Disclaimer: My blog is my blog and reflects MY thoughts and nobody else’s. I did not seek anybody’s permission to set forth my thoughts nor would I do so. My blog has absolutely no connection with any Old Lawrencians Association anywhere in the world. Admiral Popeye decided to make this an issue for the Old Lawrencians Associations. He should know that Old Lawrencians Associations are essentially social organisations and have no mandate to keep an eye on the musings of anybody. This Page is my response. In future I will not respond, as the reaction of any Old Lawrencians Association or individual Old Lawrencian is of no concern to me if made on an Old Lawrencians Forum. If any reaction is received from an individual through my blog and uses respectful language, I will respond respectfully through the blog.
First the good news for Admiral Popeye: I made my last visit to my beloved India in September/October 2024. It follows that neither India nor Lawrence School, Lovedale will ever be troubled with my presence. The timeline I had set was a conscious decision on my part to bring closure to that part of my life. I am a 3rd generation NRI as it was my grandfather who left India in 1895. My parents knew nothing about India and my own and only connection with India is my schooling. I never hesitate to say I am proud to be of Indian origin.
I regard my time in Lovedale as a blunder of Himalayan proportions, a catastrophic waste of my parents’ hard earned wealth and an irretrievable opportunity cost. As a third generation NRI, neither I nor my parents had any connection with India other than our love for the country of our origin. My parents had a belief that Lawrence School Lovedale would be just the place to inculcate in me Indian values and open to me the world of Indian culture and Indian way of life. How wrong that belief turned out to be! Lawrence School Lovedale met none of the objectives set.
That said, I append an extract from my page ‘About Me’:
‘The only shining light from my 11 years is the friendships with some of my classmates and schoolmates, the ones who went through the same daily grind of life that I did at Lovedale. These friendships have been valuable and will endure. Most of these friends have moved on; I haven’t and won’t! The reason is simple: never again must ordinary, everyday Indians allow a bogus system of a boarding school education ruin their lives. Never must they accept the deceit of people, such as Mac, from the Railway Colonies play a negative part in their lives and go on to make those lives a misery. In this day and age of Social Media, remember the bullies with a view to catching up and dealing with them in due course. Never Give In is the motto of the school, Never Forget Never Forgive is mine!‘
I had never met this Admiral Popeye character nor had I heard of him. I got to know that he was President of the Old Lawrencians Association. I didn’t have anything to do with this Association except that I was invited, (I did not apply) a while ago to be part of the UK and EU branch. In the UK, there was already an Old Lawrencians Association that was started as far back as the 1950s by mainly Anglo-Indian and White British who had emigrated to the U.K. I was Bank Manager/Treasurer for the UK Association for 30 years or more and before that I was an ordinary member for over a decade. There was never any formal relationship between the two Associations.
Admiral Popeye was made aware of my blog and wasn’t happy with what I had written. My blog is MY blog and has nothing to do with any branch of the OLA or anybody else. If people are offended, I couldn’t care less! Nobody forced anybody to read MY blog. It is MY blog and expresses MY views!! However, Admiral Popeye decided to make my blog part of his mandate given to him by himself to patrol my writing. Just what gave him the authority to police anything I wrote, good or bad is beyond me but it may be that he acquired his attribute of being power-mad in Lovedale.
Admiral Popeye did serve in the Indian Navy and for that I commend him. I also commend him for anchoring the Goa meet of the various OLAs. (Note my clever use of the word ‘anchoring’ for the Navy man).
However, his feeling that he had any sort of authority to dictate to me what I could and could not write in my private capacity is indicative of the cloud-cuckoo land he has made his abode since leaving the Indian Navy. To himself, he is still an Admiral with authority. To me he is just a country bumpkin from rural Malluland. For those not in the know Malluland is a humorous reference to the state of Kerala from where Syrian Christians like Admiral Popeye originate! I hear he has settled in Goa. Poor Goa!
