THETHE VALLEYVALLEY ◆ ◆ Volume No. 49 Rishi Valley School July 2003 In This Issue Revival... Revival... 1 This term has been one of revival. Two of the long lost traditions of the School have phoenix-like risen from From the Principal... 1 the ashes—asthachal and the students’ council. Asthachal... 3 Students’ Council... 3 After efficiently warding away mosquitoes evening after Debate... 4 evening, asthachal has successfully been reincorporated Humanities workshop... 4 into the School routine. Copenhagen... 4 The revival of the student council has been part of a Hindi and Telugu plays... 7 concentrated effort to increase student participation Junior School excursions... 7 in the working of the School. Breakthroughs were made, 6th Standard rural interaction... 8 as students were included in decision-making processes, Hikes... 8 such as selecting the musical evening songs. Both of New Year... 9 these in some way reinforce principles on which the Wetland census... 9 School had been set up: providing space for inner reflection and the opportunity to take on Sports coaching for girls... 9 responsibilities. Basketball coaching... 9 Tennis... 10 —Student Editors Student-staff cricket match... 10 External football matches... 10 The estate and dairy... 10 InFrom the thelast Principalissue of the... “Valley” we had made an appeal To Sathibai—A Tribute 11 to old students to send in short pieces on Sathibai Akka. Several have come in, and they form the bulk of the second part of this edition of the newsletter. There are probably many more such pieces waiting to be written.

We have at long last been able to reinstate the practice of Astachal. It had been removed from the daily schedule about five years back, in part because of the mosquito menace (it was proving to be next to impossible to sit there at that hour). Now after a determined effort the 1 • The Valley July 2003 practice is back. Earlier the matter had been debated at length within the teacher body. There were doubts raised as to whether we are already operating under a tight schedule, and whether this would merely add to the existing sense of rush. Ultimately we decided to go ahead. However we will need to assess its impact on the student-and-teacher body after a while, and decide whether a review is in order.

Mr. Subbiah Naidu, our Estate Manager for many years now, is stepping down from his post, and Mr. Muralikrishna Reddy, who was in the School during the mid-90’s and rejoined recently, will now take over the post. Old-timers will remember that Mr. Naidu joined the School as Physical Director, soon after Dr. Balasundaram became Principal, in 1960. It was V under his direction that many of the sporting facilities currently existing came into being; e.g., the leveled football field. Probably old-timers will also remember the swimming lessons Some years back the he supervised—in the Malli Bavi! Mr. Naidu shifted his line of School won an award work to the Estate after Krishnaji himself suggested it, having seen his feeling for the land. Great things have happened to for its work in greening the campus and to the surrounding areas since then—the the Valley—the “Indira percolation dam has been built (1989), and a terrific amount Priyadarshini of afforestation done on the hillside behind the Dining Hall; Vrikshmitra” large numbers of saplings (Tamarind, Neem, Red Sanders, and others) are now routinely distributed to the villages in the Valley. Some years back the School won an award for its work V in greening the Valley—the “Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshmitra”. Mr. Naidu will now serve in the capacity of Advisor and Consultant to the Estate Department.

Mr. R G Mishra (“Mishraji” to all) who joined the School soon after Mr. Naidu, and was here on his second stint (he left in 1985, was Head of a school in Kodaikanal for several years, and then rejoined in 1996) will be leaving us. We will certainly miss him and his stirring assembly talks, delivered as always in his most expressive and powerful voice. Mishraji had a great feeling for Hindi poetry, and his last talk, on the poet Harvansh Rai Bachchan who passed away recently, conveyed his feelings beautifully. We will greatly miss him, and his impromptu ability to capture in verse the idiosyncrasies and personalities of each class that he taught.

2 • The Valley July 2003 Our building restoration program continues. Having “done up” all the older hostels and added in a major way to the Senior School block, we now plan to take up, in turn, the Laboratory and Audio-Visual Room complex, the Office complex and the Hospital complex. A couple of new hostels too will be built fairly soon, for students of the 7th and 8th standard. There is enough work to last us several years more! —Shailesh Shirali

RVAsthachal is the oldest... KFI School. Asthachal, when the whole School, students and staff, sit quietly together in the evening and gaze at the hills and the late evening sky, and listen to sounds from near and far, is an integral part of the culture of the institution. Several years ago, asthachal had ceased to become a part of the daily schedule in RV owing to the mosquito V problem. For many years the reintroduction of asthachal had been debated, with however no progress. “Asthachal, when the whole School, students Finally, this year the mosquito problem was efficiently tackled, with recourse to large quantities of saambrani, placed in and staff, sit quietly strategic spots around the hill. Sand was put on the asthachal together in the hill and tulsi herbs planted (to keep mosquitoes away), and evening...” undergrowth blocking the view was cleared, giving the hill a new look after many years. Timetabling complications were also dealt with. V Asthachal refers literally to “the place where the sun sets.” The idea is to sit quietly, face the setting sun, tune in to the mood of the evening, and then to recapitulate the events of the day. It gives a student or teacher the space and time to look into his/her personal life, and to calm the mind.

