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CHARLIE'S BOYS
'After all, we are and will always be Charlie's Boys.'
Everyone looks back on their schooldays with affection and nostalgia-even if it seemed like torture while they were still at school! After all, if there were strict teachers, punishing schedules, the ordeal of waking up early to reach in time, there were also escapades with friends, bunking classes, pranks, 'birdwatching' and other kinds of fun.
Ajay Jain is no exception. In this memoir, he looks back on his days at one of Delhi's best-known schools, the all-boys' institution, St. Columba's. He talks about teachers or 'brothers' good and bad, fights with fellow students or those from other schools, sneaking out to cinemas or markets, school trips, checking out girls from the neighbouring girls' school and all other experiences typical for a student in the 1980s. And of course, Charlie, who was a fundamental part of his school experience.
Who was Charlie? Only Columbans know the answer to this!
Hilarious yet heart-warming, nostalgic yet naughty, Charlie's Boys will take you back to your schooldays. Go back to your own school. And experience the same sentiment, the same resurgence, the same catharsis Ajay Jain has.
Everyone looks back on their schooldays with affection and nostalgia-even if it seemed like torture while they were still at school! After all, if there were strict teachers, punishing schedules, the ordeal of waking up early to reach in time, there were also escapades with friends, bunking classes, pranks, 'birdwatching' and other kinds of fun.
Ajay Jain is no exception. In this memoir, he looks back on his days at one of Delhi's best-known schools, the all-boys' institution, St. Columba's. He talks about teachers or 'brothers' good and bad, fights with fellow students or those from other schools, sneaking out to cinemas or markets, school trips, checking out girls from the neighbouring girls' school and all other experiences typical for a student in the 1980s. And of course, Charlie, who was a fundamental part of his school experience.
Who was Charlie? Only Columbans know the answer to this!
Hilarious yet heart-warming, nostalgic yet naughty, Charlie's Boys will take you back to your schooldays. Go back to your own school. And experience the same sentiment, the same resurgence, the same catharsis Ajay Jain has.
294 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 10, 2025
Charlie’s Boys by Ajay Jain really took me by surprise. I picked it up expecting a light school memoir, but it turned out to be so much more. The author walks us through every class from KG to 12th, and each story has a funny moment and a small life lesson. It felt like listening to a friend narrate childhood memories.
One thing I really loved is how he mixes his personal stories with actual events from those years, Emergency, Janata Party, Sarkari Cola, PM assassinations, riots, the arrival of Nintendo and computers, colour TV, VHS, telephones, the Janta Dal era, the Mandal Commission… the list goes on. Plus little references like Rakesh Sharma going to space, Attenborough shooting Gandhi’s funeral, Sholay, Jai Santoshi Maa, the Coolie accident. All these things made the book feel super real, almost like I was living in that time.
What stands out most is how brutally honest the author is. He doesn’t hide anything, getting beaten, stealing money, peeing in his pants, being terrible at sports, dropping pencils for naughty reasons, checking out girls, and the pressure from family that influenced his decisions. It’s refreshing because most people don’t talk about these things openly.
The school nostalgia is spot-on. Cricket cards, school trips, singing in buses, bursting crackers on Diwali, buying kamrak and groundnuts, so many tiny things I had completely forgotten about. These parts were just pure fun.
But the book isn’t only about nostalgia. He talks about serious stuff too, teacher salaries, parents interfering too much, school uniforms making everyone equal, secularism inside a Christian school, the regret of not meeting his old teacher, students picking a career at the age of 15, and how the education system became so commercial. These chapters hit hard in a good way.
The unexpected mentions of Rahul Gandhi and Shah Rukh Khan made me sit up for a second, they were a fun surprise.
And finally… the whole Charlie reveal. I did NOT see that coming. Realising who Charlie was, and that I was basically one of “Charlie’s Boys” too, gave the book a very personal ending for me.
Overall, this book felt honest, nostalgic, funny, sad, and super relatable. Definitely not a perfect, filtered memoir, more like someone telling you the real story of growing up. And that’s exactly why I liked it.
One thing I really loved is how he mixes his personal stories with actual events from those years, Emergency, Janata Party, Sarkari Cola, PM assassinations, riots, the arrival of Nintendo and computers, colour TV, VHS, telephones, the Janta Dal era, the Mandal Commission… the list goes on. Plus little references like Rakesh Sharma going to space, Attenborough shooting Gandhi’s funeral, Sholay, Jai Santoshi Maa, the Coolie accident. All these things made the book feel super real, almost like I was living in that time.
What stands out most is how brutally honest the author is. He doesn’t hide anything, getting beaten, stealing money, peeing in his pants, being terrible at sports, dropping pencils for naughty reasons, checking out girls, and the pressure from family that influenced his decisions. It’s refreshing because most people don’t talk about these things openly.
The school nostalgia is spot-on. Cricket cards, school trips, singing in buses, bursting crackers on Diwali, buying kamrak and groundnuts, so many tiny things I had completely forgotten about. These parts were just pure fun.
But the book isn’t only about nostalgia. He talks about serious stuff too, teacher salaries, parents interfering too much, school uniforms making everyone equal, secularism inside a Christian school, the regret of not meeting his old teacher, students picking a career at the age of 15, and how the education system became so commercial. These chapters hit hard in a good way.
The unexpected mentions of Rahul Gandhi and Shah Rukh Khan made me sit up for a second, they were a fun surprise.
And finally… the whole Charlie reveal. I did NOT see that coming. Realising who Charlie was, and that I was basically one of “Charlie’s Boys” too, gave the book a very personal ending for me.
Overall, this book felt honest, nostalgic, funny, sad, and super relatable. Definitely not a perfect, filtered memoir, more like someone telling you the real story of growing up. And that’s exactly why I liked it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review