Mr Mathew K. Mani

Where oh where can I start about my relationship with Mr Mani....let's see, it began in 11 Commerce, with him being my Accounts and Commerce teacher. Everything after that ladies and gentleman is downhill... For some reason he and I never hit it off !!! :> Those of us who were in the 11th and 12th Commerce would be able to testify to that fact, until our dying days !
I guess it was my inability to grasp accountancy concepts, "men whom do you debit, whom do you credit" (Really ironic seeing the line of work I am now in) and his inability to understand that not everyone grasped his accountancy principals, leading to his infamous line, "men, you are in the darkness".
I could go ON AND ON for days on end, and I will recount some stories with him in this page as time goes on. Needless to say, Muthu has given me memories to last me until my last breath!

• My partner in crime..Vinay Paramanand :- No story can be complete about me and Mathew, without mentioning Vinay in it. He and I were 'partners in crime', and nearly drove Muthu to the funny farm. Sitting together close to the back of the 11 Comm class, we had a comment for everything, and the madder Mathew got, the harder we laughed...an endless cycle of mirth !
  One great story I will never forget is Mathew charging into class one day, screaming his head off at the both of us. Vinay and me were standing up, being blasted to bits, all the while the rest of the class kept relatively still. Unfortunately for Mathew, he was doing all of this yelling while his tie remained up above his neck, over his shoulder. The entire time that we were getting 'lit' into, all I remember is laughing my head off with Vinay, getting Mathew even madder, while Vinay kept saying in a low voice, "Look at his tie..look at his tie !!"

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

• "men...I nurtured you.." :- Mathew's delusions reached a peak when he once chastized me outside the classroom door after hearing some kind of smart ass reply from me. He turned blue, red, green and various other colors before spurting..."Men..Renjit...I nurtured you....". This coming from a man who once gave me 39% in both Accounts and Commerce on two exams. All of us know the passing grade was 40%. What a bugger...what a bloody bugger !!

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

• Mathew's one liners!!
  "You cannot catch a tiger by its boLLs!"
  "Men, dont run down the stairs....you'll break your boLLs!""
  

Contributed by Ranjit Dandekar

• A couple of Mani one-liners in case anyone remembers:
  
  "Men, you are not up to" (expression of dissapointment)
  "Men, don't jump in the barrel of the gun!" (expression to contain excitement of the student kind)

Contributed by Vinay Paramanand

Mrs Hilda Peacock

• The INDOOR game of golf :-This is an excerpt of an essay submitted by "Hitler" Vikram Srimurthy as you all know him to be, to Mrs. Peacock to be printed in the Cottonian when we were in Std 11. The game of golf is open to anyone who has a club and 2 balls. There is no age to start this game as long as you are able to raise your club. The first game of golf was played by adam and eve and 9 holes later a young caddie emerged.
  So I am sure I do not have to tell you about what happened next.

Contributed by Rajesh Bhatia

• Mrs Peacock is still teaching excellent English

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mrs Shambhavi

Mr Madhan Mohan

• Apply more colours. V. Fair is better than V. Good - man wasn't the poor bugger confused in grading.

Contributed by Prasad Padhmanabhan

• Mr. Madan Mohan was a man who was in bad need of something new in life, some kind of psychotherapy, that would rid him of his unique abnormalities, and did he have a few! He would have fitted any role in the Psycho series, and done a good job of it. Never have I witnessed a bigger lunatic, and such peple should not be allowed to wander in public. Rather, they would do well in the confines of a looney bin. Infact, it would be a good idea to put others from Le Cottons Faculty in there too. The list would be long, but Iqbal, Prasad, Vincent, are few names that strike me immediately!

Contributed by Aravind Rajagopalan

Mr R. Prasad

• What was this guy doing in the teaching profession ?? He didn't know what he was talking about and he sure as hell wasn't enlightening us with his 'knowledge'. My memory of what he taught us was a complete blur because nothing made sense and frankly I don't think any of us gave a s#$% !!