Let me start by appending below a copy of the message sent out by this ‘wannabe’ tough guy as if he is in a position to threaten me or do anything:
May I request that this person be removed form any group associated with the Lawrence School, Lovedale and not be permitted to attend any LSL event. This and previous posts on his blog are extremely distasteful and reflect a huge psychological issue. In this post he applauds the death of a fighter pilot and hopes that his brother died too. Scroll to the end of the article as it’s difficult to read the whole piece. Amazing. If he has so much of angst against the school why does he attend reunions? He cursed Mr Macmohan and then visits his grave. Mac was a loved teacher and we insult his memory by permitting this fellow to visit his grave. Rear Admiral PG Philipose AVSM, NM. President OLA.
I will start with the last two sentences of the Admiral and expose his bogosity: Admiral Popeye says ‘ He cursed Mr Macmohan and then visits his grave. Mac was a loved teacher and we insult his memory by permitting this fellow to visit his grave. Rear Admiral PG Philipose AVSM, NM. President OLA .
To start with Admiral Popeye has got the name wrong. It is McMahon, not Macmohan. Let me enlighten Admiral Popeye here: Mc or Mac is Gaeilge (Irish) meaning ‘son’ and/or ‘of’. So McMahon means ‘of’ Mahon. There are many places in Ireland called Mahon.
Admiral Popeye goes on to say ‘we insult his memory by permitting this fellow to visit his grave’. Really, Admiral Popeye? It was I, Jitu Savani who DISCOVERED Mac’s grave! I and I alone! All the photographs now in circulation of Mac’s grave, the laying of flowers, the Mac building in Virudhunagar where he taught some years previously etc. were taken by me, Jitu Savani or at my request with MY mobile phone. The laying of flowers, the garland, the lighting of the candles etc was done by me not because I personally liked him (I did not) but because I was aware that my classmates and school mates would have accepted the gesture as being extended on their behalf! Many wrote to me thanking me!
Railway Colony Cemetery, Madurai, Mac’s Grave Discovered by Jitu Savani
Virudhunagar
So let me give some extra gyan to the Admiral although there are several pages critiquing Mac in my blog right from his birth to his death which Admiral Popeye should have studied before issuing his edict:
Mac left Lovedale in June 1975 after enjoying a hedonistic lifestyle for 19 years. When he joined in 1956, Mac was trying to get away from the Anglo-Indian Railway Colony of Mhow because his ‘girlfriend’ Audrey Guerra had dumped him! He landed on his feet, a thousand miles away in Lovedale, Tamil Nadu. I say landed on his feet as Lovedale too in those days was as good as an Anglo-Indian Railway Colony! He was in his comfort zone! Despite being in Tamil Nādu for all of 19 years, Mac couldn’t speak a word of Tamil or for that matter any Indian Language. I had passed out in 1968, 7 years before Mac left. Following Admiral Popeye’s unwarranted edict, I was contacted by Old Lawrencians much younger than me and advised that by the time he left, Mac was a drunk and gay! After he left Lovedale, every venture Mac entered into was a failure! Post his leaving in 1975, Mac’s first job was a financial disaster and the school he became head of, Horsley Hills, shut down! It was never economically viable! He was booted out of his next permanent job as he was bringing the school and town where he worked, Virudhunagar, into disrepute by his excessive drinking and smoking (the latter in front of pupils and that too rolled up cigarettes as he couldn’t afford regular cigarettes). His job related accommodation was a boozer’s paradise! The last proper job he had was in a Primary School (class 1 to 4) for the children of Tata Tea Estate workers in Munnar. He was not retained there!
Following Lovedale wherever Wilfred Joseph McMahon taught, he found himself marooned. He only ever taught in mofussil areas, never ever in any Presidency City (Chennai, Mumbai Kolkata) and never in Delhi. In these cities, ‘reputation’ is all encompassing and Mac’s habits of gambling and drinking would have exposed him for the fraud he was; no school would have risked reputational damage!