Though many students question the purpose of asthachal, it is nevertheless a good experience. Asthachal will now, we hope, be an integral part of RV life.

TheStudents’ latter Council...part of the term saw the revival of the Student’s Council in School, a body that has not been functioning in recent years, despite attempts to revive it. The Council took 3 • The Valley July 2003 off on a different note from its predecessors. It aims now to be not a problem-solving body ThisCopenhagen critically acclaimed... play by Michael Frayn, but also one that has a role and responsibility brought to the School by an ex-student of in the functioning of the School. The Council the 1980’s, Gopal Krishnamurthy, delighted so far has involved itself in putting up an the seniors and staff who watched it. The assembly debate on the present food policy play was staged in an unconventional place— in School. One of the primary aims of the the senior School library, a “first” as far as Council is to promote active student the school is concerned. Based on the famous participation in the working of the School, meeting of Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr and students and teachers have been working at the latter’s house in Copenhagen during together to see how this can be made World War II, creating fiction from the practicable. documentation of the actual event (which ended in acrimony), the play is a vivid exploration of the past. The play, directed by Debate... th There was a debate on the 14 of March Gerard Bayle, explores the Bohrs’ meeting with organized by the Student Council, on the Heisenberg, with the three of them trying current food policy of the School. This was hard to understand just what happened that the first debate in a couple of years and was night. In the process they repeatedly enact received well by the audience. The speeches what happened, in different permutations. made by the contestants were fiery and at Niels Bohr was played by G Bayle, Heisenberg times humorous (not always intentionally!). by G Krishnamurthy, and Margarethe Bohr by Though the arguments were heated and on a Isabell Brand. The characters were portrayed rather controversial topic, they did not to perfection, and the layout of the stage degenerate into unpleasant exchanges (circular, with the audience sitting around (though there was a brief digression into the actors) ensured that the play was one of topics such as bovine dietary habits!), and the most memorable events of the term. this reflects creditably on the participants. On the whole the debate was entertaining as well as enlightening, and we look forward to SanjayHindustani Chimalgi, music a young... vocalist, visited RV more such events in the terms to come. (he was brought here by Sannihita, an ex- student) and presented a concert. It was well Humanities workshop... received by the students. During the concert The School played host for the KFI humanities he spoke to the students informally, workshop, which involved several teachers of explaining the intricacies of Hindustani music. humanities from various KFI Schools. He sang some evening ragas, presented a new Humanities students of the senior classes raga and sang a Kabir bhajan originally sung attended some presentations. One session was by Kumar Gandharva. It was a very enjoyable preceded by readings from Shashi Tharoor’s evening. novel, Riot. On the last day, the visiting teachers sang some of their assembly songs for the senior school. ThisChitra term Veena we were concert... fortunate to host the very 4 • The Valley July 2003 well known chitra veena exponent Ravi Kiran, who enthralled us with a concert on a modified version of the chitra veena. He played the main piece in the raagam Amrithavarshini; it was a pleasure to hear. After the concert he had a dialogue with the students in the audience.

MayaKathakali... Rao, one of the parents of the School, is a theatre artist and a professional contemporary Kathakali dancer. This term she gave a demonstration of the dance form she works with. It was our first exposure to improvised classical dance that uses traditional techniques and combines it with inputs from the dancer that are not necessarily in accordance with the way the dance has been traditionally performed. In her presentation, Ms. Rao performed traditional Kathakali to V western classical music, portraying an individual’s response to the serenity and quiet in a forest.

The theme TowardMusic andthe middledance workshops...of the term, Mandakini and Parag Trivedi, this year was parents of the School, visited the School and stayed for a “national unity and week, conducting a dance workshop and a music workshop, respectively. Mandakini Akka, a Bharata Natyam dancer, talked harmony,” about the language of dance, opening our eyes to the techniques that a dancer uses to relate a story to an audience. She talked about the “grammar” of dance—the rules to be followed that V make it a classical art form. Mr. Parag Trivedi’s workshop focused on music appreciation. He played various short pieces, Western and Indian (Carnatic and Hindustani), which carried a strong mood or message. The sessions were very interesting, as he would tell us some fascinating tidbit about each piece or its composer, or about other composers of the period.

OneSewa... of the visitors this term was Ms. Mirai Chatterjee, a parent of the School, who works with SEWA (“Self Employed Women’s Association”) in Gujarat. SEWA is one of the largest women’s organizations in today. Ms. Chatterjee gave a talk on SEWA. The talk was an eye opener to many of us. We got some understanding of how an NGO in India works, including its handling of practical issues such as organization and funding. 5 • The Valley July 2003 SEWA has its head quarters in Gujarat, and we learnt about how the riots and communalization of the state had affected people at the grassroots level, and the impact that the violence in Gujarat has had on a majority of the population.

TowardsRatna Kapoor the middle... of the term the 11th standard got an opportunity to listen to a talk given by Ms. Ratna Kapoor, an eminent lawyer, on the subject of equality in a democracy. She stressed the importance of granting equality to all, including those in a minority, and the importance of this in combating fundamentalism. Many questions were raised and a lively discussion followed.