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

• I think I was never pissed at any teacher more than my
  economics teacher, Mr. Prasad (a.k.a. "Supandi"),
  in standard 9. That guy ruined the overall
  average of all students taking his class. He
  never gave a over 70% mark to any student in his economics class.
  Other students taking Accounts and Computer
  courses could get, if they did really well, a 100%
  in their respective courses. Supandi's reason
  for not giving us a high mark, even when we
  deserved it, was "This would make you study
  harder. I am preparing you for your standard 10.
  You would thank me later when you do your I.C.S.E.
  Economics exam." Well I am in standard 12 right
  now (studying in Canada) and I don't think
  Supandi's logic helped me or the rest of my
  Economics batch. None of us, I think, are really
  "thankful" to Supandi at the moment.
  

Contributed by Sachin Ivan Ramaniah

Mr M.S. Shankar

• During our years at Cottons, we never bothered to look for Shankar at either the gym or the gent's staff room...we'd just make a beeline for the ladies' staff room.. A most popular man.

Contributed by Prashant Kashyap

• Just to inform all of you that M S Shankar has retired from School last year but is still invited for all the functions and is still a good flirt with all the lady teachers. I have a lot to learn from him.

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mr V. Kulkarni

• Mr Kulkarni (Kulfi)is a great teacher. He taught us Hindi in 6B (1987-1988) and he was GOOD!! I can still picture him speaking in that monotonous voice and buttoning his top shirt button and unbuttoning it periodically. He was also my Scout master and made us memorize every song in that little green scout book!! :-)

Contributed by Amit Tonse

Mr Iqbal Ahmed

• "Ek Choti si Kagaz do" :- I did not have the opporunity(!) to be taught by Mr.Iqbal Ahmed until the 11th. Until the 10th it was either Ms.Kursheed or Mr.Wilson. Anyway, the 11th and 12th Std memories of Iqbal Ahmed are still fresh.
  By the 11th we had heard so much about him, that there was a buzz of apprehension when he walked in for his first class. And by the end we discovered that we would only be in two states of mind in his class. Either we'd be scared out of our wits or falling off to sleep. The one incident that I'll really never forget is about the time he took our ECA (Extra Curricular Activities) classes in the 12th. Now I'm not sure about the situation now, but those days (1990&1991) there was nothing Extra or Curricular or Active about these classes. Actually, most of us just bunked ! So whenever Iqbal Ahmed saw only three people in this class, he'd ask someone for a small piece of paper ("Ek Choti si Kagaz do") and write down those who were absent !! This became such a ritual, that, by the end of the year, we'd give him the piece of paper as he walked in !! And nothing ever happened, but for one week (Until the next ECA class), the absentees would be scared like hell !

Contributed by Rajiv Rajendran

• "Faaar MYYAAN" :-This was another Moral Science "Gyan" receiving session that we were going through in the 9th Std.
  So Iqbal finishes his sermon and then proclaims loudly "This story thyerefore is naat faar an individual"
  Someone suddenly wakes up and shouts -"who's it for Sir ?"
  Bang comes the reply -
  "Whom Faaaar ?" (Whom For)
  "Faaar MYYAAN" (For Man). !!!
  

Contributed by Rajiv Rajendran

• i will kyaaacth thut felllow! :- This was back in '93 when we were on a chalk fight trip during class hours, and it so happened that our Maths teacher Vasanti copped one on her chest! Iqbal came to know about this, and none of us snitched. So he proclaimed in class "Yinshaa Allah i will kyaaacth thut felllow!"

Contributed by Prashanth Rao

• Announcement of a some schools cultural event....the even Collage: IQ reading from the letter: Quiz 1 PM, Debate 2 PM, Collage....yeh kya he?? yeh shayd college hona chaiye!!!

Contributed by Ranjit Dandekar

• Iqbal Ahmed has won the Rajya Puraskar Award for his achievement in the NCC and is also holding a Vidhwan Degree in Hindi and is still in top form in the School.

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mr Nainan

• I remember Mr Nainan telling us about the sexual life cycle of the frog. The most hilarious life cycle that we have ever heard.

Contributed by Suresh Rajan

• Mr Nainan has also retired I still remember that whenever we gave a wrong answer to any of the questions asked by him, he would tell us "I say ! You are the biggest bluffer in the whole of India, Burma & Ceylon"

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

• Some of my funniest memories of Cottons are thanks to Mr.Ninans culinary creations- what with the recipes for 'puttu' and all.. Any of you remember any other stuff he asked us to cook?!!

