As I got into my car, about to leave , I heard the roar of students to the tune of liting music. This was the customary celebration post the Annual Day 2015 of BSP Senior Secondary School, Sector-10 (SSS-10), Bhilai, which I just witnessed as a guest for the first time.
A year after I had joined SSS-10, we had coined the title ABHIVYANJAN for the Annual Day function of the school. A Sanskrit term, it means 'a bouquet of maulti-faceted offerings'. Till then, the function was called Annual Prize-Giving Day. We thought we needed to have a proper title for it. So suggestions were invited from students and teachers. After going through many short and sweet titles, we settled for this rather long but all encompassing one, which in a way is a bouquet of a variety of facets and talent - academic and co-curricular achievements and cultural presentations, apart from the exhibition of of scientific models/charts, and a new section on Humanities introduced in 2014.
The highlight for ABHIVYANJANA-2015, for me was that Deepita Keshari, a Humanities student had topped the school known famously for the IIT toppers that it has produced , particularly in the 1980s. This year, Deepita with 95.40% marks created a new high, so to speak.
Just before the start of the programme, which was delayed on account f the Chief Guest's urgent meeting at Raipur, I had a look around. One of teh teachers commented that the soul of the school was missing, hinting at my recent transfer from education department to CSR. To this I quipped that I had come in search of my own soul which resides in this school.
My 14-month stay in the school was arguably the best part of my career. And it will always remain that way all my life. If I had not come from an industry background, perhaps I would have retired from here as Principal. So every I go to SSS-10, goose-bumps strike me. Oh! What a time I had there!
Just a week before my first annual function at SSS-10, it had rained heavily. In a hurry, we had to shift the programme to the Multi-Purpose Hall (M P Hall). With a capacity of not more than 500, the M.P. Hall was choc-a-bloc. Everyone was sweating in the second week fo December, not that it is winter-time in Bhilai even otherwise.
The cherry on the cake was the post-programme celebration with some background music with students on stage, a practice I did get to be part of when I returned to teh Education department in 2013.
But the function I missed the most was the one in 2012, when I had been transferred to Delhi. While one teacher messaged me to fly down to Bhilai for a day, another one called so that I could listen t the Saraswati Vandana at the start of the programme. I had tears in my eyes. The students and teachers had shed tears a day prior to that during the Childrens' Day Function when my message was read out.
What a bouquet of memories!
A year after I had joined SSS-10, we had coined the title ABHIVYANJAN for the Annual Day function of the school. A Sanskrit term, it means 'a bouquet of maulti-faceted offerings'. Till then, the function was called Annual Prize-Giving Day. We thought we needed to have a proper title for it. So suggestions were invited from students and teachers. After going through many short and sweet titles, we settled for this rather long but all encompassing one, which in a way is a bouquet of a variety of facets and talent - academic and co-curricular achievements and cultural presentations, apart from the exhibition of of scientific models/charts, and a new section on Humanities introduced in 2014.
The highlight for ABHIVYANJANA-2015, for me was that Deepita Keshari, a Humanities student had topped the school known famously for the IIT toppers that it has produced , particularly in the 1980s. This year, Deepita with 95.40% marks created a new high, so to speak.
Just before the start of the programme, which was delayed on account f the Chief Guest's urgent meeting at Raipur, I had a look around. One of teh teachers commented that the soul of the school was missing, hinting at my recent transfer from education department to CSR. To this I quipped that I had come in search of my own soul which resides in this school.
My 14-month stay in the school was arguably the best part of my career. And it will always remain that way all my life. If I had not come from an industry background, perhaps I would have retired from here as Principal. So every I go to SSS-10, goose-bumps strike me. Oh! What a time I had there!
Just a week before my first annual function at SSS-10, it had rained heavily. In a hurry, we had to shift the programme to the Multi-Purpose Hall (M P Hall). With a capacity of not more than 500, the M.P. Hall was choc-a-bloc. Everyone was sweating in the second week fo December, not that it is winter-time in Bhilai even otherwise.
The cherry on the cake was the post-programme celebration with some background music with students on stage, a practice I did get to be part of when I returned to teh Education department in 2013.
But the function I missed the most was the one in 2012, when I had been transferred to Delhi. While one teacher messaged me to fly down to Bhilai for a day, another one called so that I could listen t the Saraswati Vandana at the start of the programme. I had tears in my eyes. The students and teachers had shed tears a day prior to that during the Childrens' Day Function when my message was read out.
What a bouquet of memories!
