KARACH AGAIN

After I finished my studies in Neuchatel, I flew to Karachi where my father was working.   It was lovely seeing my parents again, meeting old friends and making new ones.  Although almost five years have passed since the partition, Karachi's population from about 500.000 residents still continued bulging into millions.   Unfortunately, homeless refugees were still sleeping in parks, playfields, in front of large hotels, clubs, all over the place.  It was heartbreaking and the government's greatest problem.  A first masterplan was presented by a Sweedish firm, which sought to accommodate the refugees in ten-storeyed buildings in the outskirts of the city.  Fortunately, the plan was never accomplished.

The foreigners living in Pakistan, trying to give a helping hand, held bazaars, concerts, plays and balls in aid of the refugees.  One such charity ball was the "Dance of the Nations" which was a great success and raised large donations.

Also, the city was growing monstrously.  An orgy of construction was taking place, in order to house the refugees but, also, to accommodate new businesses, educational institutions, hospitals,  barracks, embassies and government facilities.   Fortunately, the beautiful traditional old buildings and parks still adorned Karachi. 

Mohatta Palace

 

Frere Hall

However, the life and habits of the European community remained unchanged.  We still dressed for dinner.  As Karachi was the young new capital, social life was very intense.  Receptions for national days, cocktail and dinner parties were everyday events.  We plaid tennis, cricket and golf and rowed and sailed.  We swam ar Sandspit and Hawke's Bay, sandy beaches on the Arabian sea, very near Karachi.  We were all members of clubs.  Most young people, including me, preferred the Boat Club and the Gymkhana, but the Sind Club offered traditional elegance and the most delicious Gourmet dishes.

Zeibunissa Hamidulla, journalist and writer. sitting far right with friends 

Dining at "Le Gourmet" 

Mrs I Khan, wife of the Prime Minister  of Pakistan buying one of our plates

  

IRENA, NEUCHATEL SWITERLAND

Neuchatel Suisse

After I completed my studies at Alexander College, Dublin, my ardent desire was to study history at Trinity College Dublin.  But my parents were adamant, three more years was out of the question, especially with the Korean war being,  then, at its most crucial point, possibly with horrific consequences. So, instead, I went to my second choice Irena, at Peseux, Neuchatel.

Switzerland was then renowned for its finishing schools.  Almost ten years after I left more women went to university than ever before.  Naturally, parents preferred paying fees for a degree than sending their daughters to expensive finishing schools. So from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s "Pensionnats der Jeunes Filles" started closing down, one after the other and with the exception of one or two they became institutions of the past.

I thoroughly enjoyed my year at Irena.  We were taught French, literature, music, history of art and cooking.   We went to the theatre, to concerts, art galleries and fashion shows.  We gathered grapes in vineyards and visited the Suchard chocolate factory where we were given packets of Toblerone.   We skated, skied, played tennis and went to dances.  After years of hard work, my stay in Switzerland was a wonderful holiday, which I always fondly remember.

Neuchatel by Kesh Weal

KARACHI AND DUBLIN

After the partition of the Subcontinent into India and Pakistan, I left my school Auckland House in Simla, stayed in Karasch with my parents, and attended the Karachi Grammar School.   There I made many new friends, Pakistani, Europeans and a few Americans.  We called ourselves the "United Nations", which had recently come into existence, precisely two years before.  We had excellent teachers, we worked very hard but also enjoyed ourselves. We went dancing at the School Hall, every second Saturday evening, and the whole class went en masse to the "pictures".

Like most teenagers of our time who had lived through horror and bloodshed, we were very concerned and anxious about the future of the world.  We were for human and animal rights and the abolition of capital punishment, against nuclear power, and especially against war.  "They will be no wars in our time," we said. How little did we know, how naive could we be?

In September 1949, I went to Dublin to attend Alexandra College.   The flight from Karachi to London was an exciting experience.  In a bumpy BOAC aircraft (was it a Lockheed Constellation?)  We flew from Karachi to Cairo where the plane had to be grounded, overnight, due to "engine problems", as we were told.  We stayed in a luxury hotel in Heliopolis and had the unexpected chance of visiting the Pyramids and the Cairo museum.  The flight towards Rome was quite turbulent, while from Rome to London it was beautifully smooth.  We flew over the snowcapped Alps, green forests, pastures dotted with hamlets and towns,  We crossed over the Channel and 000there was London.   Postwar London was bustling, busy and beautiful but also so devastatingly destroyed by the blitz.