Contributed by Abhay Toshnival

Mr Chandran

• BPL Joke :- Of course any story about Mr. Chandran has to be about a PJ that he cracked.This one is no different... Once Mr Chandran was talking to us and some guy had the nerve to crack a PJ in front of him. I asked Mr. Chandran what he thought of the PJ. This is what he said.
  Mr. Chandran : PJ ? This classifies as a BPL joke.
  Rajesh : Sir what is BPL ?
  Mr. Chandran : Below Poverty Line...I say.
  

Contributed by Rajesh Bhatia

• "...you are all only fit for agriculture" :- Another PJ story courtesy Chandran (this man is truly amazing!):
  Scene: ISC Science 1986, pandemonium as usual (this was before the infamous Francis Samuel era)
  Period: Last
  Chandran: "Settle down, I say!, You fellos have no culture, you are all only fit for agriculture...
  Class cracks up, Chandran smirks...
  

Contributed by Rajeev Purnaiya

I remember the day Mr. Chandran was teaching us alpha/beta/gamma rays. At some point, one of the students -- can't remember who -- put his hand up and said "Sir, I didn't get that ... can you repeat that 'alpha/beta/...' ?". With an all-knowing smile, Mr. Chandran said "Alpha, Beta."

Contributed by Vineeth Subramanyam

• Many people who passed out of cottons might remember Chandran as being a very jocund person ....
  But only the batch of '93 (Science) will remember Mr. Chandran as being a very good Moral Science Teacher.
  What happened was this...
  One fine day (at the begining of the term ) Mr. Chandran walks in for Moral Science Class..
  The noise begins...he starts waving and gesticulating wildly for the barbarians to shut up....
  Finally a minute of silence....
  " What do you wanto to talk about ..Maan ??? "
  Some body from the back ( caught up in his first hormonal urges) yells !!!
  "Sex Education Saaar ???"
  The roar is taken up by all the guys ..all suddenly discovering their hormones...
  (All hopefully wishing somebody better looking than Chandran would replace him for the topic..)
  
  The Maan looks around for a while shifting his feet this way and that...Finally a sheepish grin and he bounces up on the podium ...maybe suddenly remembering memories of a wild (?) childhood ..
  
  " O.k. Maan ....but first shut all the doors and Windows.. !!!"
  
  The hoots begin and the rest of the session is in camera ...lost to history except to the lucky few that were part of the '93 Science batch .....

Contributed by Jaideep

Mr J.T. Paul

• The complete line was "You're a typical Indian bum". Don't forget the finger wagging !!

Contributed by Ravee Kurian

• Man, I can just go on endlessly on this guys. Overall a very cool guy......but his classes were a classic act by themselves. He'd walk in with his pants high above his waist as usual, his broad tie and powerful glasses. For some reason everytime he'd yell at a guy he'd just have to say why it was because of people like that poor student that the country as a whole(namely India) was not progressing!!! And oh ya....how can i forget one of his most famous lines everytime u tried arguing with him "Whatever it eees!" and then he used to pronounce goods as "Gooooooods". Anyway just one of those things u find funny when u are in the 8th grade I guess. But really a cool history teacher to have thru ur 8th,9th and 10th grade.

Contributed by Chethan Paydenkar

• "Like father like son..." :- JT Paul taught Indian History when I was in 8B in 1989-1990. Once, my Dad entered the room with some important papers that I was to submit at the office. Now, both my Dad and I are a bit on the heavy set side. Seeing this, the honorable JT Paul, in all his glory and attitude commented "Ah, like father like son eh Tonse?" and the entire class just burst out laughing. Well, I was furious at the time but when I remember that incident now, it just cracks me up.!! :-) By the way, I had a hearty laugh at his expense when a little poem circulated round Tower Block. It went somehting like this: " JT Paul had a fall, and broke his balls" Stupid little rhyme but still brings little laugh!! heh heh heh

Contributed by Amit Tonse

• JT Konday :-One of the things I remember with my many memories of Mr JT Paul was the famous JT Konday. It was a swift tug of a students ear, rapidly followed by a knock on his head that sure felt a lot worse than it probably was ! Getting a JT Konday pretty much meant that for that class you were not his model student !!

