A short note on Susan Naug Rochat’s childhood
September 23, 2010
Danielle, you ask many questions! One day I will write up my life history and send it to you! Basic answers to your questions; Read if you are interested, if not send on to your Mom, or your siblings. This has almost become a documentary!
My parents, siblings and I lived in India in the Railway town of Khargpur, 72 miles southwest from Calcutta. I went to a hill station boarding school for ten years from age 5 to 15 with my brother and sister. The school was about 1000 miles from home, a 2 night and 3 day train ride from Calcutta, where my parents put us on the train with one large trunk each, filled with our clothes for the year. My mother would spend several weeks sorting, packing and mending clothes for us to take. Several girls and boys from the same school joined us on that train, plus a couple of chaperones. Since both my parents worked for the Bengal/Nagpur Railway, we had free train passes each way, plus they would give free passes to the chaperones. After getting off the train, we would take a bus for about 20 miles, going back and forth around hairpin curves around the mountains, and my twin cousins would consistently turn green and be puking out the windows! Once we got off the bus several coolies would strap those heavy trunks on their backs and walked up the rest of the way to our schools, maybe another 2-3 miles? I don’t know how they did it. They were short but very sturdy people, used to the elevation and mountain air. , Sherwood College, the boys’ school, was about 2-3 miles apart from All Saints, the girls’ school. Run by an Anglican headmistress, the school had mostly Indian teachers. They were all very strict. Food was pretty rough, porridge, more like a gruel, in the mornings maybe an egg every so often with a piece of toast, but we survived. I don’t remember much about the lunch or evening meals, probably because they were pretty bad. I do remember that if we had something that we could not tolerate, under the table it would go. The cleanup crew had their work cut out for them on a daily basis! Wrote letters home weekly, but I am sure they were screened. I believe we had Chapel every day, Study Hall every night. Took piano lessons, studied French, English Literature (lots of Shakespeare). Grammar, English History, Botany, Hindi, Indian history, (never got to Indian Independence though!) Geography, Math, which I was always lousy at, and Bible, mostly New Testament. I vividly remember our Bible teacher going over Acts with us and Paul's Three Missionary Journeys. We stood up when the teacher entered the room and said all together,” Good morning Miss Compton,” or whoever it was. We were very respectful of the teachers. They had us in their grip! We were there for nine months without parents to complain to, so we had better behave! No gum chewing (of course we did not have any gum), or slouching in our desks as we found when we moved to Peoria, Illinois a few years later. The whole education revolved around taking our Senior Cambridge exams in our 10th or 11th year of study. I was proud and happy to get a 1st division. Senior Cambridge is an exam given by the Brits, and secretly sent out to various schools teaching the British curriculum at the end of the School year. Don't know if it still exists.
My parents sacrificed to send us there, but the climate was a whole lot better, and we got a very good education. We left home in March, usually right after Easter, and stayed till early December, except for the” Senior “girls who were studying for the big Exams. We were often homesick, but no one was going to put up with whiny children. You had better get over it and go with the flow, or you would get called to the Headmistresses office. Not having gotten into that much trouble, I do not know what happened in there! I know that in the Boys School they were whacked with a long stick or a belt. I think my brother probably got his fair share of spankings. Brothers and cousins were allowed to come and visit us on Brother’s Sunday, maybe every other weekend. We had Chapel together every Sunday, boys on one side, girls on the other, and there was a lot of ogling, giggling and whispering going on, and maybe some secret note passing back and forth. The boys could walk us back to school, with chaperones, and some of us held hands! That was the extent of our relationships! We would also send letters back and forth through the day school girls, whose parents were teachers at the Boys School. We had secret code names, so if the letter was intercepted by a teacher, they could not prove who wrote it. My name was Debbie, and my boyfriend’s name was Eddie. You are probably too young to remember the Hollywood star struck lovers, Debbie and Eddie Fisher who eventually split because he married the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor! The shame of it!