An Anglo-Indian who spoke only English, Mac stood before classrooms filled with students whose mother tongues and first languages were Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam—languages he could not understand, let alone speak. When the final bell rang at one o’clock, he would step out of the school gates and into a world where he had no words to connect, no common ground to share, no easy way to build a friendship. In that sense, he lived as a cultural castaway: surrounded by people yet unable to reach them, stranded on the island of his own language. And so, with no human voice to fill the long afternoons and evenings, he would lock himself inside his apartment, where the only companion that asked nothing of him was the bottle. His loneliness was not a choice; it was the inevitable tide of a life spent just beyond the shore of belonging.
Mac died in June 1991, an alcoholic, dirt poor and penniless. In April 1991, just a couple of months before his death, Mac had visited Lovedale with a view to ‘helping’. His offer was turned down. Who in their right mind would take help from an alcoholic with no recent experience of teaching in a ‘prestigious’ school such as LSL? His earlier stint in Lovedale which ended 16 years hitherto counted for nothing and quite rightly so! It was obvious he was desperate! Two months later, he was dead!
At the time of his death, his only known relatives were his two nieces, Linda Dalal and Melanie Tawde. Nobody knew the names of these two nieces; it was I, Jitu Savani who discovered those names! Both of them REFUSED to have anything to do with his remains. Had it not been for the kindness of the late, great, Vallikappen, head boy of 1965, Mac would have been cremated by the Municipal Council as a pauper. It was Valikappen who arranged for Mac a dignified funeral in the Railway Colony cemetery in Madurai. Even in death, Mac couldn’t get away from his Railway Colony heritage! Sadly, Valikappen too died of an excess of ‘fire water’. Between the date of his burial in June 1991 and my visit in October 2024, not a single person, let alone any Old Lawrencian visited Mac’s grave. Note Admiral Popeye: in over 33 years not a single visitor! Hardly anybody knew when or where he died. Nobody knew where he was buried! The grave itself was crumbling to dust and had it not been for my digging, (no pun intended) would have disappeared. After a lot of enquiring, Dr Ramesh Iyengar a thorough gentleman, a prominent scientist and son of my Chemistry master came forth. Dr Iyengar arranged for the maintenance staff of Jeevana School where he is the director to refurbish the grave and hence the quality of the grave in the photos that I, Jitu Savani circulated!
As for ‘we insult his memory by permitting this fellow to visit his grave‘, who exactly is the ‘we’ Admiral Popeye, that has the power to permit me to visit Mac’s grave? So that you are better informed, Mac’s grave in the Railway Colony cemetery he is buried in is governed by the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998. Even the Church authorities are only trustees of the land and have no authority to restrict visitation. As a Christian, you should know that! In any case, Admiral Popeye, as a person of ‘honour’ why don’t you name Old Lawrencians who have to your knowledge visited the grave either before or after my visit in October 2024? What have the people for whom Mac was ‘a loved teacher’ done or are doing for the maintenance and upkeep of the grave? And I made the trip all the way from London! So much for ‘loved’ when his own family didn’t want to know him and not a single one of his pupils ever visited his grave or even knew where it is! Thus he was buried a thousand miles away from the Railway Colony of his birth in Mhow. It is in Mhow that Mac was born, where he matured into adulthood and Mhow was his only abode until the age of 31!
I actually travelled from Madurai to Mhow and I visited the cemetery there! I was just about able to identify the graves of Mac’s brother Keith who is buried in the same grave as their mother Margaret Delphine McMahon (nee Braganza) and also the adjacent grave of Keith’s wife Doreen. I had the graves tidied up as best I could. I did this in recognition of the respect my classmates (not I) had for Mac. Wouldn’t it have been a gesture of appreciation if those to whom Mac was ‘loved’ at least arranged to transfer Mac’s remains to be interred next to his brother and mother? By now, even those graves have crumbled as have over a thousand Anglo-Indian graves in Mhow! Most of the Anglo-Indians of Mhow like Mac’s brother Len left for pastures new as India did not welcome those, like Mac that behaved like the Imperial lackeys they were during British times. The descendants can’t be bothered to return and tend to the graves of their ancestors! I am willing to wager that nobody for whom Mac was ‘loved’ will ever be bothered to travel to Mhow to tend to the graves of Mac’s mother and brother!
