Dear Editor,

I felt sadness on Friday when I learned that Sushil Jain had passed away on Tuesday, October 10.

Mark you, I did not know the gentleman, but in 1981 I was in my second year of teaching French at Bishop Gibson High School in Mandeville. That year my students Michelle Burrell and Sophia Simpson placed first and eleventh in the Ailsa Foster Competition (competition for students in their second year of high school French). On the list of the top 15 students was a name that I have never forgotten: Alok Jain, who came seventh out of 289 students, if my memory serves me right.

Who was this guy?

I got my answer years later when Jain, and later Alok, appeared on the Ian Boyne-hosted Profile. I began to understand the family. Jain sent his son to Ardenne to the chagrin of his colleagues. (At the time, Ardenne was not yet the academic powerhouse that it is today, although it was already making a name for itself in French.)

Jain was willing to march to the beat of a different drummer. It seemed as if he was saying,”We instil values in Alok from home. He will succeed in any school.” I don’t think I’m wrong. He was married to Shashi for 51 years. What an example!

I extend sincere condolence to the entire Jain family.

Norman W M Thompson

Department of Humanities

Northern Caribbean University

Mandeville, Manchester

norman.thompson@ncu.edu.jm