BANGALORE: When 85-year-old Rupert T Menaud walks into the Taj Vivanta Hotel in Trinity Circle on Saturday (November 19), holding his daughter Karen-Ruth Meneaud’s hands, to receive a rare honour; he will probably carry priceless memories of an era, often seen by you and me in Sepia colours. Rupert is a World War-II veteran. He also is the oldest living Baldwinian, and the alumni are honouring him during a special reunion in the presence of N Achutha Rao, Director General and Inspector General of Police, Karnataka and Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Zone) M Chandrashekar. There will be music, wine and dance, all dipped in emotion and sandwiched between stories.He along with his friends from Baldwin Boys’ School were picked up every Sunday by a military truck and dropped at the Garrison Military Church (now called as Trinity Church) for their choir class. “We got four Annas every Sunday,” recalls the 6.2-feet-long, trim and handsome Rupert when City Express caught up with him at his abode on Gospel Street in Thomas Town.Rupert’s story is inspiring in many ways as he was hired by the Royal Air Force during the WW-II. “It was 1943 and I just finished plus two. WW-II was waging and I saw an recruitment advertisement in Madras Mail English daily. It was held at Bezwada (now Vijayawada) and after hiring, we were trained at Jalahalli for three months. My first posting was at the Air Gunnery Training School in Bhopal as an aircraftman,” he said, even as he captured images from the past with such ease, clarity and speed. "I have a good memory, you know,” he added. When the war became history, his brothers returned to the UK and the young Rupert, then 22, decided to make a safe landing. He jumped on to a rail wagon, straight from air! “For every year of War service, we were given one year of railway service. I joined the Indian Railway at Rajahmundry as a fireman and was promoted as a ‘Special A Grade’ driver over the years,” he said. He drove them for long 39 years, graduating from trains running on steam and diesel to electricity, untill his retirement in 1984. His route: Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada, Vijayawada-Madras.On Rupert’s VVIP guest lists are former Presidents Fakhruiddin Ali Ahmed and V V Giri. “In 1972, Fakhruddin came to inaugurate the second Godavari rail-cum-road. After the event, he called us to his salon (coach) for a cup of tea. He greeted us and said, 'Well done’. Today’s trains are much faster, you know,” he said. With the same swiftness, he changed tracks to his memories of school. “I was a good boy, who loved racing pigeons. I was caught once for throwing stones at a colonel’s house to see his pigeons fly all over my head.” He now stays with his daughter Karen, who says her father loves country music, simple food and plays around with their one-month old kitten Miget.
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