Our parents, Bob and Ollie Naug, were both employed by the Railway, as mentioned earlier, my mother was a stenographer/typist, my Dad a Railway foreman in charge of train repairs. They were middle class Anglo Indians; you can look that up if you want to. You can also look up Naini Tal on Google? It is about 7000 ft. up, in the foothills of the Himalayas, bordering Nepal. We had two cousins of the king of Nepal who attended the School. They had to be carried in by palanquin because there were no drivable roads to Naini Tal. We had out of building toilets, so we had to be sure to go to the bathroom before bed, as it was a scary trek with wild animals like cheetahs and leopards on the prowl looking for small children! Maybe I am making up that last statement, but large wild animals did come onto the campus. I remember bathrooms being elsewhere, and being scared to death to go out there by myself at night. My sister, Sherrill, 2.5 years younger, would come to my bed almost every night because she felt alone and wanted company, I guess. Never did ask her why! Showers two or three times a week, maybe they were basin baths, can’t remember, and those were in the dorm. The whole school was divided into teams for after school activities like track, and other athletic activities. I was the captain of my team and a fairly decent runner. We also had Elocution contests, and I remember reciting LOCHINVAR. Think I won a prize for that! All Saints only had about 100-125 girls, and we had a School nurse, mean as can be, and a dorm mother, just a little better than the nurse!
In 1957 or ‘58, when China invaded Tibet, the Dalai Llama age 12 or 13 at the time, and several hundred monks fled to India. We were awakened by the teachers and told to come and stand by the school gate. This was an historic moment in Tibet’s history. India donated some land for the Dalai Llama and his monks in another hill station, and they were walking right by our school very early that morning. We watched in awe and silence at this solemn entourage who were leaving their home forever to live in another land with a different culture. Roger and I have been to hear the Dalai Llama speak here in Atlanta on two or three occasions. He is an esteemed distinguished professor here at Emory, and comes to give lectures which are always very well attended. He has a great sense of humor, well educated, soft spoken, and always delightful. I have wondered if he remembers that day, but for him it was probably one of several days of walking through mountains, and he might not remember that specific occasion. He is now about my age, in his mid 60s.
Let’s see, what else did you want to know?! I have almost certainly given you more information than you really wanted, but it has been good for me to jog my memory a bit. We came to the USA in 1960. My parents had applied for immigration visas right after my sister’s birth in 1946. They, like so many others wanted to give their children educational and job opportunities in America. In 1960 they were cleared to immigrate, and we came via an Italian vessel, the ROMA, in December, from Bombay to England (via the Suez Canal) where we had a number of relatives, and hung out there for a month or so. That part of the trip took a couple of weeks, and my Uncle Herbert, Esme’s husband stayed down below deck due to a terrible case of seasickness. The rest of us enjoyed the trip. I almost drowned in the ship’s pool, not knowing how to swim and jumping in anyway, but a hulky Russian boy saved me! I could have kissed him; maybe I did, but I was too breathless! Another man, about 30+ kept trying to be my friend(?), and would bring me a box of chocolates every other day.( My family encouraged me, as they were all enjoying the chocolates !) I was 15 at this point. Several Italian sailors would come around pinching us girls. Troublemakers, these Italian sailors! An aunt that had preceded us to the US and had sponsored us, as you had to have a sponsor who is willing to take you in till you find a job and become responsible for your life and that of your family. Our aunt lived in Peoria, Illinois. We came from England on another boat, the Queen Elizabeth, and arrived in NY sometime in April passing by the Statue of Liberty. We all cheered! We were so happy to finally be arriving in the country that my parents had talked about ever since we could remember; the land of freedom, the land of the free and the brave. We loved the Americans that we had met in India. They were so kind, so much fun, they laughed and joked a lot, they were the friendliest people on earth. Our dream was finally coming true; we wanted to become Americans! The UK /USA trip took about ten days. (It takes 5 days today). We almost did not clear the health check, as the authorities kept saying that my Mom looked like she was ill, maybe a respiratory infection? Or maybe there was a questionable chest xray. Don’t remember, but Sherrill might! She is the family memory bank.
Upon arrival in New York, we boarded a Greyhound bus for Peoria, and were greeted by our now Yankee cousins with these very strange, twangy American accents. They had been in the USA for about 5 or 6 years already. We stayed with our Aunt Emmie, my mother’s older sister, and Sherrill and I both started High School, since we did not have anything else to do, and to get accustomed to the American Way! My parents found jobs, though they were more menial than they were used to. (My brother Steve had come alone 4 years earlier, and had completed his High School diploma by then.) The American Way was indeed different for us. The students were friendly, but asked us some strange questions like “Did you live in a tree house?” They had some weird ideas about India. They were astonished that we could read and write, sometimes better than them! They also slouched in their chairs, chewed gum, held hands walking down the halls, and no one stood up when the teacher entered the room! WHOA!! Since I had finished High School in India, but was still too young to enter Nursing School, I spent another year at the same school. We went to football games and never did get the hang of it. I started dating a cute redhead, but when he asked me to the prom, I decided that was it, since I could not dance. Baptists don’t dance, which I think is a shame. They also do not go to movies, and they don’t drink. Some of those “Thou shalt nots” are not biblically based. I think King David danced a lot, in praise of God’s goodness and graciousness to him. Jesus blessed the wine at the wedding in Cana. Sometimes we get carried away with rules and thou shalt nots, and it turns others off. I feel that I am not as well rounded as I could have been if my parents and the church had not been so strict. I think I had enough good values instilled at an early age, that I could have decided as a teenager when something was right, and when it was wrong. We stayed with my aunt and her husband for 6 months, then moved into our own house. It was too hard staying with relatives; we needed our own space!
