The Alumni Golf –
BCS vs SANAWAR
Back to school days again
Bishop Cotton beat Sanawar in Inni Bawa
Golf Cup.
While Lawrence School Sanawar was founded in 1847
and is perhaps the only school to be awarded ‘Prince of Wales Colours’,
BCS was founded in 1859 as a public school. The history of BCS is of
public interest for the part it played in the development of public
Schools. It was the first school in Asia to start the House system,
Organized Games and the Prefect System almost at the same time as it was
developed in England, as the founder ‘George Edward Lynch Cotton’
was the Ex Headmaster of Marlborough –England.
The first recorded BCS-Sanawar competition was held
when ‘D’ Company (BCS) beat ‘F’
Company (Sanawar) in 1887 and won the Walker Shield as part of Simla
Riffles
( now known as the NCC). However, the inaugural match was
soccer played in Simla in 1913 which BCS won 3-1.Sanawar won the first
Hockey match played in Simla in 1914, 5-3. The first cricket match was
played in 1921 in Simla, which Sanawar won by 22 runs.
What’s
common to Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh? Apart from being flag
bearers of Indian golf, both went to the same school- Bishop Cotton,
Shimla.
While, both were busy showcasing Indian golf to the
world, their seniors from Bishop Cotton complimented them by beating
archrival Lawrence School Sanawar eight games to six in the fourth Innni
Bawa Golf Cup on Friday 30 Jan 2004.
The Inni Bawa Cup is an annual feature between the
two archrivals from the hills of Shimla. This is the first time when
Bishop Cotton (BCS) - also called Eton of the East has won the event.
Sanawar had won all earlier three editions.
Braving winter chill and un seasonal rain, 56
ex-students from the two schools battled it out in the greens. BCS had
the services of Bindi and Govind Atwal (Arjun Atwals’s father and
brother respectively), former RAW chief and special advisor to J&K
government, A.S. Dullat (Ex Raw Chief and Adviser to the PM), India
Today’s Group’s Anil Mehra, Peshi Nat (Head Standard Chartered Bank
of the whole of Asia), Indian Golf Union member Chetan Singh, Col. R.
Dewan – who came all the way from Shimla to participate, Sharadpat
Singhania and sponsor Inni Bawa.
The Lawrence camp had Brig. S.S. Sandhu, J Daulat
Singh, Col. H.S(Billy) Sodhi (National Polo Player), Ashwani
Khanna, Arvind Hoon, R. Sikund, Col. R.S. Brar(National Polo
Player and Gold Medalist in Tent Pegging), Chotu Nanda and former
National squash champion Lalit Verma.
“Nostalgia gripped us as we were welcomed by cold
winds and showers. We felt as if we are in Shimla .So we all decided to
go with the matches despite the rain,” said Sudhir ‘Chotu’ Khanna.
Tournament Director Chetan Singh said, “This
annual event is getting very popular and we want the word to spread
among all alumni. We are also planning to involve other schools like
Mayo and Doon.”
The evening saw Inni and Hemi Bawa playing the
perfect host at their Hailey Road residence, special thanks to them for
hosting such a lovely evening with a three piece band. Incidentally in
1958 Inni Bawa in a cricket match against Sanawar took 10 wickets, 7 in
the first innings for 67 runs.
Himachal Pradesh tourism minister Vijay Singh
Mankotia and Delhi High Court’s Justice Vikramjit Sen (both ex-Cottonians),
Nafisa Ali and Billy Sodhi (Sanawar) were among the guests.
THE LINE UP