Mr.Himalayas... Shekhar Pathak, a parent of the School, visited RV on the 8th of January. He is a professor of history in the University of Nainital. He has a deep passion for the Himalayas and has trekked extensively in the region. He shared some of his experiences with us. Talking in Hindi, he gave details about the extent and diversity of the mountains, tourist destinations, monasteries, temples, etc. A beautiful slide show accompanied his talk, with pictures of extremely rough terrain, of the different peoples of the Himalayas, of various rivers and valleys in the Himalayas and many other very interesting things. The talk was greatly enjoyed by the students.

ADance dance program... program was held on the 14th of February. It was a ballet based on the Ramayana, and was performed by students from many different classes. A Todai Mangalam preceded the actual ballet, and the grand finale was a Tillana. The program was a great success. Considerable effort had gone into putting it up; it had been many years since we had put up a ballet of this kind. Venugopal Sir choreographed the entire dance, and all the effort gone into it by him, the students and the other teachers involved, definitely paid off. The characters in the ballet wore elaborate costumes, giving the entire program a very colorful touch. Sudha Akka sang for the program, and accompanying her were Seshadri Sir on the violin, Srinivasan Sir on the , and a visiting flautist from . 6 • The Valley July 2003 Putting up the program was an enjoyable entertaining. It was light and humorous and (and exhausting!) experience for all who were the audience enjoyed it immensely; the involved. The evening was one to remember. general spirit and enthusiasm amongst those involved came through in the play. Ravindranath Sir, who spent the term here, OnChoir... the occasion of Christmas, a choir program facilitated the whole effort. was put up, directed by Sarah Akka. As usual it brightened the evening. The singers clad in white and black walked into the auditorium TheHindi middle-school and Telugu playsassemblies/assemblies... saw a lot of holding candles and singing a processional student participation. There were sessions on in Latin, making the atmosphere calm and varied themes, from drug abuse to serene. The students sang beautifully, with discrimination, interspersed with quizzes and dignity and grace. It was a marvelous spoofs. Class 8 gave a non-traditional program. assembly program, bringing in a variety of talents. Class 4 under the guidance of Sarita Akka and Padmapriya Akka put up a Hindi TheMusical musical evening... evening cum farewell dinner for play on the history of India. It was written the exam going batches was held towards by Habib Tanveer (who visited the School the end of the year. For the first time there earlier in the year with his troupe and staged was active student participation in the a Hindi play, Jisne Lahore Nahi Dekha Woh selection of entries; along with three teachers Janma Nahi). there were also three senior students involved in the audition. There was a lot of cultural Junior School excursions... diversity in the songs sung; we had folk songs, The second term is generally the term of quawaalis, Hindi film songs and old English excursions for the Junior School and each classics. One group sang a song composed by class goes on one such exposure trip. For the them! In all, the evening stood out amongst little ones in the prep section, the excursion others for the quality of the singing and the consisted of a day trip to Horsely Hills. They spirit in which the songs were sung. left in the morning and were back by the evening. The 4th and 5th standard students went for a day trip to Lepakshi, a nearby historical site near the Karnataka border that InGerry’s keeping play... with tradition, the seventh includes a famous temple from Vijayanagara standard students put up a play for the School times. The 6th standard students visited titled “Our Crazy Town.” The script was written asbestos mines for an overnight trip, a trip and sent by Gerry Balcombe from England; made possible by a kind parent. Students he was unable to come himself to RV this enjoyed it as it was the first time many of year too. The play was based on the them had gone underground and seen the happenings in a queer town, and was a fully inside of a mine. They came back with loads seventh standard production (with a bit of of stones with fascinating hues and textures. assistance from teachers)—from the acting The 7th standard students went for a four-day to the props and the lights. The play was trip to Mysore and the Ranganthettu bird 7 • The Valley July 2003 sanctuary. They visited a Tibetan settlement, and also the source of the River Cauvery in Class 6 independent study week... Coorg. The 8th standard students went for a What would you do if you were told that you camping trip to the Kavalur observatory and could decide what you wanted to study, make the Yellagiri Hills, both of which they found your own timetable, and learn about it all on very interesting. your own? This is exactly what the class 6 students were asked to do for a week. They had to identify an area of interest which they th 6 Standard rural interaction... would pursue for a week, using a variety of The issue of plastics was on everybody’s mind techniques like interviews, library readings, th at the beginning of the year and the 6 fieldwork, observations, making models, etc. standard students felt that they would like The topics chosen were diverse: child behavior to do something about it. The desire to and bereavement, child labor, orphans, understand the extent of the problem in rural children’s craft, architecture, astronomy, etc. areas and to see at first hand what could be The children were all unanimous in saying done about it led them to the villages of that it helped them in understanding Gollapalle and Chintyagarikoa. There they themselves better and made them feel that teamed up with the children from village they could work more independently now. schools to pick up discarded plastics around the village. In that short time they struck up some close friendships with the village ManyHikes... hikes took place during the term. Class children and learnt a bit about their families 8 hiked along the pipeline to Horsely Hills and lifestyles. They were moved by the warmth and a few children made