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

Mr E.D. George

• The Boxer :- I had Mr George as my music teacher for quite a few years but the one thing I remember him for was his 'boxing'. He always claimed that he had been a boxer and by god did he have the arms for it. I remember one time when John Kohloff (of "Ill call you off" fame) tried to get into a boxing match with George, George nearly knocked the poor buggers block off !!

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

• E D George is still trying to conduct music in the School

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mr K.K. James

• 'Pull the trigger' :- This was when I was in the ninth. We had a chemistry test where there was a question about separating the components of gun powder. One very bright guy who obviously didn't know the answer simply wrote 'Pull the trigger'. I'll never forget how Mr.James flipped his lid while correcting that paper. I don't remember who the smart Alec was - do you..? :)

Contributed by Vinay Paramanand

• "Ill call you off.." :- As long as I live I will remember this incident. James had said something to John Kohloff and John had given a wisecrack back. James then went on to say, "John Kohloff, Ill call you off", a weak attempt at humour. John stood up and yelled, "Hehehehe...SICK ONE SIR !" The rap John got from James right after saying that could be heard all the way in Junior Dorm !!!!

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

Mr Ajay Kumar

• "Vill You Plis get out !!" :-He taught us Physics in the 9th and 10th. And after his stint, there's no doubt that there are Cottonians now in high places like NASA, with Mallu accents and terrific scientific acumen !
  The day Ajay Kumar joined Cottons, he strode into 9-C (my class) and looked very nervous, half the class jeering and heckling. His nerves slowly gave way to temper and it was aided by the incident that followed. Byju Sachindran (spelling?) walked into class a few minutes late and saw Ranjeet Kurian sitting in the last row, rocking his chair, and balancing his slim self on the rear legs of the chair. An extremely competent Basket ball player, Byju decided to use his legs this time. He kicked Ranjeet's chair from the back, sending Ranjeet and everything close to him to the ground. The entire class looked back to see Ranjeet sprawled on the ground, and everyone roared with laughter.
  Ajay Kumar had no idea Cottons welcomed their new staff in this manner. He fumed and ranted, went up to Ranjeet, and asked him to get out !! Everyone laughed even louder as Byju slowly slipped into a quiet corner of the room. And that was how Ajay Kumar's patented pose - the heels together, right hand pointing skywards, body absolutely stiff, eyes closed, screaming "Vill You Plis get out" - came into being. Its one incident that I'll never forget !

Contributed by Rajiv Rajendran

• The runner :- This guy was one of the funniest teacher I encountered in cottons. I am not sure if the students were eager to go home a soon as school got over. But Mister Ajay Kumar Rao, would promplty run across 1st elevens. He was so used to his rountine, when he shouted at any student with his famous line " You blease get ub and get out.", he would point in the direction of the small gate which was present on 1st elevens with is hand raised like a Hitler salute.

Contributed by Prasad Padmanabhan

• This was at the height of the Sivarasan manhunt in '92. So a certain Ram Mohan, apparently had no idea what happened when one consumed cyanide. He asked Ajaks, " Sir, what happens when one consumes cyanide" pat came the reply" Blood steef" with no further explanation on the subject!

Contributed by Chethan Paydenkar

• Alright.......so Ajaks had some really classic comments that have to tabulated.
  I'm not sure now to whom he said this...but the story goes that he caught two guys for doing something wrong(!) and then said to them " EEf u are continuing to do such things then I will have to make u kneel in the pitch on the Sun!!!!!"

Contributed by Chethan Paydenkar

Ajacks was a funny guy whom all of you will remember. This incident took place in the science block and during a class there were a couple of monkeys outside. The attention of the class was obviously not on Ajacks. Then visibly annoyed Ajacks shouted " WHY ARE ALL OF YOU LOOKING AT THE MONKEYS OUTSIDE WHEN I AM STANDING INSIDE". -)

Contributed by Thomas Markose

Picture this: extra classes for ISC (this was the year after Chandran ditched Cottons for greener pastures). Ajax droning on and on, dictating notes. In between the drone, only the most attentive and resilient minds could here him say: "According to the Condom Theory" (of course, the poor fellow was talking about the Quantum Theory!). Response: silence for a few minutes, and then grunts of uncomfortable, suppressed laughter.

