‘Boff Heads’

Rewinding all the way back to the 1960s, to my school days.

Bishop Cotton School always had quite a few kids from Thailand and Singapore at all seniority levels.  A couple of them having joined as little tykes in the junior most classes who, like me, would still be struggling with tying our shoelaces.  Then there were others who had been despatched to the boarding when still wet behind the ears.  While a fair number of the kids were ethnic Thais, the bulk of them were kids of Indian descent whose grand parents had probably emigrated to Singapore or Thailand ages ago and who, by the time the boys were bunged off to school in Simla, had long established business interests in their respective countries of residence. 

While there were a couple of them who were not part of the same extended family, the bulk of the ‘Indian’ boys from both countries, each one of them sporting the common surname of ‘Pawa’ were obviously all descended from the same original emigrant family.

Having tried my best to dig out this information and having been unsuccessful in my efforts, all I know is that for whatever be the reason, in our school toilet paper went by the name of ‘BOFF‘. In all my years of travel I have never heard of toilet paper being referred to as ‘boff’ and accept that as being a peculiarity of BCS.  Habits die hard so that even to this day I unconsciously end up using the word which is always responded to with a ‘huh’!!

Within our lovely little melting pot of ethnicities we always had a fair sprinkling of Sikh lads of all ages.  As little kids, their long hair would be well oiled with the Linlithgow (the junior most dormitory) ayah braiding their locks into two pig-tails on either side of the head and weaving the two braids together behind the head, in a style similar to “Heidi Braids“.  As the young surdies grew somewhat older, the intermediary style before they matured into tying a regular turban, was a small ‘jura’ on the top of the head which was enveloped by a handkerchief  being held in place by a rubber-band.  All very normal and well accepted.

It was probably in 1967 that we had the first Namdhari Sikh boy from Thailand joining school in a fairly senior class.  The fellow had his head covered in the regular Namdhari style turban which is all of 9 yards of a thin white cloth wound around the head in the form of a roll.  Who could ever blame the more senior boys promptly labelling him as ‘Boff-head’!  This first Namdhari who’s surname was ‘Narula’, turned out to be a pioneer of sorts, being the precursor of a steady stream of Narula boys from various branches of what must have been a very large extended family.  The next Narula who followed was, without a second thought, christened as ‘Boff-head II’.  Which categorization continued with only the suffix number advancing to the next with each new entrant.

By the time we had moved on to ‘Boff-head VI’ and word of the nomenclature having likely filtered down to the family back home in Thailand, the headmaster Goldy (Maj R K von Goldstein) was visited by one of the Narula elders who was apparently very peeved off by the fact that his progeny and other youngsters of the family were spoken off as what he felt was a derogatory word for their turbans.  Goldy, we were told by the bursar who was present during the meeting, conveyed to the gentlemen that this being school boy banter with some boys sporting much worse ‘titles’ over which he had no control he assured elder Mr Narula that he would have a word with the boys.

Goldy ever true to his word followed through on his word to Mr Narula!  Called in the School and House Captains and told them, with his trademark twinkle in his eyes, that would they please spread the word around that would the boys kindly refrain from referring to the toilet paper lads as “Boff-Heads“!!