Here is a photo of the graves of Keith, Margaret Delphine and Doreen McMahon, the ones I, Jitu Savani, travelling from London had tidied up!
Admiral Popeye, I didn’t need any OLA’s permission to visit! I visited to put together for my own friends, Mac’s History!
Please see Quintessential Anglo-Indian
As for my removal from any group associated with Lawrence School, Lovedale, all I can say is yes please! And the quicker the better. Do let me know though; I am not aware of my membership of any such group other than the legacy London OLA started in the 1950s! Admiral Popeye will be pleased to know that most of the membership of the legacy London Association is dead (old age) and I am glad I organised the last few lunches at the Indian Gymkhana in England for those old Lawrencians to enjoy! Some were very poor and unable to pay; I was happy to help personally. Old age spares nobody! So I am well out of the legacy OLA!
I have checked and I commend Admiral Popeye for having more educational degrees than a thermometer, but Psychology isn’t one of them. So he is in no position to comment on my psychological state or diagnose me as having ‘angst’! As to why I attend re-unions, this is a new one on me! Other than the annual legacy London lunches, and a couple of London OL evenings organised by me and introducing youngsters so that I can retire and youngsters can take over, I am not aware of any others that I have attended in the last 58 years! I have attended 3 reunions of my own batch but that has nothing to do with any branch of the OLA! In any case, 3 batch reunions in 58 years is, I would suggest infrequent! I have no intention whatsoever of attending any more. Admiral Popeye should let me know which particular OLA events I am alleged to have attended over the last 58 years!
Admiral Popeye was upset that I had rubbished the memory of a fighter pilot and hence insulted the Indian Armed Forces. Admiral Popeye should be aware that merely being in the Armed forces doesn’t make anybody immune to being despicable as the following matters he should be aware of will illustrate:
- Air Chief Marshall S.P. Tyagi is out on bail. Up to his neck in the Augusta Westland scam (yes Admiral Popeye, the same company that manufactured the helicopter you flew).
- Horror of Horrors: In the infamous Sukna case, Lt Gen P.K. Rath and Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash were trying to sell Army land near the Siligiuri corridor (yes, Admiral Popeye the Chicken’s Neck as it is popularly known due to its vulnerability). This land is adjacent to a strategic military base!
- Lieutenant Emile Jerome Mathew, a Syrian Christian Mallu like you, Admiral Popeye, murdered Neeraj Grover
- Another Mallu Navy Officer Ravi Sankaran leaked Navy War Room Secrets and then fled the country.
- Air Vice Marshal Krishnaswamy H. Larkins was passing classified defence information to U.S. Intelligence
- Retired Lt. General Tejinder Singh was trying to sell sub-standard Tatra Trucks to the Indian Army by bribing General V.K. Singh with Rupees 14 crores!
- Old Lawrencian Ravi Nair, a RAW officer was honey-trapped by a Chinese Agent while another RAW officer Rabinder Singh fled to the USA!
- Remember too, Major General Shahbeg Singh P.V.S.M (even higher than your A.V.S.M, Admiral Popeye). He attacked the very Army that had nurtured him resulting in hundreds of causalities!
You will gather, Admiral Popeye, I am far better informed than you think!
Diverting just a little bit, you will know, Admiral Popeye, that another Navy Helicopter Pilot Like you, albeit of the UK Navy, formerly a Prince but now merely a commoner called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and soon to be a jail bird, is out on bail. He turned out to be a child molester! So you see, Admiral Popeye, merely being in the Armed forces doesn’t absolve one from being a crook.
Supporting Indian Armed Forces
Admiral Popeye claimed I was insulting Indian Armed Forces. Rubbish Admiral Popeye! Long before you were born, my family was supporting Indian troops!