Contributed by Shashi Murthy

Here's another all-time great from Ajax. This is from another period of intense concentration on an "special class" on a Saturday. Ajax goes "Consider a thin lens of thickness t, floating in air". It took more than half a minute for the Science class of '95 to grasp the gravity of the situation!

Contributed by Shashi Murthy

Mrs Suryawanshi

• The Nicest :- Mrs Suryawanshi was my music teacher for many many years and was def my favorite faculty member on campus. She was always helpful, kind and patient. Endless hours of choir practice all the way from the 6th to the 12th enabled me to have a great relationship with her. I even took piano lessons from her, not cause I liked the piano, but because I enjoyed her company !

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

• I remember Ms Suryawanshi as being someone who really understood and related well to her students. She helped establish the rock band in school ..we owe her a lot for understanding us...

Contributed by Naveen Madhavan

• Mrs Suryawanshi has quit & is teaching music privately. She is the only person authorised by the London School of Music to award Music Degrees.

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mrs Mary Mathews

• The House Teacher :- Mrs Mathews remains in my memories as my House teacher. She was always there at the practises, cheering us on during sports day, and helping out with choir practice. The irony for me was the one time I had a huge fight with her was when I was Music Captain of Pettigrew House in 12th and she and I couldn't agree on what song the house should have sung. We finally DIDN'T sing the song I wanted and needless to say, we didn't win either !! Bitter ?? ME ?? Naaaaw ! :>

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

• An excellent teacher.
  I am a present Cottonian(1998) in my 10th grade. Mrs.Mathews taught our class English in 7th grade. Since she was the supervisor , she hardly ever came to classes. I never brought my books to the English class. When finally one day , I was caught by her and she made me clean the cobwebs through out TOWER BLOCK. I had to go to every class and say I was punished and then clean the cobwebs. Whatever said and done , she was an EXCELLENT teacher.

Contributed by Rohan

Mr Wilson

• Where the mind is without fear :- Where the mind is without fear - I distinctly remember him taking the non-chapel assembly, initially on the 1st level field and later in front of the science block.
  He'd start in a pretty normal voice - "Now I'll read a few lines from Tagore...Where the mind is without fear and the head is held.....". And he'd gradually trail off. Pretty soon he'd reach a plateau of unintelligible murmur, and most of us would reach a plateau of blissful comatose.
  It was incredible, how week after week, we heard that. I'm still not sure where the "head is held".

Contributed by Kunal Ashar

• Wilson (a.k.a "Willi")..."The Thief":
  
  This happened in the Senior Dorm during the third term of my last year, 1996, at Cottons in Grade 9.  Willi, who was moving out of the boarding as soon
  as the school closed for summer holidays stole the
  school uniforms of the present Grade 10 boarders
  and kept at his residence. The Grade 10 boarders complained the matter
  of their school uniforms being mysteriously stolen
  away to the Principal. Willi, after the Principal
  left, brought out the uniforms that he had stolen
  giving an explanation that he found them lying on
  the floor of the rooms and had just kept from
  being stolen away by the sweepers.
  That wasn't the last incident of stealing from the
  students. I had left my steel trunk in the boarding for the summer hoidays
  which contained school uniforms, the Grade 10
  books for my next year, and other stuff required
  for the boarding. When I returned to the school,
  I found my steel trunk stolen. And who else to
  blame other than Willi considering he was the last
  person who left the Senior Dorm. Thank God I had
  returned to the school just for collecting my T.C.
  'cause I was immigrating to Canada, otherwise I
  would have had to start all over again!!
  

Contributed by Sachin Ivan Ramaniah

• Boarders in at Cottons, who have had Willi
  (the cockroach), know that it is really dangerous
  to be around him when he is without his dentures,
  or specs. Willi without his dentures is worse than
  Dracula with his fangs. Willi use to come up with
  weird stories about his life and/or other teachers
  when he was drunk. But one advantage about him
  being drunk was that you could do something that
  night and he wouldn't be able to recall it the other
  day (ofcourse partly because he his old). In the
  school he had earned the title of (along with
  other names) "The Terminator"... and his "Luna"...
  well it earned the title of "Harley Davidson".
  Willi on his Harley... now that is something to
  picture ain't it!
  

