“‘Chikkotee’ culled from?”

My letter "Chikkotee culled from?” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, June 7, 2006) has evoked a response from Rusi Dotiwala who was a boarder, like me, in Billimoria High School, Panchgani.

I thought that I would tap the source where this word ‘chikkotee’ was often used, i.e. the above boarding school. I, therefore, wrote letters to the two brothers, Burjorji and Rustomji Billimoria, who were joint principals of the school, enquiring whether they could throw any light on the word ‘chikkotee.’ Burjorji has replied stating, "Perhaps it is just an onomatopoeic word imitating the sound of the smack given on the bare back.”

At the ripe old age of 93 years Burjorji has still an agile mind, command over English and, from his response to my few queries, I have found that he has a clear, sharp memory of persons and events that took place about five to six decades ago.

BHIKHAJI M. ADENWALLA