Hyderabad: St Paul’s School in Hyderguda was a scene of great emotion, nostalgia and comic relief on Wednesday, as the school alumni of the 1972 batch turned up in school uniforms, wearing a name tag, albeit with grey hair and senior citizen status, for a golden jubilee reunion
Back in time: The young batch of 1972
Teachers who had taught the batch, long retired, also turned up in wheelchairs and other support to attend the reunion.
“This batch is one of our favourite batches. We are feeling as if we are meeting our own children after so many years. Each one has become a successful citizen in society,” one of the teachers said on the occasion.
As many as 65 students of the 108-strong batch were in attendance on Wednesday. They went to the classroom, answered their roll call and cracked inside jokes from their school days. One student also returned a duster to a teacher, reminding the teacher that they had thrown it at them during a class. Several of the alumni flew in from the USA, UK, UAE, Pune, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
65 students of the 108-strong batch were in attendance on Wednesday. They went to the classroom, answered their roll call and cracked inside jokes from their school days.
The batch announced that they would raise funds every year to award one all-rounder outgoing student with a cash prize of Rs 10,000. They also remembered classmates and teachers who they lost over the years.
The reunion was the cherry atop the school’s cake of achievements, after it received the ‘Best School Award’ from the Telangana government, Telangana State Christian Finance Corporation of the minorities welfare department, last week. The award for the school, established in 1955, was conferred by minorities minister Koppula Eshwar in the presence of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. School principal Reverend Brother Sudhakar Reddy credited the management, staff, students and alumni for the award.
Veera Reddy, an alumnus who was in attendance on Wednesday, said, “To mark our success, for which this institution and the teacher are responsible, we are felicitating seven of the teachers who taught us.”
Another alumnus, Naresh Reddy, said, “Each student has a success story and each one was shaped with a great foundation.”
Uday Kumar Naidu, a third alumnus of the 1972 batch, said, “Those days, we did not have much infrastructure; present students are lucky enough. Those days, we had more time to invest in sports.”
A fourth alumnus, Devender Reddy, said, “In the twin cities, in those days, there were only a few good schools, including St Ann’s, Methodist Boys High School, St George’s High School, All Saints and St Paul’s. We were fortunate to get admission to this school.”
T. Shesh Narayan, a fifth alumnus, said, “I became a mechanical engineer as well as played cricket for our state. This school taught us to balance our time and priorities, which gave us opportunity to concentrate on education as well being active in extra-curricular activities.” Teachers who taught the batch were also a jubilant lot.
Social Studies teacher Sakina Mirza said, “In those days, students were understanding and used to take part in discussions and debates with an open mind. In the 1969 Telangana agitation, students used to go out, sit in protest outside the gate for some time and the return to classes.”
English teacher Maisy Diamond said, “This batch of students was active and busy in all activities as they know how to utilise time properly. When the examinations got closer, they used to get serious over studies.”
Science and Mathematics teacher Katie Madora said, “I joined in 1965 as soon as I was out of college. I had a tough time in handling the students. Whenever I used to complain, the principle used to console me that there was no dull student and that we have to teach them properly. In those days, teachers had more responsibility towards shaping students.”
Telugu teacher Veddhi Reddy Varreddy said, “These students are like our children. They were always obedient. We are so thrilled to meet them after 50 years.” After the reunion on the school premises, the alumni left for a resort in Chilkur.
