JANE'S MEMOIRS PART THREE

Cephalonia

As mentioned in JANE’S MEMOIRS (Part 2), Jane and her parents were on the island of Cephalonia during the war and the Italian and German occupation, with all the deprivations humiliations and the hatred, that they felt against the invaders.

After their defeat and surrender, the Nazis left Athens on the 12^th October 1944 and Cephalonia was liberated by the end of October of the same year by British troops.  Besides the jubilation and festivities that were taking place all over the country, there was a tension between the communists (EAM/ELAS) and the Greek Government which culminated with the “Dekemvriana”, the December events.   These were clashes, fought in Athens from the 3^rd of December 1944 to the 11^th of January 1945.  The communists fought against the Greek government forces, the police, the gendarmerie and British troops under Field Marshal Scobie.  Even Winston Churchill visited Athens, on Christmas day, to boost the army’s psychology with his presence.  All this ended with the defeat of the communists leading to their disarmament and the Varkiza Agreement, on the 12^th February 1945, which marked the end of ELAS, which was how the army of the communist party was called.


Unfortunately,  as mentioned above, it did not end there, a horrific, bloody civil war harassed Greece from 1946-1949, leaving deep hatred and many unhealed wounds for many years to come.  This war was one of the first conflicts of the Cold War. 

The Parthenon and Athens

So, when the situation calmed down Jane and her parents left for Athens and stayed with her aunt Theodosia Tooliatos for about a month before they left for India.   They sailed with a Greek warship to Alexandria and then by train to Port Said where they embarked on a P&O ship and sailed to India.  After the hardships of the occupation, the ship seemed to Jane like a luxury cruiser, with all the comforts and conveniences imaginable.   They had a wonderful journey, with smooth seas and lots of fun until they disembarked in Karachi.

They were met by their friends Stathis Voutsinas and the Maratos, Simpson and Issigonis families.  Jane spent January and part of February in Karachi, meeting old friends and rediscovering familiar places.  At the beginning of the new academic year, she was packed off to Auckland House, a boarding school in Simla, in the Himalayas, but she so hated leaving home.

Going with the Toy Train to Simla

The journey from Karachi to Simla took two days, via Lahore, Ambala and Kalka a small town at the foot of the Himalayas.  Then, they bordered a narrow-gauge train which took them, during six hours, through 102 tunnels, over 869 bridges, over deep ravines and beautiful hillsides to their destination.

Christ Church Shimla

Snow Scene Shimla

Shimla by Night

Simla or Shimla, as it is now called, did not resemble any other town or hill station in India.  The Mall with its tea shops and stores, Christ Church Cathedral with its Tudor-styled belfry, the esplanades and houses with their immaculate gardens, all seemed so evidently and typically British, the only dissimilarity was the pitter-pater of the rickshaws and the monkeys on the trees.

Simla was then, the official summer capital of the British Raj.   From April to September each year, the whole government from the Viceroy to the most junior secretary moved from Delhi to Simla.   Obviously, the Foreign Missions, Embassies and Civil Service functionaries all followed, giving this beautiful town five months of remarkable elegance and glamour.

Auckland House School  Simla

The school was a wisteria clad brick building, built high on a wooded hill.  Its tin roof was often stampeded by hoards of monkeys that sounded like bolts of thunder.  But the view from the windows was magnificent.  Snowed covered mountain peaks in the distance changing colours all day long, and fir trees and emerald slopes, tinged with rhododendrons, bordered the school premises.

Jane loved the school, the teachers were excellent, the girls pleasant and they learned a lot while having fun.  They played tennis and netball, and besides the school curriculum, they took French, music, dancing and elocution lessons, they participated in choirs and plays and had “socials” dancing parties, with the Bishop Cotton School boys.

In the beginning, when Jane first arrived at Auckland House School, the nights were dark and heartbreaking as she sobbed herself to sleep, she was so homesick.  But soon she recovered, became stronger and enjoyed every moment.

When Jane returned to Simla, in 1947, for the new school year, the first things she noticed was that her British schoolmates had left.  In April, serious secret discussions were taking place in the Viceregal Lodge, right next door to them. They learned later, that Lord Luis Mountbatten, the last  Viceroy of India and Jawaharlal Nehru were debating on themes of freedom and partition. 

The Sub-Continent was Partitioned in Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan 

As the year wore on, letters from home stopped coming,  It was only of the 15^th August, when they gathered on the front portal that they were told what had happened.   The Sub-Continent was free from the British rule but partitioned in Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan.  The Union Jack was lowered slowly down the mast and the Indian flag proudly took its place and the girls were offered sweets to celebrate the event.

A few days later they heard about the massacres that were taking place in the Punjab.  At school, food was rationed to the minimum for over a month.  Chapattis and dhal became their staple food, even for breakfast.  In late September, while taking their midterm exams, they became witnesses to a horrific event that took place on a slope facing their classroom.  A whole family was running desperately towards the forest, while a group of turbaned men were chasing after them, their swords flashing in the sun.  Unfortunately, the family never made it to the safety of the woods, they were all slaughtered one by one.  Jane and her classmates were deeply shocked and horrified and by this ghastly massacre which was caused by religious fanaticism and discrimination.  

