Points of Leverage – the power of St Michael and Playboy!

I learnt a very valuable lesson as a teenager on VSO...

My interest in chemistry waning, and inspired by a visiting 'old boy' who'd spent a year on the Solomon Islands, I had decided to apply for VSO and defer my place at Oxford for a year.  With a vision of grass skirts and coconuts vividly in my mind when I completed the form, I specified “small tropical island” in the preferred location box.

A military public school in India was not the anticipated posting but I set off full of the spirit of adventure.  On arrival at the school it quickly became clear that there was some significant clash of expectations between a headstrong 18 year old full of the freedoms of the sixties and the rigid regime of an Army dominated school with rules and harsh punishments for any transgressions by the cadets.  I felt it my 'duty' to compare and contrast the life of a teenager in the UK and that experienced by the cadets and wrote a number of articles for the school newspaper which did nothing to endear me to the principal.  The situation was compounded by my failure to

follow all aspects of the weekly orders circulated to the staff - including the dress code.  My blue wool suit was not the most comfortable attire for the hot afternoon sun and my privileges started to disappear!  At weekends, I'd started to take parties of boys out on trips to the surrounding areas. It gave them a break from the cantonment and me chance to explore more of local life.  A requisition signed by one of the four section masters was the essential piece of documentation to get transport, food and other support from the Adjutant.  These proved increasingly difficult to come by and events came to a head at the end of the first term when my army issue bicycle was withdrawn on security grounds.  I was in the habit of leaving it unlocked outside my room at night and not enquiring too closely as to who had borrowed it as long as it was returned by daybreak!

I spent the period over Christmas in Delhi reflecting upon whether I was going to go home early or go back and adopt a less overt challenge to the College hierarchy.  I chose the latter and the British Council kindly shipped me up a bicycle from Delhi.  At last the rigidity of the rules were working in my favour as the bicycle was “British Government” property and hence outside the jurisdiction of the college. Recognising that the Section Masters were key to getting the resources to give the cadets the joy of the weekend treks, I sought out ways to influence them. 

Fortunately, three of them had all spent some time in the UK, on teaching experience funded by the British Council, and were committed Anglophiles.  In one of my many evening discussions I commented on the disparity between the current attitude to sex, where Indian films and magazines could not even show couples kissing, and the historical perspective, where many of the temples had very explicit carvings of activities that I was still unfamiliar with - in spite of my liberated 60’s upbringing.  Shortly afterwards two of them discretely made it known that they had enjoyed reading men’s magazines such as Playboy and Mayfair whilst in the UK and greatly regretted their unavailability in India.  At last a point of leverage! – I had my parents secrete a copy in the bottom of the goody parcels that they use to send out to me on regular occasions.  The arrival of such parcels was always an eagerly anticipated event and somehow I managed to time their arrival with the need to get a chitty signed for the next adventure!

One of the other section masters had different motivations – he waxed lyrical about the wonders of Marks and Spencers, in particular, their legendary underwear.  The promise of the St Michael labels from my underwear when I left had a similar magical effect in getting chitties signed.

I came back to England a far wiser and more mature young man with the understanding that has helped me in many situations – challenging the system head-on can often leave you battered and bruised and not able to always achieve your objectives.  Yet, find a point of leverage with an individual able to facilitate your goals - however bizarre - and success is much more likely.