WWII Deployment: Indian troops were stationed in Kenya and Uganda during the war to maintain order and support local infrastructure. My father, a member of the Special Police and his group looked after the needs of Indian troops: Indian rations, entertainment, home food with Indian families etc! There was the then famous case of a junior Indian Army Officer slapping the owner of Norfolk Hotel where there was an actual sign saying ‘Europeans Only’. With the support of my father and his Indian group, far from the Indian Army Officer being punished, Norfolk Hotel was required to apologise to the Indian Army Officer. Ironically, Norfolk Hotel was Jewish owned and Indian troops in Europe had given up their lives saving Jews! Sadly, the discrimination against Indians continued and in 1948, the Indian High Commissionaire Apa Pant was turned away from Norfolk Hotel even though he was accompanying the then Chief Justice of British Kenya Sir John Harry Barclay Nihill. However, Apa Pant, being the diplomat he was asked the Indians not to make a big issue of the matter. Many years later, post Independence of Kenya, the Chief Justice of Kenya was Chunilal Madan, father of the ‘Bwana’ figure Old Lawrencians frequently refer to!
My father also took the lead in supporting Indian troops returning to India following deployment in Congo. He owned a business in Mombasa called National Service Stores. I was in Class 6 in Junior School, Shivalik House at the time!
In 1962, when India was attacked by China, my father actually handed his gun to the Indian High Commission in Nairobi in case it was needed. Small gesture, I know, but reflective of the love and support of my family for the Indian Armed Forces!
Admiral Popeye’s missing cojones – Arundhati Roy
Admiral Popeye accused me, UNJUSTIFIABLY of insulting the Indian Armed Forces. He wanted me removed from any group connected with LSL and not be permitted to attend any event. My blog is MY blog and has nothing to do with any group connected with LSL. I notice though, his deafening silence on the writing and broadcasting of another Old Lawrencian, one Arundhati Roy. She has made incendiary comments against my beloved India and its Armed Forces. Why the silence Admiral Popeye? Is it a case of missing cojones? Never mind, I am, nothing if not generous so I have composed an article on Admiral Popeye’s behalf which he should appreciate as I am being respectful to him and the armed forces. Above all, I am restoring his cojones!!
Article composed by Jitu Savani on behalf of Rear Admiral Philipose:
Subject: A Reflection on Our School, Our Service, and the Dissent of “Suzy” Roy
The Architecture of Dissent: Arundhati Roy’s Crusade Against Her Own Roots
Preface: A View from the Same Dormitory
Writing as a fellow Lawrencian, I find it impossible to remain silent while a contemporary—known to us then simply as “Suzy” Roy—continues to weaponise her schooling to insult the very foundations of our nation. While Roy paints a dismal picture of The Lawrence School, Lovedale, as a cold, militaristic factory of conformity, those of us who marched on those same parade grounds remember a different reality: one of discipline, shared purpose, and a deep-seated respect for the men who guarded our frontiers. To see her use her elite platform to disparage the Indian Armed Forces—the very institution that produced some of our finest alumni—is not just a “literary” choice; it is a personal affront to every student who wore the school uniform with pride.
The “Sergeant Major” Complex
In her 2025 memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, Roy targets the military-style traditions of Lovedale, framing “parade practice” not as character-building, but as a form of “institutional molding.” However, for the rest of us, the commitment to the nation was visible in our faculty: teachers like Mr. Iyengar (Chemistry) and Mr. Hariharan (Mathematics) voluntarily became NCC instructors to guide boys aspiring to join the Armed Forces. Even our Sanskrit teacher, P.N. Raina, saw his own son, Vice Admiral Krishna Raina, rise to become a distinguished naval officer. To these mentors, the uniform was a symbol of service, not the “iron fist” Roy describes.
A Personal Affront to Legacy
The hypocrisy of Roy’s position is most striking when contrasted with the genuine service of Lovedale’s own. While Roy was a junior student, the school was home to K.V.L. Narayan Rao (Class of ’70), whose father, General K. V. Krishna Rao, played a decisive role in the 1961 Liberation of Goa and later served as Governor of Jammu & Kashmir. While the General worked to maintain stability in the North East and Kashmir—regions Roy labels as “occupied”—she has spent her career denouncing these efforts, even claiming that Kashmir is not an “integral part” of India.
