MH Principal GA Murray: Lest We Forget
"The Hermonite (annual school magazine) was supposed to have come out by early 1979 but the printers took a long time
and it was delayed by almost a year. It finally reached MH towards the end of
1979, when I was about to leave the school for college in Bombay. Murray, who
was then back in New Zealand, wrote to Neville and me on December 22, 1979, expressing
his appreciation for our effort: “This letter should have been written long
ago, especially Jickmi as we had a letter from him sometime ago. However, the
arrival of the 1978 HERMONITE today makes a letter really imperative. All of us
do want to thank and congratulate you both, and your helpers, for all the work
you have put in to make it such a worthwhile publication. I know that you have
been very upset and annoyed over the long delay that has kept it from
publication, and I guess people have been rather critical, but I hope that this
hasn’t bothered you. We have been pouring over the magazine since it arrived,
and are just thrilled at all that you have been able to include, the research
you have done, and the general layout. I am writing today to Mr. Johnston to
make sure that copies are sent to all ex-staff I know in NZ who will surely
want a copy.”
As ex-students, our association with the
school continued for many years after leaving the school. In 1986, the Sikkim
Hermonites Assocaition started a cricket tournament in Sikkim in Murray’s
honour. The Murray Cup Cricket Tournament, perhaps the most prestigeous cricket
tournament in Sikkim, was going on in its eighth year in 1991. Once we had our
senior staff member from MH, Mathew Mathai, in Gangtok, prior to his final
departure from MH, as the Chief Guest on the final day of the tournament, to present
the trophy. Most of our team (‘Veterans’) members have been Hermonites (Sherab
Namgyal, Tempo Bhutia, Thentok Lachungpa, Pema Wangyal, Lhundup Topden, Karma
Bhutia, Namgyal Wangdi and myself). We’ve also had ex-students of TNA, St.
Joseph’s and Goethal’s in our team.
Murray again wrote to me from Wellington in
1986, expressing his happiness over our initiative: “Thank you so very much for
your letter and for the photos and certificates enclosed. I am very, very
touched by your action in naming the cricket cup after me – it is an honour
which I very deeply appreciate. I just hope that one day I might be in Gangtok
to preside over a final and present the trophy.” (Ref: Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide, Jigme N Kazi, 1993. The above piece is taken from the chapter - "Hail Mount Hermon!")
No comments:
Post a Comment