Page 79 - Leadership in the Indian Army

surname was recorded as Thimayya, his father’s name. The Irish brothers
were strict disciplinarians and believed in using the rod freely. The school
regimen was tough, the food bad and the living conditions uncomfortable.

Thimayya spent six years at St Joseph’s and his ordeal ended only when it
was discovered that a common form of punishment in the school was to
make the boys kneel on broken glass in the chapel. Thimayya never
complained, but when he went home during the holidays the cuts on his
knees told their own story. His shocked parents immediately decided to
remove the boys from St Joseph’s and send them to Bishop Cotton School
in Bangalore.

Bishop Cotton was a refreshing change from St Joseph’s. The living
conditions were better and the food good and plentiful. Discipline was
strict, but punishment was rare and inflicted in a humane manner, with a
few swipes of the cane being the most severe form. The teachers were
serious, but kind and pleasant. Thimayya was not very scholarly, but more
than made up for this with his proficiency in games and other activities. He

played hockey, football and tennis, and was a keen boy scout. He also
joined the Auxiliary Force and from this was born his attraction for the

army, which later turned into a passion. * He often saw khaki-clad columns
of British soldiers marching smartly, and he would follow them for miles on
his bicycle. By the time he left school at the age of 15, he had developed
into a tall and well-built lad, who had made up his mind to be a soldier.
In 1921 Thimayya finished school and left for the Prince of Wales Royal

Indian Military College (PWRIMC), which had just opened at Dehradun to
train Indian cadets for Sandhurst. The first batch of five Indians had joined
Sandhurst in January 1919, but only two had passed out. Though the quota
for each batch, starting every six months, was 10, the number of cadets who
qualified was always smaller and not all who joined passed out. In the first
two years only 15 cadets joined in four batches, and of these only eight

could graduate. It was noticed that the general standard of Indian applicants
was poor, primarily due to lack of education. Considering the difference in
education and background between British and Indian cadets, it was
decided to open a school in India, where prospective candidates for
Sandhurst could be prepared and groomed. It was for this purpose that the
PWRIMC was established in February 1922 at Dehradun. The first batch
was carefully selected and had only 32 cadets. Only one vacancy was

allotted to the Madras Area, which included Coorg. However, Thimayya