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organized to finalize the design of the logo and the one
created by Mrs Rhinusmita Lahkar, wife of Mr Sanjib
Lahkar, was selected.
In the year 2013, on one occasion the Chief Ministers of
three north-eastern states – Assam, Nagaland and
Arunachal Pradesh – happened to land in their respective
helicopters at the club. They were very impressed by the
graciousness of the hosts, the facilities provided by the club,
as well as its decor.Moreover,Mr J.B. Patnaik, ex-Governor
of Assam, always made it a point to drop in for a cup of
tea whenever he travelled by road to Upper Assam.
Over the years, MPGC has seen many stalwarts of Tea
come and go, each leaving his mark in the history of the
Club. The founder of Moran Blind School, Late Bruno
Banerjee, father of Mr Victor Banerjee, was a dynamic
member. And with each new generation who steps into its
hallowed portals, the stories are carried forward, with many
more added to the rich legacy that is MPGC.
Members of the club who answered the call of their country
during World War I (1914-18): Capt B.M. Rooney, Capt D.C
Crole, Capt Edward Lee & Lt C. L. Nesurier.
World War II (1939-45): Capt S.S. Haire, Capt R. Ball
(MC), Capt G. Featherstone & Lt G. Jackson.
Football Team 1964:
Standing (L to R): L.C. Hazarika (Referee), S.K. Bakshi
(Dirai), Dewan Mehra, Chatrath, N.B. Singh ( owra),
Chris Morris (Dekhari), Sohan Singh (Moran), Hardev
Singh (Dekhari), S.N. Khonnikar (Teloijan)
Seated (L to R): Gilchrist (Bamunbarrie), Peter Clayton
(Doomur Dulling), Julian Francis (Khowang), Bruno
Banerjee (Captain) (Teloijan), Ray Town (Moran),
Shekawat (Khowang)
Custodians of the Club:
(L to R): Smti Meghdoli
Topno (since the 1960s),
Sri S.R. Chakraborty
(Club Babu), Sri Gonesh
Mahali & Sri Sarban
Topno (Bearers)
I
n 1970 the Company agreed to give me Home Leave of
four months from early September, and this tallied with
our intention of sending our elder son to his Preparatory
school, Salisbury Cathedral School, in UK, as a boarder.This
necessitated taking enough clothes for (maybe) a hot English
summer and the bitter cold of an English winter. It was this
fact regarding the weather which suggested to us that we
make use of an old trunk in which the extra quantity of
clothes could easily be fitted.
When it was time to leave for the airport we decided to
make use of the jeep and trailer for the trunk, as there were
too many of us in our car. It was now August and the
monsoon rains were incessant so I arranged for a ‘mistri’ to
bore holes in the bottom of the trailer so that any rainwater
could easily drain away. Unfortunately, I did not supervise
Kantoo, our jeep driver, as he loaded the trunk into the
trailer. Although a tarpaulin was sensibly placed over the
trunk, he thought the trunk needed cushioning at the
bottom and placed another tarpaulin under the trunk thus
covering the holes.
The distance to Tezpur airport is about 52 miles and we had
monsoon rain all the way there. This airport was an Indian
Air Force base
and
Indian
Airlines used an
old
building
with open sides,
a tin roof and a
raised concrete
floor. When we
got the luggage
out of the jeep trailer we were shocked to find that the trunk
had doubled in weight and all the clothes were soaking wet!
As we had arrived at the airport early and the plane was
delayed, we decided to squeeze out as much water as
possible and Indian Airlines allowed us to drape as many
items as possible around the airport with the hope that we
could dry them as much as possible. As foreigners in a
restricted territory we had permits to live in Assam and,
after checking our credentials, we were helped a lot by the
police contingent, especially the Assamese policewomen,
who were of great help.
When the plane eventually landed we hurriedly packed the
trunk which was still overweight but, fortunately, Indian
Airlines did not charge us for excess baggage. Jennifer and
the boys flew via Gauhati to Calcutta. Dum Dum was in
its usual chaotic state so it was very pleasing to have WM's
travel agent available to arrange meal vouchers and attend
to the luggage before the BOAC flight to UK that evening.
Arriving in UK the family moved to Jennifer's parents’
house. On opening the children's trunk the clothes were all
found to be very damp and stinking!
The washing machine was put to good use !
Home Leave 1970
~ Phil Bayley
UK
52 January 2016
January 2016 53
Tezpur Airport (circa 1950)
Tezpur Airport (circa 1980)