was to happen to this dead man. I knew that his body would be picked up in an open lorry, like any other dead animal and disposed off in a mass grave. I had twice seen a lorry piled up with bodies in the vicinity of Kilifi hospital heading north out of the then village of Kilifi under police escort. I asked my old driver named Makosi where he thought the lorry was heading and he said that there was a burial place in the Northern Frontier District. The issue was so sensitive that I suspect even if Makosi had known he would not trust to share it with me. This applied to many of my staff as their jobs and wages were far more important than worrying about the Mau Mau dead. I once asked one of my veterinary scouts during a rabies campaign (eradicating stray dogs to prevent rabies by luring them to meat laced with poisonous powder strychnine) in the Malindi area of my district where the dead dogs would be buried and he showed me a large hole in the ground where dog bodies would be treated with chemicals to avoid the spread of disease, offloaded and then covered with soil. I asked Makosi whether the human dead we had seen in a lorry a few days ago would also be buried in a similar way, he smiled and nodded his head.
37. Around this time, (1960/1961), while the European officers started to leave I met a young humble man (Roger) who served as District Officer in the Kwale region of the district. I later learnt he was Viscount Mills, the son of Lord Mills. Roger and I became friendly. Unlike most of the Europeans I had met he perceived me not as non-white but as a person, as the ordinary people of good breeding in Britain had treated me while I was there. Although I had seen him in team meetings I had never spoken to him personally as friendships between white and black officers, junior staff or the public was not encouraged on the grounds of maintaining discipline. It was always customary that when we went about our official duties (on safari) that if a white officer arrived at the government guest house in the evening; others would have to pitch up a tent. If there were two white officers they shared the guest house. It so happened that Roger and my Landrover drew up in the village of Kikambala almost together. My team immediately started putting up a tent for me for the night. While they were doing so, Roger walked over to me and asked whether I would like to share the guest house with him. I was shocked, surprised and nervous at this invitation but I readily accepted. When we got back to Kwale he invited me to his house for lunch and introduced me to his charming wife and family. I realised that he was different to most of the others I had met in Kenya who had no human feelings towards the ‘coloured’ population.
38. Back at the Boma headquarters was a new District Commissioner (whose name I cannot remember) who asked Sara and me how we spent our time in the evenings as we were the only ‘coloured’ officials in the Boma. He sensed that we might be lonely and asked if we would like to join the English Club. I knew that it would be impossible but I said “Yes of course we would”. Sara asked to work voluntarily at the local hospital as she was a U.K. registered and trained Physiotherapist but that was rejected. Nevertheless the District Commissioner contacted the committee of the English Club and asked if I could join on the grounds that I had lived in the U.K. for some years and was familiar with British culture and etiquette. As expected he was told that the club constitution clearly specified “members must be of pure European descent” which excluded me. In fact I learnt from reading the minutes later that they would not even admit Emperor Haile Selasie of Ethiopia if he dared to apply. Thankfully this did not stop the District Commissioner’s valiant efforts to make me feel welcome and he suggested that as the tennis courts were outside the jurisdiction of the English Club and within his domain as District Commissioner that we should meet up along with his wife and play tennis. We had no knowledge of tennis, or in fact not even owned a racket or the attire but we took him up on his offer to play with them. Both he and his wife arranged to stitch tennis gear for us and we were coached to play tennis defiantly whilst gazed upon by the white members of the English Club.
39. Later in 1961 I received a hand written letter from Governor Renison which was sent to all the heads of departments. The letter stated that Kenyan independence was now imminent that therefore we must protect ourselves against any backlash from the masses. The first thing to do was to destroy all confidential documents that might incriminate us individually as well as the British Government of any wrongdoing. In fact I can still remember the words “I can not reemphasise the importance of secrecy of this instruction to such an extent that this letter along with documents must be burnt out immediately.” Fearing the severe punishments that would be meted out if found not to have obeyed this instruction; I must regrettably admit that I like so many others followed the orders to the letter and acted promptly. I removed the confidential files from my office safe and elsewhere and had a ‘bonfire’ in my rear garden, facing the sea, without realising the long term consequences of my action.
40. In May 1962 I received a posting order to transfer to Eldoret in the Uasin Gishu District of the hostile White Highlands. I was very surprised and a bit sceptical about this policy and asked my posting to be delayed to allow Sara to give birth to our first child Salma in the familiar surroundings of the Coast Province, but that was refused quite unsympathetically as I knew such exceptions were made for white officers in my circumstances. Consequently, I had no choice and I travelled to Eldoret alone, leaving Sara with my parents in Mombasa.
41. I was the first coloured officer to be posted to the White Highlands but to work under a white officer and I was a bit nervous to say the least, given what I had heard of the fascist attitudes in that area. My other consolation was that I was promoted to the rank Senior District Livestock Officer and with it a small increase in salary and a corresponding change in privileges, allowances, leave etc. Kenya had the most unique ‘Code of Regulations’ for all categories of its civil service clearly defined. The expatriate white officer enjoyed the highest allowances, and then came the Asian and finally the African female receiving the lowest.