Contributed by Sachin Ivan Ramaniah

Mr Gowda

• "This year I am going to retire..." :- As long as I can remember in Cottons Gowda always proclaimed that the next year he would retire. All the classes would take contributions and he would get a hefty amount as a 'gift' at the end of the year as a going away present. And then...the next year the bugger would be back again. Unbelievable...he had found the best way to get an additional income...

Contributed by Ranjeet Joseph Kurian

Eddie (I know !)

• Was Eddie the chap in charge of the library ? If he was I am sure he was blind. I recall carrying a set of encyclopaedia out of the library one volume at a time under my cardigan. He would have to have been blind not to see it.

Contributed by Suresh Rajan

• Eddie, apart from his library duties he was also the Chaplain in the 1970s. As the rumors went around in those days, Eddie was known to have special liking for small boys. One day he was absent (sick) and so curiosity got the better of many boarders who wrote on the black board:
  'EDDIE CAUGHT WITHOUT CHEDDI WITH HIS BUDDY'

Contributed by Akhil Malaki

• Walking down towards Yakub's canteen we encountered 'Eddie' chatting some 4/5th std. kids. Just then someone from the group turned towards him a yelled "What Eddie, catching them young and watching them grow?"
  Man, the poor chap didn't know what hit him...

Contributed by Abhay Toshnival

Mr Sam T Kuruvilla

Mr David T

• Mr D used a hair restorant to try and have his bald patch regrow. Unfortuantely, Not only didn't the hair grow back but the restorant reacted to his skin and left him with a disaster are for a scalp. The sight of Mr D as my dor master wearing a white cricket hat for months after this even when he came into the dorm at ten o'clock at night was a sight to behold.

Contributed by Suresh Rajan

• I remember vividly in the year 1976 when I was 10 std. student in physics class at the lab building. There was Mr.D all engrossed in his lecture and suddenly pops up his beloved cat and Mr.David stops his lecture, turns to the cat and goes "puussssy!". The most hilarious part was that pussy comes in, jumps on the table, lifts its tail and turns its backside to Mr.D. Just then some back benchers (the real big ones) silently whistle, "nice pussy !!"

Contributed by Akhil Malaki

• In 1977, there was this big puzzle circulating among the final year students: 'Which is the only dog that lives with a cat?' This was started by a boarder whose name I will not mention. One fine sunny day, at the physics class, fist period in the morning, the puzzle was finally solved on the black board. Someone (whose name I will not divulge) wrote: "Answer to the puzzle = Black Dog" (If you did'nt know Mr.D. in the olden, golden days was nicknamed as Black Dog.

Contributed by Akhil Malaki

• This was during one of the weekly tests we used have, I'm not sure if it still there for the poor souls at cottons.
  We had David as the supervisor for one these tests. Unfortunately as usual we ran short of question papers, and David was a bit on the edge as it was about 15 mins. into test and there was no sign of the poen who had gone to get additional ques papers.
  At that point one of the students apparently from Mr. Gass's (he used to teach history and english) test class next door comes in and says " Sir Mr.Gass told me get some question papers from here"
  David who is already frustrated quips " Laadie (lad) tell Mr.Gauzz to diffuse, I say"
  

Contributed by Anonymous

Mrs Cherian

Mrs Rukmini

• Mrs Rukmini is still there and looks the same as she did when she joined the School 25 years ago.

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mrs Sebastian

• "Terror of Tower Block" :- What can one say about Seebo? She was my class teacher in 7C and her name still creeps me out. She was (and I'm sure still is) the Terror of Tower Block. She would peer out of her glasses and give that blood curdling look and go "Amit-ah" "what are you doing-ah" (she always added an ah or uh at the end of her sentences!!!) She gave me hell for a year and will be really hard to forget!! :-)

Contributed by Amit Tonse

• Seebo has retired too. Her son Kiran (an OC) is now preaching.

Contributed by Nikhil Tivari

Mrs Samuel

• Man Ranjeet, How could u forget "Hommak" for homework.

Contributed by Prasad Padhmanabhan

Mr Divan

• Mr.Divan,who taught us Economics, was in Cottons only for a year, but that was enough to make an impact. His classic phrases were :- "Actually I'm not prepared for this class my grandmother was unwell last night" - she always was.
  "I'll get your xeroxed notes tommorrow" - he never did.
  "Buy the book Rudder Dutt and Sunderam" - none of us did.
  

