Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm McVittie (E 60) recalls a meeting in Dehli in 1978 when an OH tie helped two old OHs identify each other on a crowded platform in the Indian capital. Here, Malcolm – now retired – takes up the story…

I had just finished reading the midsummer Haileybury Society Newsletter and noted Mike Evans’ piece on meeting his friend Allan Probyn on Allenby Avenue in Pakistan. I had a similar experience in India in January 1978.

I had just arrived in India in order to attend the Indian Defence Services Staff College. We spent a few days in Dehli and on one evening we had supper with the British Naval Attache. I was talking about the fact that I had been at Haileybury with its evident connections with India. The Naval Attache asked me if I knew an Indian boy at Haileybury called Deb Barua (Debabrata Barua (Aby 62)).

(Above: Another view of the same day – Malcolm (right) on the ninth hole at Lasakh)

I did remember him. He was a year or two older than me and had been in Allenby House, but he was particularly notable as a very good cricketer and in his last year I believe that he had been captain of cricket. The Naval Attache then said “Well Deb is coming to stay with us tomorrow, would you like to meet him at New Dehli station and you can use my car and driver.”

Different country? Country ties!

I remembered Deb well at Haileybury because he was one of only two Indians at the school at the time. But when I got to New Delhi station, I realised that time had passed and that Deb might not stand out quite so obviously amongst a mass of fellow Indian passengers. However, luckily, I chose to wear my magenta and white striped OH “Country” members tie and I waited on the platform.

As the passengers disgorged from the train, I saw this gentleman who looked rather as I had remembered Deb, together with two bearers carrying his luggage. As he approached where I was standing, he stopped and put down his bag and wiped his eyes. He didn’t recognise me, but he did recognise the tie. I explained who I was, and I was able to give him a lift to the British High Commission. My wife and I enjoyed a second evening with the Naval Attache in the company of Deb Barua.

Above: Malcolm McVittie – centre – with an Indian Army colleague at the world’s highest golf course, that at Lasakh (14,000′)

More old ties – a cricketing connection solves a problem

Deb told me another story which may be of interest. Sometime after he had left Haileybury he found himself in London looking for accommodation. He contacted an OH friend who took him to meet a friend of his who was looking for a flatmate. They met up with this individual and as they were shown round the flat, Deb got the distinct impression that the gentleman concerned did not want to share his flat with him. However, when they got back to the front door and Deb was about to say goodbye, he noticed a cricket bag in the hall with bats and pads etc. Deb asked who he played cricket for and the reply was that he had played for Cheltenham College and then it transpired that they had played against each other at Lords one year. All concern was swept aside, and Deb was invited to join his new-found flatmate.

About the author

Malcolm McVittie joined Edmonstone House in September 1960, leaving after A levels in the Summer of 1965. He was head of House and a school prefect. Having gained an Army Scholarship when at Haileybury , he went straight to Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1967. He served for a further 25 years in places such as Aden, Berlin, England, Scotland, Gibraltar, Germany, Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Hong Kong. After leaving the Army Malcolm worked for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), a legal society in Edinburgh and, after a period of cancer, a hospice charity operating in Romania. He is now retired.