42. One of my functions in Eldoret was to take over a section of the service dealing with the inoculation, inspection and dipping of livestock belonging to departing white farmers, who were then leaving for South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). As expected European settlers were particularly demanding and did not welcome my appointment and questioned me why they could not see a white officer to deal with their issues as in the past, instead of a wog like me who did not understand anything about their dilemma. Instead of speaking with me directly about the area of my responsibility they would telephone their friend, my superior, the European Director General in Nairobi and ask him to instruct me if they required anything as obviously they did not wish to deal with me on the ground in their close proximity. They would also barge into my office without an appointment to shout and instruct me what to do. I tolerated all those insults for a while but then decided that I wouldn’t stand for such behaviour and put my foot down, despite the lack of support from my white bosses at headquarters. Accordingly, I started telling the white farmers to ‘bugger off’ and return when they had made an appointment. I can recall how this scared my African staff as they told me that I should be careful and not speak to the bwana mkubwa (big chiefs) like that because if I continued they would come back and shoot me. They told me that during the Emergency the local European settlers used to threaten them and shoot at them all the time and that they had shot a few of their colleagues, their children and their relatives. I appreciated their words but I had committed myself to the idea that Kenya was changing and that if it was to change to a free democratic and multicultural nation, it was best to start immediately. I felt I should continue to play my part, however insignificant or disguised, and be firm with the curtailment of privileges the European took for granted and to show them that a non-white could lead and can be equally capable in a free and multiracial Kenya.
It was obvious that most of these British were ex-army demobilised at the end of the European war as the majority of them who I had to deal with, proudly carried army titles before their names. Their barbaric lifestyle in Kenya, Tanzania and other parts of Africa was lavishly funded by the British taxpayer in the guise of schemes such as growing ground nuts, poultry etc. They were most certainly not farmers as such but highly qualified soldiers trained to kill or get killed; sent to the colonies to keep them off British homeland soil where there was a serious danger of them causing havoc to the civil society of the UK. Such demobbed soldiers were good at driving tanks rather than tractors for Agriculture. Consequently, for example they uprooted vast tracts of mature forests to plant petty crops that inevitably failed due to the unsuitability of the soils for the specific crops they chose as I have alluded before. In hindsight, if one looks at the substantial investment the British taxpayer made to keep such persons out of Britain, paid off; although damage to Kenya or African people was of no consequence. Persons like Roman referred to in Para 35 above were the sort that did most to highlight the crude brutality of British rule. Many of the war demobbed element also fought the Maumau rebellion, along with the British security services and indiscriminately killed unarmed black people fighting for their freedom from British rule as they had done in Malaya. It was at that time, I felt convinced that the policy was to ethnically cleanse the crown colony of Kenya for pure white settlement as had happened previously in the old Commonwealth.
43. In August 1962 we ran the usual rabies inoculation campaign and as a result the all citizens of the district would need to attend our offices for its administration. Vast numbers would walk long distances and queue outside our office with their dogs for a free jab. It was traditionally accepted that when a European came along at any time of the day, he would have the privilege to push to the front. I decided that this was wrong and told the staff that we would stop allowing this practice. The staff told me that they were scared that if they did that then the European farmers would fight them, but I told them that this is what we were going to do from now onwards. As a result the Europeans complained and insisted that they should be allowed to be seen first as that is what had happened for the last umpteen years and cannot change at UHURU. I told them that I would not change my mind and I pretended that I was under instructions from Nairobi and could not budge on the issue of universal equality on the basis of first come first served. I invited them to go and see a private practitioner for their needs if unable to wait their turn. Several Europeans agreed with me and either left or followed the queue but there were the usual diehards who stayed behind shouting abuse and trying to create trouble. I decided to ignore them as did the police.
44. In the years that followed in Nairobi and indeed Kiambu I witnessed how tribal tensions invaded the post-independence corruption of the political system and the problems they caused. Some expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of appreciation of what they and their families had suffered in detention centres and in the struggle for freedom. Name’s that come to mind were from the Koinange, Kimathi families. People like Pio Pinto, Makhan Singh, DeSouza etc., who had been imprisoned by the British in the remote northern frontier district seemed to receive much less prominence.
45. In the face of these events my best friend Ishmael advised me that I should seriously think about leaving the country, otherwise I might get caught up in the tribal crossfire. Many freedom fighters had sacrificed their lives for the sake of their principles of freedom and justice and one could see how the land they loved despised them. As Ishmael said it was not worth the risk particularly as I had a wife and young family. He also knew that I might find it difficult to keep quiet at all this injustice to the freedom fighters and systematic torture carried out, post independence. With a year left before my British passport and my returning residency status would expire to return to Britain, whereby I might end up being stateless I realised that I could not take any chances in my beloved birthplace and must emigrate. Sara and I decided that we would use our current status and come to Britain in the first place. Accordingly, we sold our new car, home and possessions and flew to an uncertain future in April 1969, where we have lived happily ever since ………………More in the next chapter.
