Mr. Castell, a director of the old Binnys, India, was a close friend of my grand uncle, Ambiappa (A). A wrote to him that he might like to get in touch with his grand nephew who was with the Royal Navy in London. Mr. Castell invited me to his club in Pall Mall near St. James in London. I was advised to wear formal clothes and present myself at the door at 8 PM. I duly landed at the club on time on a cold blustery London autumn evening and was ushered in. The dimly lit hall had deep upholstered chairs, in which old men were sunk deep reading newspapers or were simply dozing. The place was quite and solemn. Naturally there was not a single woman to be seen. Castell took me to dinner, a formal affair, with liveried footmen, printed menus and vintage wines. People spoke in whispers. I was properly deferential to my host, a contemporary of my grandfather. To my surprise, Castell turned out to be a delightful man with a fine sense of humor. He was also a fellow Wodehouse aficionado. I mentioned to him that his club reminded me of Lord Emsworths watering hole in London! He laughed and agreed. But he added I do not own a country estate and certainly do not rear prize-winning champion pigs! The rest of the evening passed off delightfully. We hit of very well. Castell offered me a covenanted officers appointment in Binnys, if I could get out of the Navy. It was a prized job in the early sixties. Of course, the question did not arise with a permanent commissioned officer. In the event Binnys went down in India. I was better off staying on in the Navy. PG Wodehouse brought us together and helped us to spend a delightful evening.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 09:51:10 +0000
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