We also attended a Baptist church with my parents in Peoria. It had several German families, some of whom had immigrated just like us. They were quite intrigued by our brown skins, but they were very kind and friendly. Our Sunday School teacher, Judge Stone, was happy to have some new kids in his class who knew some scripture and would answer questions! We could not understand why these kids would not answer. Maybe they thought it was not cool to do so, I don’t know. I remember one time when Sherrill and I were asked to sing a duet, she sang soprano, and I was the alto. We were singing “Fairest Lord Jesus”; do you know that hymn? Somehow I got sidetracked from singing alto to singing in another key, and we both started giggling so hard we had to stop. Our German audience was not pleased; in fact I think they were shocked! I don’t think they ever asked us to sing again. My sister has a beautiful voice, and continued with music in College, and married Mike Morris who majored in Music and taught Chorale for 40 years both in High School and for Church choirs. This was the church where Uncle Roger and I got married 6 years later.
This document, which was supposed to be concise and to the point, is now getting too long and may be too boring, so will quit for now. Mel just called and is in the ER with a lacerated knee, about three inches. She went to get stitches, and has been waiting there for 2.5 hours without being seen. Hope all is well with you. Will continue the story if you are interested at a later date. Feel free to pass this on to your siblings so they will know a little more about the strange woman that their Uncle Roger married 44 years ago!
With love,
Aunt Susan
PS Mel got 16 stiches in her right knee, OUCH! They have place a board under her knee so she can’t move it so the stiches stay in. She will have to figure out how to get to work now. Fortunately she has the day off today. Love to the family, Aunt Susan
Oct 7, 2010 Dani to Susan
Thanks so much for such a wonderful documentary! I really loved reading it, but only had a chance to sit down to read it today! Sorry for the delay, and yes-- if you have more to share, I would love to hear. You must write a book. It would be great! Otherwise your history will die-- and it's so very interesting!
This is all so different from our culture! Going away for 9 months to study-- is way different than what many do now-- homeschooling... but it sounds like you had a wonderful education inspite of all the difficulties! Education here in Brazil is very bad, unless you pay a lot every month to put your kids in a private school.
I think I vaguely remember meeting your parents. Did I really? Or have I just heard about them so much that I think I met them? Wow, how special that you went on a boat to America. Really exciting things you went through!
I researched Nainital. What a beautiful place! Is that where your parents lived? or where your School was?... Wait, you said your parents lived in Khargbur, so this must be where the school was. It's a beautiful city!
I tried to research this Lochnivar--- Is it this that you recited? http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/Scott.Lochinvar.html
Maybe that's why you're such a great poet. I've always been facinated with poetry too. But was never stimulated to memorize many poems... I think it's so neat when one can recite much poetry, though. Now in this country with portuguese, I have less a desire to memorise, as nobody will understand :-) And memorizing in Portuguese is difficult for me!
About the Italians on the ship--IT seems like Italians haven't changed much since then till now! When I went to Italy with Bethany in 2000, oh my... those Italians were trying to hang all over us. It was terrible... Bethany was good with her scary glare... But I was a little bit too innocent, and made a couple bad decisions on that trip! Oh my...just gives me the chills to think about it!
Thats funny about the 30 yr old giving you chocolates. What did you think? Did you think, "Oh, leave me alone! " or you liked the chocolates too? The first man interested in me was 32, when I was 18... and he gave me a box of chocolates... I gave it to my mom--and she was happy too :-) ha ha! And guess what... he was Italian! He wanted to marry me, but I told him to get a life with another wife!
About dancing--I think it's fine, as long you are with the right crowd, and the right music! There are some very beautiful dances...some very nice ones! It's fun to dance right--it's an art too...
I'm Amazed the Americans were disrespectful in the schools when you were there... imagine now. It's much worse than!
What happened to Melanie? why did she get stitches? How is she now?
So... I'd better go, the baby woke up some minutes ago, and I've been letting her cry while I finish writing..otherwise it could take me another week! I have to find time to read Mom's letters about Alaska now :-) I can't wait!
Love,