it to Signal Point, and openness with which they were welcomed, believed to be the highest point in Andhra and touched by the simplicity of their lives. Pradesh. Class 9 had an enjoyable hike to Moved by this first contact the students felt Rishi Konda. After a grueling series of the need to have a longer period of examinations, class 10 went on an overnight interaction with the village children and to trip to Horsely Hills. They hiked there and experience village life. The idea of an stayed the night. They had a bonfire and overnight visit to the village was thus good food and hiked back the next day. Class conceived. This experience involved having 11 hiked to Bodi Konda. It turned out, as lunch (upma!) together at the village school, one student commented, to be a “hike and a learning various craft activities and songs half”, because they returned by a long route together, going on a short hike, having the that took them behind the three landmark evening meal in their houses, performing skits, hills and they got back only in time for dinner, singing and dancing together. in moonlight. Class 12, after their final series “Though her hand was rough and small I felt of practice examinations, hiked to the third the love, affection and friendliness.” of the landmark hills, Middle Peak. It was a “I was touched by all those children who had very hot day and quite a few students got such clean minds and hearts, though a bit dirty sunburnt. The Rambler’s Club also went on a from the outside.” few hikes—to Jalevaripalli, 360° Point, “For a few days after the trip I stopped fussing Elephant’s Trunk Dyke and Bread Loaf Hill, about food.” and other such places. 8 • The Valley July 2003 The data collected will go via the Bombay Natural History Society eventually into the AsNew per Year... tradition, the 11th standard students database of Wetlands International, the organized the New Year’s program; and as agency that coordinates these counts globally. has become customary, the juniors were kept busy with games and a haunted house in the junior school and the seniors were treated to a rather elaborately worked out treasure hunt AnotherSports coaching initiative for girls... this term was the in the evening. There was the usual special introduction of cricket and football coaching dinner at night, after which the teachers for girls, as part of an effort to draw more retired to the staff room leaving the senior girls into outdoor games. It seems to have students to themselves in the auditorium. A been a success, judging by the number of few hurriedly organized games were played girls who took part in the program. We hope after which the 11th and 12th standard that this is sustained in the years to come. students had the ritual folk dance session. The new year was ushered in with the teachers joining the students in the auditorium with ABasketball coach was coaching... brought to the valley this term, coffee and chips, and some even joined in to polish the basketball skills of the students. the dancing, contributing to what was a For about twenty days, the students went thoroughly enjoyable evening – though through intensive training, under Mr. everyone was rather groggy the next morning! Venkatesh. It helped the students immensely, as their skills in all aspects were looked into. The coach also gave a lot of tips on the game, TheWetland objective census... of the annual Asian Waterfowl especially to the team. The basketball team Census is to gather data on the population played only one match this term, against the of water and waterside birds all over Asia. Vayalpad team. In a close match, the team This helps monitor the populations of these led in the first three quarters, before being birds and the status of their habitats. overtaken by their opponents in the fourth. Rishi Valley has been gathering data for the Census in important wetlands located within Tennis... 40 km from the School over the last ten years The School tennis team visited to or so. This year some students of classes 6, 8 play a series of matches. They performed well, and 9 along with some staff members and won a majority of the matches. It is participated in the counts (held on 26 encouraging to see so much interest in the January). They counted birds at Ghattu (where game (there is heavy demand for the courts!) 30 Grey Herons were nesting on a roadside and we hope that there will be more such tree), Ranga Samudram (which had events. over 2000 birds of 27 species), Kandukuru (where a large congregation of Painted Storks was observed) and Pedda Tippa Samudram TheIntra-school doubles tournament tennis tournament... was a fitting tribute (PTM, which had the rare Barheaded Goose to the game of tennis in the School. A as well as a few commoner birds). dramatic tournament, won by Karthik Yejju 9 • The Valley July 2003 and Rohit Naimpally, was full of upsets, and The School football team played superbly and amazing tennis. In their match with Sumantu won most of its matches. The School trounced and Rahul of class 11 in a nail-biting two of the visiting teams including semifinal, where the 11ths went to match Arogyavaram 4-0 and 5-0 respectively. point, the eventual victors came back and However in their final match the School team won the cliff hanger, to progress into the lost 2-0 to Mission Compound. The School finals. There they played Jayant and Kabir, of team also enjoyed a 1-0 victory over the class 12, and won in straight sets. visiting team from . The future looks positive for the School football team. ThereStudent-staff was a cricket match...match between the students and the staff. Both had practiced hard for the match and in the event, the AsISC per vs. tradition, the rest aof football the School... match was played match was an engrossing encounter. The between the 12th standards and the School students won comfortably, in spite of a heroic team. Under the able captaincy of Sumantu performance by Prasad Sir who took 3 wickets and Jayaram respectively, the School team and scored 60 runs. The innings of the staff and the 12th standard team played what was distinguished by some superb fielding proved to be a close match that the 12th on the part of Rahul Mishra. The event was standard’s won 1-0 after a brilliant goal conducted with great spirit and enthusiasm scored by Samarth. and was enjoyable both for the spectators as well as the participants.