The Rising Generation of Lawrencian Leaders
Roy’s critique is further dismantled by the generation of leaders who followed her. Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth (Class of 1983), the recently appointed Vice Chief of the Army Staff, continues a family legacy of service started by his father, Lieutenant General Krishna Mohan Seth. His brother, Rear Admiral Ravnish Seth, serves with distinction in the Navy. They stand alongside a long list of Lawrencian officers, including Admiral Anil Chopra and Rear Admiral K. Raja Menon, whose wife, the artist Anjolie Ela Menon, was an Art Teacher at Lovedale and the daughter of General Dev. These families represent the very “military machine” Roy effectively denounces.
The Revisionism of Goa and the Reality of the Inquisition
Roy’s commentary on Goa is particularly inflammatory. She frames the 1961 liberation as a “war by Hindu Brahmins against Christians,” a narrative that is historically illiterate. She ignores the dark centuries of the Goa Inquisition (1560–1812), where the Portuguese systematically tortured non-believers. A chilling symbol of this era remains today: the Haatkatro Khamb in Old Goa, the “hand-cutting pillar” where those who refused to convert or were accused of heresy had their limbs severed.
The 1961 liberation was not a communal act; it was a decolonial triumph that mirrored the liberation of Angola and Mozambique from the same oppressive regime. Furthermore, Roy ignores the fact that Portuguese forces killed dozens of Indian soldiers before surrendering, essentially “getting away with murder” while she paints the Indian military as the aggressor. Her decision to drop the name “Suzy” to hide her Syrian Christian background only adds to the sense that her rhetoric is a calculated political brand.
Conclusion: The Admiral vs. The Anarchist
The ultimate refutation of Roy’s ranting lies in the lived reality of those she claims to speak for. She ignores patriots like Rear Admiral PG Philipose, AVSM, NM (Class of ’82). A Syrian Christian himself and President of the Old Lawrencians Association, Philipose retired in Goa—the land Roy claims was “victimised.” While Roy retreated into anti-national rhetoric, these men dedicated their lives to India’s security. At Lovedale, we were taught the motto “Never Give In”. It is a tragedy that Roy chose to apply that tenacity to the destruction of her country’s reputation rather than to its service.
Historical Post-Script: The Cost of Liberation
To ensure our history remains accurate against modern revisionism, let us remember the real cost of Operation Vijay (18–19 December 1961):
- Indian Casualties: 22 Indian soldiers were killed in the line of duty. Among the martyrs were Major Shivdev Singh Sidhu and Captain Vijay Kumar Sehgal (also cited as Vinod Sehgal), who fell while attempting to secure the surrender of Fort Aguada.
- Naval Action at Anjidiv: Seven Indian marines were killed during a fierce landing operation on Anjidiv Island, where they met unexpectedly heavy fire from Portuguese defenders.
- The Haatkatro Khamb: This pillar in Old Goa is widely regarded by historians and local organisations as a remnant of the Goa Inquisition. It served as a public site for the punishment and mutilation of those who resisted religious conversion under Portuguese rule.
Now, back to my response to Admiral Popeye’s edict against me:
Admiral ‘Santa’ Popeye’s Little Helpers
I was sent a couple of anonymous extracts from a couple of Admiral Popeye’s little helpers: one advocated my being put in a straight jacket and locked up in a padded cell and the other wanted me to get a life. In the Navy, each of these characters would be described as an aide-de-camp or Flag Officer but to me they are just a couple of random chutiyas who have been very selective in reading only parts of my blog! I have indeed got a life and hence I have the spine to set forth my views rather than being a sheep. It matters not to me what discussions take place in front of me, behind my back, in WhatsApp groups, OLA meets, or anything else! My views are my views! I am not shoving them down anybody’s throat!