Alexandra College Dublin

Next day, an Air Lingus flight took me to my destination, Dublin.   I was met by Miss Holland, who was in charge of the boarding school and we drove to Earlsfort Terrace where the school was located.  About ten years after I left, the school moved to Miltown, on the outskirts of Dublin.  The old building was demolished and later, the Conrad Hotel was erected on the site.  Across the road were the premises of University College Dublin.  It was also razed to the ground, the same time with Alexandra, and now the National Concert Hall stands in its place.  A very sad story indeed.  Why should beautiful pieces of architecture be destroyed in order to accommodate newer perhaps equally elegant constructions? There should be enough space for all.

Dublin

Dublin, built on the shores of the river Liffey, was a beautiful, rather small city in the early1950s.   It had many parks, lovely buildings, numerous statues, the landmark Nelson's Pillar that was destroyed by the IRA freedom fighters and many schools, colleges and universities,   I fell in love with Dublin and felt utterly at home there.

At the school, we had dedicated professors and we worked very hard to obtain our goals.  The boarding school was leisurely, we had large, comfortable common rooms and studies, a well-stocked library and good food.  And something that will seem unbelievable to students today. the classroom and common rooms were heated but our bedrooms were not.   In winter, we only went to our bedrooms to have a scalding bath and go straight to bed.  

Most weekends and holidays, I stayed at Mrs Violet Watson, who had a house in Dun Laoghaire (Dun Leary), a seaside suburb of Dublin.  I shall never forget her kindness and generosity.  Also Cynthia Lynch, an Irish friend born in Jamaica, a beautiful girl, with a terrific sense of humour.   I wish to thank  Mrs Watson and Cynthia and many other friends who made my stay in Dublin unforgettable.                                                             

SIMLA-1946-1947 MEMORIES

After the end of the Second World War, when the occupation forces left Greece, my parents and I returned to Greece where my father worked. I spent January and part of February 1946 in Karachi meeting old friends and rediscovering familiar places.   At the beginning of the new academic year, I was packed off to boarding school in Simla, but I so hated leaving home.

The journey from Karachi to Simla took two days, via Lahore, Ambala and Kalka a small town at the foot of the Himalayas.   Then, we boarded a narrow-gauge train that took for six hours, through 102 tunnels, over 869 bridges, over deep ravines and beautiful hillsides to our destination.

Simla did not resemble any other town or hill station in India.   The Mall, the main road, with its tea shops and stores, Christ Church Cathedral with its Tudor-style belfry, the esplanades and the houses with their immaculate gardens all seemed so evidently and typically English, the only dissimilarity being the pitter-patter 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 Dehli to Simla.  Obviously, the Foreign Missions, Embassies and Civil Service functionaries all followed giving Simla five months of remarkable elegance and glamour.

My school, Auckland House, was a wisteria clad brick building built high on a wooded hill.  Its tin roof was often stampeded by hordes of monkeys that sounded like sudden bolts of thunder.   The view from the windows was magnificent.  There were snowy peaks in the background, changing colours all day long.  Fir forests and emerald slopes, tinged with rhododendrons boarded the school premices.

I just loved the school, the teachers were excellent, the girls pleasant and we learnt a lot while having fun.  We played tennis and netball, took music, dancing and elocution lessons, participated in choirs and plays, went on excursions and "socials" (dancing parties) with the Bishop Cotton boys.   In the beginning, when I first arrived at Auckland the nights were dark and heart-breaking as I sobbed myself to sleep, I was so terribly homesick, but I soon recovered, became stronger and enjoyed every moment.

When we returned to Simla for the new academic year, in February 1947, the first thing we noticed was that most of our British schoolmates had left. 

In April, serious, secrete discussions were taking place at the Viceregal Lodge. right next door to us.   Lord Luis Montbatten, the last Viceroy of India and Jawaharlal Nehru were debating on themes of freedom and partition.

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

Some days later we heard about the massacres that were taking place in Punjab.  At school, food was rationed to the minimum for over a month. Chopattes and dhal became our staple food, even for breakfast.

In late September, while taking our 2nd term exam, we became witnesses of a horrific event that took place on a slope facing our classroom windows.  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 woods, they were all killed one by one. A tragic story due to religious intolerance.

In December, at the end of the school year, the girls whose parents lived in Pakistan, including me, were sent by truck, under military escort to Lahore.   My father was there to meet us and escort us back to Karachi.  Unfortunately, I never returned to Simla, which I still love so much.



     

FIRST MEMORIES

While trying to return umpteen decades back to the first years of my long life, I discovered glimpses of memories that have been deeply impressed on my mind.