The severeestate draughtand dairy... that is extending into a TheKolar School match... cricket team was victorious in their fourth year has curtailed the work on the second successive game against the Kolar estate and affected the dairy as well. Since Cricket Club. Again the team played some agricultural work has had to be minimized, excellent cricket together, and was the better the estate has been channelizing water for side on display. Gautam Dey’s team bowled use in the school. Tree plantation on the first, and Kolar piled on 192 runs in their hillsides has also suffered. Dairy grass is thirty overs. In reply Anirudh (class12), fighting for survival since there is no water in provided a good start, followed by Vishal and either of the wells. Another piece of land has Gopal (class 10), who put up an excellent been allotted for growing fodder. A new room stand to take the game away from the visitors. has been constructed in the Dairy complex Vishal’s 67, and Gopal’s 30-odd went a great for pregnant cattle. The drought is of serious way in sealing the game for RVS. It was an concern for the School and for neighboring exciting match, in which the team raised their villages too. The sound of new borewells being game to outplay their long time rivals. dug has become a regular feature. These wells seem necessary and yet they will reduce the water table still further. n ThereExternal were football several football matches... matches this term in which the School team performed well. 10 • The Valley July 2003 To Sathibai—A Tribute

Sathibai is no more with us. She breathed her last in the early hours of Sunday, 8th December 2002, while staying at her brother’s place in Navi Mumbai. She was about eighty years of age, and had spent forty-eight of those years in Rishi Valley. And when she went, she did so in the way she would have wanted, with a minimum of fuss …. Sathibai, 1922-2002 For those of us who knew her, and shared the campus with her for many, many years, it seems impossible to imagine that she is not there for us to tease or have a playful conversation with. Her nature was such that there was never any dearth of material about which to tease her—whether it was her inordinate fear of scorpions and snakes (there are so many tales regarding this that they would be impossible to document; and who knows which of the tales is myth and which is fact?), or her famed handwriting classes for the children of the 4th and 5th standards (and the fact that her own house reports were written in an untidy though readable scrawl), or her protectiveness towards her girls. Legend has it that during one fire-fighting exercise in the middle of the night, when teachers and workers and numerous boys of the Boys Hostel were out dousing fires in Mulberry House, the noise and commotion reached the Girls Hostel, and naturally no one there quite knew what was happening; Sathibai is reported to have made her girls hide under their beds for protection.

We won’t have anyone to tease now, or to go to, to unburden ourselves. V Her indefatigable energy, her concern for the minutest of details, her persistence and tenacity, and her iron will: these Sathibai had the unique are some outstanding qualities that she possessed, and in gift of never giving up abundance. But to me, the quality that most characterized on anyone, least of all her was her ability to be tough on people and yet never to her girls. pass any judgement on them. Krishnaji has so often spoken of this quality—the ability to forget, to not hold on to the past, and she seemed to do that, with no sense of effort; it came V naturally to her. And she stood behind every one of her girls; she was not one to complain about a “difficult” student. This went to the extent of her occasionally “protecting” her girls 11 • The Valley July 2003 from their own parents! Sathibai had the unique gift of never giving up on anyone, least of all her girls.

It was a delight to hear her talk of the good old days; for instance, of the days of Gordon Pearce, and how he would fuss over her. But now we too must talk about her in the past tense …. There must be few teachers who have had so great and lasting an impact on the lives of her students.

Reproduced below are some pieces written on Sathibai Akka by some of us in school and by her former students. I am sure that there are many more such pieces waiting to be written.

A young and contemplative —Shailesh Shirali Sathibai

Sathibai,In Memory as her of aname True always Lady reminds us, was a true lady. She knew what was right for each occasion and every circumstance: What to wear, how to talk, how to laugh, how to sit, when to have head baths, why not to walk into the common room with freshly oiled hair, how to choose presents, how to decorate the common room, in what order to stack ironed clothes in the closet, how to water the garden and so on. Sometimes the older girls, products of a younger generation brought up in an untidy world, rebelled against these precise instructions. They would play on her name – P.C. Sathibai, they would say, stands for Police Constable Sathibai. One batch of students spread the rumor that her real purpose in watering the perennially green lawn growing against all odds in the dormitory courtyard, was to charge an underground swimming pool, in which the lady went for secret moonlit swims. But resistance did not fluster Sathibai; she was patient, she had understanding, and above all, she knew she was right and was able to nag ‘her girls’ to order. The affection and generosity she brought to the most trying situations as she contended with the clamor of teenage girls was her most potent weapon.

Sathibai’s affection was not gendered; she loved the boys too and invariably rose to the defence of all old students. Their Sathibai with her room in children and grandchildren had to be admitted to Rishi Valley, the background, 1999-2000 no matter how they did at the admissions test. 12 • The Valley July 2003 With her colleagues Sathibai was supportive and merry, showering them with advice and presents, teasing them about marrying, having children, eating and dressing well. She, who was always elegantly turned out with matching saris and blouse—in her younger years even the umbrella she carried was color coordinated—would compliment me when I on occasion wore a necklace or earrings, a gentle hint that I should dress with more care. Sathibai had served Rishi Valley for almost fifty years; she joined when Gordon Pierce was Principal and, in the course of her tenure, had been housemother to all ages of students. She taught English and Social Studies in the Junior Section and eventually became its Head. And she drilled students in good penmanship till the end. Despite the years of rich experience when we, who were interested in the history of the school, asked Sathibai what life had been like in the early days, her response was always judicious: “Red House was Green House; Green House was Blue House. And the present kitchen was the dining hall.” For her, discretion took precedence over Sathibai in her beloved the more dubious merits of history. garden 1999-2000

13 • The Valley July 2003 Before she left for the last time, she took it upon herself to visit every household in the Valley. She insisted on having lunch with me, at almost two in the afternoon, after finishing her round of visits. Knowing her sensibilities I opened a fresh tablet of soap for her and gave her a newly washed towel to dry her hands.