Albert, thanks for your comments and I am glad that you found my posting on AVHS interesting and useful as you get ready to visit Kenya. As you can see from the numerous comments of other former alumni at AVHS, we all have fond memories of our alma mater and are grateful for the education we received there.
I was at AVHS till 1964 and remeber the Sood family especially Sotantor – I wonder if he does. I too would be interesting to join any forum crated here.
I was at AVHS till 1964 and remeber the Sood family especially Sotantor – I wonder if he does. I too would be interesting to join any forum created here.
Thomas Joseph, your picture looks very familiar! Perhaps we took a common class in A Levels? I was at AVHS from 1959-1962, then a few months into A Levels and off to Nairobi for completion and onwards to USA. I notice Sotantor Sood and Satnam Singh have responded, both classmates of mine. I have met some Old Allidinians in the US, and it is always so nice to remember good old days.
Of course, I remember Satu (Satnam) and Shishir Pandya. Great to hear from you guys. We used to play hockey at Allidina ground after school with Satu and Subhash Mohan and had a really good school team.
I met Subhash Mohan a few years ago – he is in St. Louis Missouri. Harmesh Bassi lives in Burlington, Ontario – we see him now and then. We had an old Allidinians get together a few years back here in Toronto. Mr A.C. Price, Newton DaCosta and Ed Soares (teachers) attended. I have been in Canada since 1973. Renee Fernandes (nee Dias) lives close by and we socialize now and then. Kalimmudin Pirbhai is here too in Grimsby, Ontario.
Thomas was in our class for a short while in Form 5.
I hope that the Blog gets going. I would be interested in keeping in touch.
Sotantar
Hi Sotantor
It is a pity that I missed the old allidinians get together and I would love to team up with you lot sometime. I live in Manchester, UK and would love to make contact with Sobash Mohan and Renee. I wonder if you can let me know their contact details. You were right about our hockey team being the best, I still remember the goal I scored for the school against the Sikh Union to knock them out of the coastal cup. The goal was set up by Sobash from a short corner ( what a player).
I have strongly advocated a world wide reunion of all Allidinians (seniors & Juniours ) for a long time. Sadly I have not had any response from those still resident in Kenya.
London seems to be the centre of all African & Indian school allumini’s – I attended one for St. Pauls School yesterday.
I would be prepared to organise one in London. Those Allidinians living in the UK/Europe etc. are invited to contact me on (anver.jeevanjee@virgin.net) in order that we can set a date for our frist reunioun lunch in Central London.
ANver Jeevanjee
My father Dilipkumar Gor attended this school. I wonder if there are any fellow studens from Mombasa that still remember going to school with him. He lives in the US.
Yes, I was with him. He used to read “fat books” – voracious reader, studious and very intelligent.
With me were Osman Miyanji, Praful Mehta, Kanu Patel, Kirit Amin, Ajit Vyas….
I am at present in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Say hello to Dilip…his college friend Suresh Tailor also remembers him
Dhanji
R Gor : Is this is the same Dilipkumar Gor who used to live in quarters on Hobly road near the stadium and who has brother called Chandrakant (aka Tinio)?
In response to requests for a forum where alumni of AVHS can exchange experiences and memories of their years at the school, I have set up an easy to use forum to which you can post after you register.
The forum is located here:
http://ranajo.com/AVHS/index.php
Hopefully, there will be active participation in the forum. I am currently absorbing the cost of the forum because it is relatively nominal. If the forum becomes active – which is my hope – it will require additional bandwidth and server capacity and at that point contributions would be welcome to defray the cost of maintaining the forum. I will let you know through the forum if that should become necessary.
The current format of the forum is primarily my own creation with the various broad categories that you see on the forum. Please post your input on the forum for changes or modifications you feel would make the forum more effective for the participants.
At this point once you register, posting privileges are immediately effective. If spam becomes a problem, it will be necessary to introduce additional approval steps before posting privileges are available. Let us see how it goes……
Can anyone send me email address of R Dilipkumar Gor?
Thanks
Dhanji
Hi Allidina oldboys! Wow! I studies in Allidina 2003-2006.. Just when i thought i was an old boy.. Am currently in Nairobi University final year taking Bachelors in Land Economics. To date i feel am the only exAllidinian who has ever taken this amazing course.. Allidina is LEGENDARY! Long Live A.V.H.S
Its wonderful to see more and more Allidinians posting.TJ has already set up the forum so please register and let us exchange information, news,memories etc.We are spread out across the globe and getting old.I for one would definitely like to meet any one from AVHS ,irrespective of the time frame while they were there.
TJ thank you for all your efforts.
Muru