Capper House where QMC started.

At 93, memories keep flooding back of Queen Mary’s College (QMC) as it celebrates its centenary. The years I remember are from 1937 to 1942, momentous years with World War II raging and the freedom struggle and Quit India movement gathering strength.

Queen Mary’s College for women had as its neighbour Presidency College for men and women. The only other women’s college at the time was Women’s Christian College (WCC). Students who graduated from Queen Mary’s and who wished to pursue postgraduate or honours studies could stay in Queen Mary’s Hostel. There was a college bus which would take them in the morning and bring them back in the evening. The bus would also take us to various matches, like basketball, tennis, etc, we used to play against WCC and bring us back. We would sing all the way and back the refrain “Queen Marians never die, never die, they only fade away.”

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As you entered the gates of QMC the first building was Capper House where the College started. The three main buildings on the right were Pentland, Jeypore and Stone. The ground floor of Capper House had classrooms, which had galleries where the students sat while the professor, sitting in a chair with a table in front of her on a small platform, delivered her lecture. There was a well-equipped library, a central hall with a stage on which plays were performed and where we held debates. We also had some small prayer rooms for different denominations. These were maintained by the students.

There was a Music Association which had an orchestra with 25 veenas. Music was one of the subjects you could take for your B.A. The ground floor central area had cane tables and chairs where students could receive visitors with prior permission given by their parents. The Principal had her quarters in the central portion on the first floor of Pentland. On either side there were double rooms for students, two to a room. Grace Soans and E.K. Padma shared a room facing the sea. Sathyabhama Reddy and I had the one behind.

It was the first time all of us were staying in a hostel. I could have been a day student, as my parents were staying in Madras, but my father insisted that I stay in the hostel to become independent and enjoy life. Looking back, they were the most wonderful years! To the left of Capper House there was group of single-storey buildings, except for one which had a first floor. The members of the staff stayed in these buildings. In the same complex was a small swimming pool. I am told it is no longer in use and is a rubbish dump!

The canteen had four sections. The European section, where spoons, forks and knives were used, was on the first floor of Capper House. The vegetarian section was on the ground floor and food was served on banana leaves there. The non-vegetarian and Brahmin sections were in a separate building.

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During the years we were there, Miss Myers was the Principal. When the Japanese joined the War, the College, which was fully painted white and a beautiful sight, could be seen from far, especially from planes flying high. So orders came from Government to paint it gray so that it would not be easily visible! The windowpanes were covered with gray paper! The military had few anti-aircraft guns. So all along the Marina beach, coconut palm trunks, cut to a particular size and painted black, were placed slanting in the hope that planes flying above would take them for anti-aircraft guns and keep away! Blackout was observed. Ditches were dug behind the college. One person on each floor was armed with a torch. She was the air raid warden. To prepare for an emergency we had mock air raids. Miss Myers used to sound a siren at an unearthly hour and the student warden with the torch would lead us down the stairs to jump into the ditches and wait till the all clear was sounded by Miss Myers. We then went back to our rooms.

Miss Myers decided to hold a War Fund Fete to collect money for the soldiers. The entire area in front of the college and also the lawn in front was made use of to house all types of stalls – lucky dip, throwing the arrow, selling clothes, eatables, coffee and cold drinks. Miss Myers encouraged us to set up whatever stall we liked, provided it made money!

In front of Capper House there was a pond with a fountain in the centre. Grace and I got permission to use the pond. Our stall was called “Ringing the duck”.

We bought four ducks from Moore Market and put them in the pond. We got some bamboo rings. Grace held the rings aloft, while I ran around shouting, “Four annas, three tries, double the money or the Duck.” I used to be known as “gun throat”! To our delight we lost only two ducks and collected a lot of money. Miss Myers was very happy.

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With Japan joining the War the situation was getting worse. We students had to learn First Aid and Home Nursing. Dr. Laksmi Swaminathan used to come and take classes for us. She was so beautiful that instead of concentrating on how to tie a bandage we were lost in wonder gazing at her! Soon she left for Singapore and then joined Subhas Bose’s Indian National Army. From then onwards she was known as Captain Lakshmi.

At the same time the struggle for freedom was being relentlessly pursued by Gandhiji and the Congress party. Gandhiji launched his ‘Quit India’ movement. Miss Myers with the cooperation of a few students made a huge “V” sign with seashells on the front lawn.

Some of us got together with iron pricks and hammers when lights were out, dug up the “V” sign and scattered it. Next morning, when Miss Myers saw what had happened, she was furious. She did make an effort to put it together again, but it didn’t work. She never discovered the ‘patriots’. Some of us who were “Quit India” enthusiasts cut classes and were seen on the streets in front of the Egmore Chief Presidency Magistrate’s court shouting “Inquilab Zindabad”. A few got arrested, my cousin Maya among them. They were all taken to the ‘Penitentiary’, where they were kept before being sent to various jails! This building was on the Marina and we went and visited our friends who had been arrested. We could view them through a small window which had iron bars covered with a net.

Miss Myers was finding it difficult to control the students who cut classes. She just signed the register and left. All she could do was to issue an ultimatum that gates would be locked by 6 p.m. The next step was to close the College except for those appearing for the final exams. We who were appearing for our public exams had a problem with having no lights to study. Lights were switched off by 9 p.m. Only the passage lights and bathroom lights were kept on, covered with gray paper. It was a problem for those of us appearing for the exam to study. So what we did was to get flasks full of coffee from the canteen before it closed, take our books and armed with flasks of coffee settled down to study in the passages, something we were not supposed to do. Around midnight or later we would suddenly hear loud footsteps stomping! We gathered our books and fled to our rooms! We knew it was our benevolent principal making enough noise to give us time to escape. Being caught meant the end of our studies.

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I finished my Master’s at Presidency in English language and Literature. It was during the time when Professor Aiyappen Pillai was the Head of the Department. There would be pin-drop silence when he entered the class in his flowing black gown. After our time, the Queen Mary’s College hostel was meant only for those studying in Queen Mary’s College and not for those who wished to study in Presidency. They were no longer allowed to stay there as authorities felt it disturbed the discipline and functioning of the college. A separate hostel was established for those going to Presidency College.