Listening to Krishnamurti for several decades, Sathibai had worked out her own set of principles to live by, and she never faltered from the path she had charted out for herself. I have never known her to complain, or to express self-pity ever of any sort.

The image of Sathibai I hold dear is that of a girlish figure, tastefully dressed, distributing fragrant jasmine blossoms from a well-tended bower in the garden to ‘her girls’ as they nervously wend their way towards the school-leaving examinations. Sathibai with other — Radhika Herzberger teachers, late 1970s

14 • The Valley July 2003

For Sathibai Akka So you, too, have gone. When did you last climb? You claimed to be a hiker It seems implausible. once, before my time, but admonished me for flitting. Some say the soul first visits One must settle, you said. its former, favored haunts. Then you distributed Perhaps it comes as a bird your bric-a-brac. Wander declining through the hills, at ease, the hills are yours. so greet each wandering bird. —Siddhartha Menon (ISC 1985, now teaching in RVS) You would approve, I think, this business of brooms and mops on Sunday, the games that follow, and would be glad, I know, to traverse the signs of rain. Sathibai as rock-climber — on ‘Signal Rock’ (Horsely Hills)

15 • The Valley July 2003

ItSathibai will be Akka difficult – a toBrief think Tribute of Rishi Valley without Sathibai Akka. Children were her life, as much as she was an inseparable part of the School’s life. As House Mother of Red House and effective head of the Children’s School since the late ‘50s, she must has been a most caring and devoted surrogate mother to generation after generation of RVites. She inculcated her meticulous care in personal care and good home values, keeping a very strict discipline. Yet it was impossible to resist, leave alone resent this, as she was equally warm, affectionate and genuinely caring.

Sathibai Akka was always involved in some part of our lives at Rishi Valley. She supervised so many activities in the Junior School that her presence was felt everywhere—to the extent that walking past her was never a cursory exchange of greetings. She would always notice something and show her interest in a spontaneous way, be it about a nice shirt, an untidy hairdo, a sickness, or an injury. So sharp was her observation that she could even make some of the junior House Masters a trifle uncomfortable with a question on their wards being shabbily dressed, moving about with undressed wounds, or being seen trying to jump off a tree!

Meeting her in late ’99 was an experience in itself, at RVS with a few batch mates. We barged right into her class, having reached the Children’s Section just after the morning “juice break.” Seeing us, she stood silently, glowing with an emotion that is difficult to describe. Gathering herself in a few seconds, she patted each of us on the shoulder and introduced us to the children—by name, batch year, hometown, brothers and sisters. Then much to the kids’ amusement, she made us sit down in the class until she finished!

Such people will always stay on through the lives they touch and the world they change. Sathibai with Venks (early 1960s) —Udit Chaudhuri

16 • The Valley July 2003

The Silence of Starry Regions (for Sathibai Akka) The valley is your space In which you stand, peerless. I was six when I got off the bus And asked where Rishi Valley’s Fabled hills were. I saw you then, silhouetted, Against the quiet indigo Of a January night. Next morning I saw Cave Rock, Settled into Blue House And into grade three. Across the courtyard from us Were you, and your Red House, Both impeccable. Sathibai sharing her birthday cake From that day on with Ahalyaji, 1999 My life was forever tinged With the cerulean Of Rishi Valley’s skies And the salmon, rust and crimson hues Wherever you are on this earth. Of the sun sinking, at Astachal. In that space you dwell, Sathibai Akka. There was a sonata of stars I cannot think of a time On that first night I spent When you haven’t been a part In Rishi Valley: stars without end. Of my consciousness: Where you stood Now, I cannot think of a time There now is a lucid silence: When you will not be. The silence of starry regions. The more invisible you are There is a space, almost sacred The more certain you have been around Which the valley carves into you. And the more obvious you’re everywhere.* You carry its jasmine within you— Its fragrance unsullied— — Oopali Operajita (ISC 1971)

*The last three lines are adapted from Joseph Brodsky’s “Roman Elegies.” 17 • The Valley July 2003

Sathibai Akka – Another Mother Like it must have done to all of you, the sad news about Sathibai Akka passing away got me very depressed, for she was like my mother for the years that I was under her wings. It then occurred to me that if I stepped back for a few minutes and sorted out all the thoughts that came flooding through the gates, we should truly be celebrating this great lady’s life. I do hope you will all add your joyous thoughts of Sathibai Akka, and bring back memories that are etched permanently into the memories of our formative years.