In December, at the end of the school year and after having taken the Junior Cambridge exams, the girls whose parents lived in Pakistan, including Jane, were taken by truck to Lahore, under military escort.  Jane’s father met them there and escorted them back to Karachi.   To her great regret, Jane never returned to Simla which she so loved.




Here are a few recipes that remind Jane of Simla.

                                                  SHIMLA MIRCH

This is a delicious Shimla speciality which could be vegan if prepared only with olive oil.

10 – 12 kerato peppers (I cannot find the botanical name)

Stuffing:

500 g (1 lb) mealy potatoes, scrubbed, boiled until tender and strained

2 tbsp ghee or

1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oi

Extra ghee or olive oil for brushing the baking dish

1 tsp peeled and finely grated ginger root

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp turmeric or more if preferred

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp ground coriander

The seed of 4 cardamom pods

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/8 tsp Cayene pepper

Wash and dry the peppers, remove the stalks and cut off a slice from the lids from each pepper and carefully remove the seeds.

Peel the potatoes and mash them to a smooth purée.  Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and brush the bottom and sides of an ovenproof dish with ghee or melted butter and olive oil.  

Sauté the ginger and garlic in ghee or butter and olive oil for about 2 minutes, then stir in the spices, except the Cayenne pepper and cook, stirring for3 minutes more.  Add the mashed potatoes and simmer gently stirring until well combined.  Taste and add salt and Cayenne pepper if you prefer a spicier stuffing.

Stuff the peppers, with the help of a long-handled spoon, cover with lids and arrange in rows in the buttered dish.   Pour about 125 ml (½ cup) water around the peppers, cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Discard the foil, turn over the peppers and bake for 20 minutes more or until the peppers are tender.  Serve immediately.   

                                                       CHAPATTIS

A chapatti is like very thin pita bread.

280 g (2 cups) strong flour

Pinch of salt

250 ml (1 cup) water or more if necessary

Mix the four and salt together and add the water, gradually, just enough until a firm dough is obtained.   Knead until smooth, cover with cling film and set aside, at room temperature, for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into twelve portions and roll out each portion into a round sheet about 12 cm (5 inches) in diameter.   Cook over medium heat, in a frying pan, brushed with a little ghee.   Flatten each chapatti during the cooking period, until golden on both sides with a few blisters on the surface.  Cut into fourths or sixths before serving.  

                                                             DHAL

In India and Pakistan, no meal is ever served without dhal.   In each district, dhal is cooked in a different way.  Less spicy in the North, scorchingly hot in the South, cooked with or without vegetables, it is certainly a comforting side dish.   Served only with rice it is considered, nutritionally, a perfectly healthy meal.

This delicately spiced dhal recipe, given below,  can also be prepared with fava beans, but obviously, they need their own cooking time.

  

500 gr (1 lb) moong dhal, parboiled and strained

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 cm ginger root, peeled and sliced into three pieces

1 hot chilli pepper

2 tsp turmeric

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper, optional

Salt to taste

1½ tbsp oil

½ tbsp  ghee

3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

½ tsp cumin seed

½ tsp mustard seeds

Cover the parboiled moong dhal with 2 litres (8 cups) of cold water, bring to the boil and skim thoroughly.  Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt, lower the heat and partially cover the saucepan.  Simmer gently for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. until the dhal has become like a smooth paste.  After 45 minutes discard the chilli pepper and continue cooking. Check the consistency and thin it down with a little hot water if it seems too thick.  Taste and add salt and Cayenne pepper if necessary.

Sauté the spring onions in oil and ghee and stir until the onions are golden.  Then stir in the cumin and mustard seeds and a tiny pinch of salt and cook for 3 minutes more.   Then stir the onion mixture into the dhal and simmer, stirring, for 1-2 minutes more.   Taste once more and season to perfection.  

                                             STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA

Obviously, it is not an Indian dessert, but if Simla was a dessert, it would certainly be a strawberry pavlova!

6 egg whites of medium-sized eggs

A pinch of salt

300 g (10 oz) caster sugar

1 tsp vinegar to make the meringue chewier (optional)

1 tsp vanilla essence

500 g (1 lb) whipped cream

500 g (1 lb) hulled strawberries, sliced in half

60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate or milk chocolate if preferred, melted

Whip the egg whites with a little salt to the soft peak stage, add the sugar by the spoonful, whipping constantly until the mixture is thick and glossy.  Add the vinegar, if using, and the vanilla and beat for a minute more until well combined.

Trace two circles, on baking parchment, about 26 cm (10 in) in diameter each, brush with oil and place the parchment in a baking tin.   Pipe the meringue on the traced circles, shaping two equal disks. 

Bake in an oven preheated to 150 C (285 F) for about 1 hour.  Then, turn off the heat and leave the meringues in the oven until the next day, when they are completely cold.

Place one meringue disk on a serving dish, spread with a third of the whipped cream and the sliced strawberries and cover with the second round.  Garnish the Pavlova attractively with the remaining whipped cream and whole strawberries, dipped in melted chocolate.     

Painting of Pakistani Flowers