Founder’s 2026
I am sure Admiral Popeye, you will look magnificent in the Founder’s Parade of 2026. I will save people taking photographs as I have done this in advance!
It would be remiss of me if I did not produce the Programme, the Commemorative 50 Rupees Stamp to be issued by the Government of India and of course the newspaper report to follow:
I will end with a gesture of goodwill. I have drafted for you, Admiral Popeye, the following instruction you can send out so that ‘fellows’ as you disrespectfully refer to me do not exercise their right to free speech:
OFFICIAL ADMIRALTY NOTICE (FROM THE DESK OF THE POPEYE-IN-CHIEF)
To: All Rating-Class Alumni and Shore-side Critics
From: The Quarterdeck (via the School Tuck Shop)
Subject: Proper Maintenance of My Fragile Ego
1. CEASE ALL INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: It has come to my attention that some of you are thinking for yourselves. This is a clear breach of my Standing Orders. Any past pupil caught using their brain without a written permit from me will be immediately clapped in irons (or at least removed from the WhatsApp group).
2. DECORATION PROTOCOL: Please note that when addressing me, you must acknowledge each of my medals individually, starting with the one I got for “Maintaining a Stationary Position in a Climate-Controlled Office (1984-1999).”
3. SOCIAL EXCLUSION POLICY: Social events are strictly reserved for those who can maintain a “Silent Service” regarding the school’s flaws. If you notice a hole in the hull, you are to ignore it. Reporting a leak will be treated as an act of Piracy.
4. DRESS CODE: For future reunions, all attendees must wear enough “chest candy” to ensure they sink immediately if they fall overboard. Only those with a higher “Self-Importance Rating” than me are permitted to speak during the buffet.
5. FINAL COMMAND: Anyone found laughing at this blog post will be sent to the brigg (the chemistry lab) for a period of no less than two terms.
BY ORDER OF THE REAR-ADMIRAL (EXTREMELY REAR)
Once President for Life of the “Yes-Men” Flotilla
Finally, Admiral Popeye, please help me by having my letter to The Lawrencian published:
To the Editor of that most scurrilous of rags, The Lawrencian
Sir,
I feel compelled to draw your attention to the curious case of Admiral ‘Popeye’ Philipose, the soon to be retired President of the OLA.
Admiral Popeye carries himself with the stiff-necked pomposity of a man who once commanded the Seven Seas, but the reality is somewhat more… stationary.
In maritime circles, he is increasingly known as the Somalia Sightseer. While his fellow OLs have been occupied with the trivialities of neurosurgery, global engineering, and high finance, the Admiral’s “war” consisted of a brief fly-by over the Horn of Africa—ensuring he was never in any danger of actually entering a combat zone. He was, in truth, a mere Westland Windbag, spending his career in a Sea King trying to beat the air into submission; a feat requiring roughly half the ‘voodoo’ and skill of a Harrier Jump Jet pilot.
Now that he is hard aground and suffering from chronic land-sickness, he has reinvented himself as the Flag Officer of the Tuck Shop. He hovers over the OLA like a Rotorhead in a permanent high-hover: generating a deafening amount of ‘downwash’ for the rest of us, but achieving absolutely zero forward momentum.
He is flanked by a pathetic Ground Crew—a few loyalists of no more significance than the lowest-ranking Ratings. These Ordinary Seamen stand obediently in his hot air, seemingly unaware that their ‘Rear’ Admiral is merely a stationary figurehead moored to a school lectern while the world’s actual talent sails past.
I remain, sir,
A Disgruntled Member of the Fleet
Wishing you fair winds and following seas (and significantly less hot air from the podium)
Footnote:
It is further noted that the Admiral has insisted on introducing a ‘Naval Protocol’ to the Annual Old Boys Cricket Match. He reportedly demanded the school’s First XI pipe him “over the side” of the pavilion and has replaced the traditional tea and scones with hard tack and watered-down grog—presumably to ensure the younger boys learn the “discipline” he himself only ever observed from a comfortable 500-foot hover.