Contributed by Rajiv Rajendran

Mr Vincent

• I'll never forget Mr. Vincent -- for his face, for his words, for his accent, for his walk, ...boy! the list is pretty long! Most of his stories would be more amusing to listen to rather than read, because of the accent in which everything was said! I remember the day he was showing us titration - he said "The cullah change should occuh for vunnly vun drop!" ... and went on to demonstrate ... one drop later... no color change ... two drops ... nothing happens ... three/four/five ... still nothing -- a billion drops later -- he suddenly exclaims "SEE PA ... WHITE PATCH!!" and conveniently calls out to his buddy/half-sister/wife/bum-chum -- "Ahhn, Kulkarni ... ingey parango pa ... "

Contributed by Vineeth Subramanyam

• I remember so many classes when Mr. Vincent would say -- "Annh, see pa ... most of you would've already read allllthis in Brillllian, Aggawaull, Minerva ..." LIKE WHO THE HELL IS 'MINERVA TUTORIALS' anyway?? Other similar statements were about "Ajay Shoes", "Adidas Comb" ... i never knew adidas was famous for making combs !!

Contributed by Vineeth Subramanyam

• I distinctly remember the day when Mr. Vincent said "See pa ... if you shave, you die, ah". Then he went on with the explanation - "See yeah ... platinum patticells will be going into your brain, cause brain hemmorrage ..." And then, of course, he said "That's why, pa ... use 7 o'clock, double edge razor !!"

Contributed by Vineeth Subramanyam

• Well..what can one say about the 'chemistry' between Pa and Kulkarni?! It so happened that we were having a practical exam and as you may remember we get those small packetswith a mixture. Mr.Vincent safeguards the contents of those packets on his life!! Even though he makes it a point to say that (and convince us) that the mixtures are different for everybody..they are the same and we know it! So,one of my class mates happened to run out of mixture he goes up to Kulkarni and asks him for one.Kulkarni sleepily walks up to the shelf mixes two chemicals and gives it! Pa,was absolutely furious! On another occasion..I ask Pa "Sir,can I have Conc.Sulphuric acid and distilled water?"
  Pa:"sure pa.."
  Pa:"Kulkarni..distilled waater kud, ma!"
  Kulkarni,takes the distilled water bottle from my hand dips it into the tub(the one we use for test tube cleaning pueposes) and pulls it out..!
  "But kulkarni...." I protest.After he gives me a bottle of dil HCL ..
  "Go Man",he says."Aaal Same vunly"!
  

Contributed by Saqib Akhtar

• There was a rumour going about Mr. Vincent
  (a.k.a. "Pa") telling his Grade 12 Chemistry
  students that he was the inventor of a
  revolutionary tooth paste formula which could have
  made him a "Lakhpati" if it stolen and copyrighted
  by Procter & Gamble. It was very hard for us
  boarders to believe that because we all knew, on a
  first-hand basis, that Pa's mouth smelled worse
  than a trash can on account of not brushing his
  teeth!!!
  

Contributed by Sachin Ivan Ramaniah

• Even though Pa's mouth smelled, he was one of the
  the best and the only "clean" dorm master I
  ever encountered.

Contributed by Sachin Ivan Ramaniah

• The boarders of the 1993 ISC batch will remember this hilarious incident. Vincent Pa, who was our dorm master then found a SUN magazine in somebody's room. Then he calls this dorm meeting and advises us:
  I am like your friend, pa... Your father will not tell you such things, but I can. These dirty magazines will make you lose your virilty, pa. Think about the girl you will marry, pa. YOu must preserve your virility for her, pa...
  And he closes his sermon by saying,
  I am burning that magazine, pa... think what will happen if my children see it...No wonder during a fete, the XII(Sc) requested the song, "Papa, don't preach" for Vincent!
  

Contributed by Srinivasa Rao

Mr D. Browne

• He sure was someone special to all those who played basketbll. We all had a close bond with him off the court. He sure was tough one when we are on the court. I won't forget the early morning runs that we used to dread! If ever we were in trouble go to him for help! He was one of those, that however tough he was outside hard to hate because he had a soft side to him that only the ones close to him can relate to. I sure owe a lot to him, he is one teacher that will always stay in my memory. Thank you Sir for everything!

Contributed by Anonymous