I was born in India, of Greek parentage, and I considered myself very fortunate because I had loving parents and a very happy childhood.

Every two and a half years we used to go on home leave, so each time we boarded and Anchor Line or a Peninsula and Oriental (P&O) vessel and sailed for Greece.

To return to the theme of this post, my very first memory, is me bending over trying to wear my pink ballet shoes and my mother's voice from the background saying "Go to Nona (grandmother), she wants to see your dress."  This took place in Cephalonia, during our home leave, several months before my third birthday.   Another image that I remember vividly is that of my beautiful mother sitting at her dressing table, her hair gleaming in the sunlight.

In our garden in Karachi, I remember the horror I felt when a "huge" ant bit my finger.  The poor little creature must have been terrified of this gigantic being that apparently trying to harm it.  This yet another memory, an image, a glimpse without beginning or end.

I have very fond recollections of my nursery school, dear friends and the wonderful birthday parties we all so enjoyed.

I also remember the sheer delight I felt while swimming and splashing in the sea at Sandspit and Hawksbay, the lovely sandy beaches, near Karachi, on the Arabian Sea.

On the other hand, I remember when I was sick with diphtheria, the terror I used to feel each time the doctor came to inject my tummy with an enormous needle.  I used to beseech him, "pleas doctor, I was a very good girl today".   After the ordeal, he very kindly offered me a tiny bunch of violets.

Home leave was the great event that we planned a year ahead and anticipated with great pleasure. I was just under five when I nearly drowned in the ship's swimming pool and my dear father jumped in to save me.   During the same voyage, I ensconced myself, behind an armchair with a book and was lost for hours.  My dear parents nearly went crazy with anxiety.

When we returned to Greece we stayed at Ellinikon, an Athenian suburb which was near a girls' school that my parents intended me to attend, on our next trip when my mother and I would be settling down in Greece, as planned.

Argostoli

We went to Loutraki, a popular spa near Corinth and obviously to Cephalonia, our home island where I saw my beloved Nona Sophia, and my aunts, uncles and cousins. I was much younger than my cousins but I especially loved visiting Ioanna Papa and her husband Vassili, their baby daughter Dia and her sister Aliki, because it was a house full of fun and laughter and good vibrations.

I also loved cycling with my cousin Angela Becatoros, who was charming and amiable and told me eloquently the most fascinating fairy tales.  It was like a performance.

That year my parents bought a spacious house in Argostoli, with a beautiful garden, made all the necessary alterations and installed central heating.   My cousin Angela and her husband Gerasimos stayed in our new house when we lived in India.

When our home leave ended we returned to Karachi and continued our life.  My father worked for Ralli Brothers, my mother besides being a wonderful, wife, mother and hostess, played mahjong and went to coffee mornings with her girlfriends.   I attended Mrs Walton's nursery school in the mornings and played with my friends in the afternoons.  Needless to say, that all the year round I eagerly looked forward to the Christmas and Easter celebrations and my birthday.   It was a very happy period of my life, I felt content and protected.

Unfortunately on the 1st September 1939, World War II broke out, the cause being that Germany invaded Poland.  Two days later the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany which is still considered the deadliest combat in human history.   Although I was very young I had a smouldering feeling of anxiety that my parents and their friends were very concerned about this very disturbing information.

When the time arrived for our next home leave, we went to Greece in late February 1940 and intended to return to India, by November of the same year.

Apparently, most Greeks were living in a fool's paradise, because they believed that our country could never be possibly be attacked by Italians or the Germans.   This was most improbable and any possible problems could solved through diplomatic channels, they hoped.  Wishful thinking....

On the 28th October 1940, Mussolini issued an ultimatum to Greece demanding the cession of the Greek territory, which the Greek Prime Minister rejected "Alors, c'est la guerre" he told the Italian Ambassador Grazi who had conveyed the message.

The Italian army invaded Greece on the 28th of October, 1940, before the Italian ultimatum had expired but they were stopped by the unexpectedly severe resistance of the Greek troops.   The Italian army failed to achieve its prospective and lost prestige in this war. As Greek independence and national sovereignty were at stake, the Greeks were determined to drive the invaders outside the borderline.   In contrast, the Italians fought because the Mussolini regime sent them there to fight a war of aggression. Needless to say, that the average Italian soldier saw no reason at all to die while conquering Greece.  According to Mark Mazower, it was the first Axis setback of the entire war.   It was an ugly war, fought in atrocious weather conditions on a very difficult terrain.

