I was at ESS from 1964 to 1967. One of my favourite teachers was Mr Shant. He was such a simple but genuinely nice person and a good Punjabi teacher too. One of the best things I remember at school was running the one mile race on Sports Day in 1967. I came sixth out of 8 runners. This was when I decided to take up athletics in spite of suffering from bronchitis, which subsequently got completely cured.

I spent two years at Jamhuri doing my A Levels. I went to Bath University. They offered a sandwich course that allowed me to work and study - which helped me financially. Bath had an athletics team and I ran for them for 3 years .The type of atmosphere there was exemplified in the film ‘Chariots of Fire’. I qualified as an engineer in nuclear power but soon after the industry went into a tailspin, literally. So I joined a firm of building services engineers and then went to Manchester University to study for an MSc.

I am still working with no plans to retire yet. I am an active runner and have been a volunteer coach for Ealing Athletics Club, putting something back into the society. I have been to the Himalayas recently and did paragliding, river rafting and also tried skiing. Not bad for a 68 year-old!

I am married to Amarjit who works in forensics and we have two boys who are settled.

- As on 6th November 2019