When I first went to RVS, I was literally handed over to Sathibai Akka, as a 7-year-old who did not know a word of English. My first day at RVS is still crystal-clear in my mind’s eye. At 5 days V short of 7 years old, I was in a daze as my brother and I were dropped off in our different classes. Pretending to be “cool” Sathibai, as her name I forced myself to smile through the day and kept a brave always reminds us, was front, enjoying the compliments from Sathibai Akka, in whose care I had been left. She had me busy immediately and was a true lady. most business-like, a well-practiced front to her; she must have seen so many others like this scrawny kid come through V the gates! She sensed that I was on the point of breaking down any minute and that I could not shake off the thought that my parents had left me to handle things by myself for the first time in my life.

She must have kept me busy and not given me time to brood, because my only other memory of the day is of the late evening when we were in bed and the lights in the dormitory had been turned down. That is when the floodgates really opened out and under the mosquito net I was sobbing into my pillow and hoping that the others around me would not notice. I am positive that Sathibai Akka knew and expected that moment to occur, because in her last rounds, where she’d shine her flash-light into each bed to be sure each of us was tucked in for the night, she barely missed a beat in passing my huddled and sobbing form. If I had been wiser and more discerning, I am sure I’d have caught her attentive looks the next morning, but she was all business and she got me on to the task of at least polishing my Pidgin English! Years later, during the holidays, I apparently used to terrorize my mom with 18 • The Valley July 2003 thoughtless comments about cutting short my vacation and going back to RVS and to Sathibai Akka!

She was delighted to see us, whenever I had a chance to go back and meet her at RVS – she truly was a wonderful human being, and I am fortunate that I was a small part of the lives she touched. I am sure that when I hear each of your stories, more memories will be triggered and the commonality of Sathibai Akka’s influence in our lives will be even more obvious.

— Ganapathy(‘Gampi’) Shankar (ISC 1975)

“Don’t forget, Sathibai Akka has a hundred eyes and a thousand ears.” My recollections of Sathibai Akka go back to the year 1966, when as a new entrant to RVS, I joined Red House as a homesick 8-year old. Sathibai Akka wasn’t initially too welcoming to me, though she assured my parents I would be well looked after.

Sathibai Akka laid down the ground rules in Red House very firmly and all of us children fell in line quickly. She had a fetish for cleanliness, order and punctuality. Backing this up was a stern matronly voice that commanded respect and obedience. One of her constant admonitions to us was “Don’t forget, Sathibai Akka has a hundred eyes and a thousand ears.” This was to dissuade us from mischief and pranks, like stealing Bournvita or sugar from the House storeroom. After Red House, any other House appeared, even to our childhood eyes, untidy and disorderly.

Meeting her many years later in 1982, I saw the other side of her personality. She was extremely gracious and hospitable, and sat me down in her room and talked about students and teachers down the years. With her amazing memory, she recalled incidents I had long forgotten. She confessed that she still used Cuticura talcum powder, which had always been a stamp Sathibai at her laughing, of her presence. teasing best, 1999

19 • The Valley July 2003 It is said that when children grow up, they usually remember and cherish those teachers who were strict with them, as it is from such teachers that they learnt the most. Sathibai Akka was certainly in this category. Her firmness and strictness had a definite purpose, and they helped shape me into what I am today.

It is difficult to imagine Rishi Valley without Sathibai Akka. I will always remember her as an embodiment of order and discipline.

— Ravi D’Souza (RVS 1966–69; ISC 1974)

Sathibai Akka–a tribute V I visited Rishi Valley in August 2000 with my daughter after a gap of nearly fifteen years. It was lovely to be back in the Valley. The familiar rocky outline of the landscape was obscured Sathi Akka was an by a cover of green brought about by the reforestation and energetic housekeeping water conservation efforts of the School. The rainy season was tornado that swept on and the evenings brought a soft drizzle. through our lives daily, Vibhu and Venkatesh who had been my immediate juniors leaving neatness and were also visiting with their families, so we joined them in meeting some of the teachers and staff who had been there tidiness in its wake! since our times. First on the list was Sathibai Akka who had been like a mother to many of the students who had joined in V junior school. Sathibai Akka looked at all our children (a brood of four, of differing ages), and said “These are all my grandchildren.” We could not have asked for a warmer welcome. She brought out some snacks, made sure everyone had their share and then proceeded to chat. Her amazing ability was to recall small details about the innumerable children who had been under her care for close to fifty years! She remembered my many close friendships, my cousins, my sister and other contemporaries. She made inquiries about my cousins who had been in school before me and also about my sister who joined school the year I left. She asked about another friend who had left Rishi Valley to study abroad more than twenty-two years ago! 20 • The Valley July 2003 She reminded me that one of my room mates had been very untidy and that it was a daily effort to get her to keep her cupboard clean and make sure her bed was made without creases! Now that I am the mother of a teenager, I understand what a mammoth (and thankless) task it must have been to try and instill a sense of order and neatness into twenty odd adolescents. And we girls had anything but immaculately kept cupboards on our minds!