Evidently, we stayed in Cephalonia during the war and the Italian and later the German occupation.  We were deprived of our liberty our dignity and our pride.  Our currency the drachma was being daily devalued, for instance, one could buy a pound of tomatoes for 1.000.000 drachmas.   Most of us were extremely poor. Moreover, there was a serious food shortage in Greece.  During the bitterly cold winter of 1941 most Greek citizens were undernourished and many people died of famine in Athens and other cities all over Greece.   It was slightly better in the countryside and on the islands because one could survive by planting pulses, potatoes and other vegetables.  But unfortunately, no meat or poultry could be found as most of it was confiscated to feed the enemy forces.   My resourceful compatriots invented a rather delicious dark syrup made out of currents called "stafidini" to replace sugar which had also disappeared from the shelves.

Our house was requisitioned by both the Italians and the Germans, so we lived in a small flat that a friend provided for us, desperately trying to make ends meet. Very difficult years but at least we were healthy so we managed to survive until the end of the war.

(I wish to thank, Mr Apostolos Marinopulos, Mr Mark Mazower and Wikipedia for the valuable information  for this post.)

GREEK - TURKISH CRISIS

Germany's decision not to invite Greece to the Berlin conference on the Libya crisis, next Sunday, while Turkey will attend the meeting has left the Greek Government very annoyed.   Germany continues sending arms to Ankara despite the escalating Greek-Turkish crisis.   Shame on Germany, are they not members of the European Union?  Is it ethical to turn against a partner only for money?   

LATEST INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL NEWS

According to the BBC, the residents of Chile were extremely surprised by the cloudy days in the middle of the summer season.  The abnormality was caused by the "monster fires", in Australia which reached the shores of South America in countries such as Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.

The US House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, the terminating of an effort by Democrats that "further inflamed biased tension in Washington and deepened the nation's ideological divide".   The Senate will hold a trial. early next year, to decide whether the President should be convicted of removal from office, though the Republicans, who have the majority in the Chamber will, almost, certainly acquit him.

Two decades after he first took power, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears determined to continue being in charge for the foreseeable future.   But as he rearranged his country's government he might have been looking enviously across the Altai Mountains to  China,  where his close ally Xi Jinping achieved the same usurpation with apparent ease.

Prince Harry and Meghan with baby Archie Harrison Monbatten Winsor

Prince Harry stepped out for the first time since he and Meghan Markel announced their amazing decision to step down from their royal duties.   Queen Elizabeth is supportive of Prince Harry's and Meghan's new life.  " My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry's and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family," the queen said in a statement after a family meeting, at their country home in Sandringham.

Queen Elizabeth II

The Greek Prime Minister,  Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on a televised message on Wednesday evening, that his ruling party, New Democracy, will propose Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou as a candidate for the position of the President of the Republic. "I accept the proposal, if elected, I shall devote all my efforts to serving this duty, as set out by the constitution," the jurist said. adding that she will abstain from active legal duties as from now.

Mrs Sakerallaropoulou was born in Thessaloniki in  1956, studied Law at the University in Thessaloniki and completed her studies at the University of Athens Law School in 1978.  She also completed her legal training during a leave of absence from the Council of State (Greece's Supreme Court) duties at the Sorbonne,  Paris II University,  between 1989-1990.  Mrs Sakerallopoulou was promoted to head of Council of State in October 2018,  proposed by the ruling SYRIZA administration of the time.

She has extensive experience in teaching and served as a Foreign Ministry consultant and as an officer of the Judges' Union,   The long-time judge has served as President of the Hellenic Society of Environmental Law since 2015 and has actually worked on large classes involving the environment, including diversion of the Acheloos river in Thessaly and the preservation of the historic refugee building in Alexandra Avenue in Athens.

An author of several books the distinguished jurist also speaks English and  French.  Regarding her personal life, Mrs Sakerallopoulou is divorced, a mother of one and she lives in central Athens.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Wife Brigitte

Dozens of protestors tried to enter a Paris theatre, on Friday where the French President and his wife Brigitte were spending the evening.

Around thirty opponents of Macron's pension reform gathered in front of Paris's Bouffes du Nord theatre,  early of Friday evening, according to the presidential couple's entourage.   After trying to enter the theatre the demonstrators were moved back by the police.

Mr Macron and his wife, who were attending a performance at the theatre were secured for a few minutes before being able to return to see the performance until the end.

The Paris police headquarters confirmed that the demonstrators had not managed to enter the theatre.

 

Plaka by Takis Moraitis