Xavier Absalom who was the oldest alumni of St. Bede’s school of this time, passed away on Oct.21. He was a senior San Thomite.
He was born into a religious family in San Thome. His elder brother was Ignatius Absalom and an elder sister, Sr. Mary Magdalene, Sisters of St. Anne’s congregation – Madhavaram.
He was brought up at Ketty, Ooty and studied at St. Bede’s Anglo Indian School at San Thome.
He served in the military as an Air Force sergeant during World War II. After his marriage in 1938, compelled by his parents he resigned the job and started training under the famed Buck – an English Physical Training Instructor and a boxer at the central Y.M.C.A. campus in Nandanam.
He was the secretary and a coach at the Tamil Nadu Boxing Federation for more than 20 years. He worked as P.T.I. in Lawrence School, Lovedale, at St. Joseph’s College – Coonoor, at St. Joseph’s School, Tindivanam, and at the ICF school at Madipakkam.
He also did social service and worked in remote villages and hospitals, says his sister Mona. He had five children of which four are girls. His sister Mona can be reached at 24956251.
T. Doraiswamy, retired Secretary, Mc Dowell and Co., and a resident of 1st Street, Abhiramapuram for the last 30 years passed away in Chennai on October 16 at the age of 87.
He was also a flautist and the father of noted mridangam vidwan, T. Shyam Sunder. He is survived by his wife, son and daughters. The family can be contacted at 2499 7123, 98840 44624.
Radha Narayanan, a resident of San Thome passed away on October 23 at the age of 74.
Born in Tripunithara (Kerala) in 1936, Radha Narayanan was many things to many people, says her family. After her marriage to C. V. V. Narayanan, she moved to Kolkata where she spent most of her married life and then went to Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Chennai along with her children and grandchildren.
A connoisseur of music and dance she tried not to miss any of the kutcheris. Her passion for music led her to join music classes along with her granddaughter. She was also involved in many social activities and was a volunteer at the Kanchi Kamakoti Medical Trust, Besant Nagar for the last 39 years.
Her two sons, C. V. Murali and Raghu Venkatanarayan can be contacted at 90030 14134, 98846 55515.
Sgt Xavier Absalom joined Lawrence School, Lovedale, Nilgiris in 1954 as Drill and PT instructor. A World War II veteran, I think he would have crossed 90.
He was a keen hunter. In those days game was plentiful in Lovedale and it was PC to shoot them.
He taught me a lesson which has stayed for life. We were rifle shooting at the basket ball flat. He advised me not to just aim at the bull — I should aim at the centre of the bull. It was difficult enough to hit the target and a great achievement to hit the bull. But he wanted us to aim for the stars.
May his soul rest in peace.
Joseph Thomas
Bangalore