Sathi Akka was an energetic housekeeping tornado that swept through our lives daily, leaving neatness and tidiness in its wake! She would look not only into our cupboards, she would look under them at the tangled mess of dhobi baskets and grubby PT shoes. She would make sure the lines were cleared of washing and that the brass chembus were washed sparkling clean on weekends. No one was allowed to shirk gardening or sweeping duties. The garden was always neat as a new pin, with every plant in its designated place and watered in the correct manner. Any grit on the floor immediately brought forth “Girls, girls whose sweeping duty was it today?” Toothbrushes and toothpaste were stacked in plastic mugs, Sathibai with friends, 1995 kept in rows in a cupboard at the back of the hostel, and the

21 • The Valley July 2003 newspaper that lined the shelf was changed every week. Her keen eyes missed nothing.

An enduring memory is that of Sathi Akka anxiously waking us up in the mornings. “Girls, girls, get up… it is time for PT… the bell will be going soon” and then making the mandatory check to make sure that no one had “bunked.” I can hear the rustle of her stiffly starched cottons sarees, as she walked in the corridors, comb in hand, trying to secure her wispy black hair, which strangely she could never discipline! And all the while she was issuing instructions, calling out our names, quelling disorder, putting things in place. V Other teachers at Rishi Valley stimulated our minds and laid the foundation for our intellectual development, but it was “my housemother’s Sathibai Akka who meticulously monitored our daily routine name is Sathibai but we making sure we lived in an uncluttered environment. Only call her ‘Akka’, which when the “stuff of daily life” is organized do we have the strength to face other challenges. Every day when I fold my means ‘ama’,” clothes I remember to place them in the correct Sathi Akka prescribed manner in my wardrobe. Countless Sathibai Akka V mentored “girls” the world over must be doing the same. What greater tribute could she have asked for? — Deepa Kudva Kamath (ISC 1979)

Sathibai in a grandmotherly pose 22 • The Valley July 2003 appreciation of jobs well done, spring up in In grateful memory memory. Equally clear are those memories I was in when I got the tragic when she made us do our beds over and over news, and as I tried to control my shock & again, inspected our cupboards to ensure our grief I felt the years roll back to my earliest stacked clothes resembled the twin towers & memories of my beloved Sathi Akka. actually made us polish the leaves of the It was my first term & I was traveling alone creeper in the Girls’ Hostel! But if today we are house-proud and meticulous, they are to RV for the first time. For some reason my parents were unable to come to admit me in definitely values inculcated in us by Sathi Akka. school. It was a scared & nervous little girl who stepped off the bus. The first dear face Twenty-five years later, I proudly take my I saw was Sathi Akka’s. I still remember, as if daughter to RV for admissions. Naturally I it were yesterday, Sathi Akka standing near run to the hostel to meet Sathi Akka. There the rear of the bus. Her loving smile and few are lots of other prospective student-parents words spoken in welcome, and I felt my already there, and she is taking them on the anxieties evaporating. I was of course sent “grand-tour.” As I fling myself on her, my to Red House and as I gleefully wrote to my husband & daughter walk in. Without a pause mother later, “my housemother’s name is she turns around and to the puzzled looks of Sathibai but we call her ‘Akka’, which means the other parents introduces me as her ‘ama’,” [in my ignorance that’s what I daughter, and my husband & daughter as her thought it meant]. It was as if I had found a son-in-law and granddaughter! second mother [and that’s what she remained, till the end]. What a solace it was to the That was the last time I saw her. When I homesick heart of that little girl. begged Akka to take care of my daughter as she took care of me, she ruefully told me Of course later on I was to experience her that she would not be coming back the inflexible discipline when it came to following term. She did visit RV again last housekeeping, and there were lots of term, and my daughter wrote to me that occasions to grumble. But through it all her whenever she spied her she used to call out love and genuine concern shone, and it was “Laju” which was how she referred to me. My no more than the bickering with our mother husband was lucky enough to meet her one at home. My first term in Red House with her more time when he went to visit our daughter and later during my senior years in the New and Akka too happened to be there. She was Girls’ Hostel—I was fortunate to have spent so happy to meet “Laju’s husband” as she lots of time under her care. Oh! the confided to him in Malayalam. kaleidoscope of memories …. During my first Akka may be no more, but she will live on in term my pet dog died, and I will never forget the hearts of hundreds of her daughters, as Akka calling me into her room and gently also in the hearts of all those who had the breaking the news to me, and then intuitively good fortune to know her. She took care of realizing the desolation of that bereaved three generations of kids and invested a heart, she had me sleep in her room that night. lifetime in RV. Her compassion when girls were sick, and her 23 • The Valley July 2003 Today as we pay our last respects and say a few words of prayer, we are thankful for our treasure trove of memories, for who after all can forget the only “boy” of New Girls Hostel—our one and only beloved SATHI-BOY. —Laju [Lakshmi G Kumar ICSE 1977]

Sathibai in her element — with her girls, 1999-2000

Wishing all readers a happy new year and best wishes for 2003. Readers could send in their comments, responses and critiques to our e-mail – [email protected]. THE VALLEY Volume No. 49 • Rishi Valley School • July 2003

Rishi Valley School Rishi Valley - 517 352 , A.P.

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