Nostalgia marks Kundan Vidya Mandir’s alumni meet

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 19

Eyes turned moist with gratitude when 90-year-old Raj Rani who served water to students for 38 years came up on stage during the alumni meet at Kundan Vidya Mandir to commemorate its 75th year.

The grownup children could not help but recalled good-old days at the school and felt nostalgic, emotional and elated to be back to school, years after they passed out.

“I remember how lovingly she used to serve us water,” said an alumna from the audience.

Peons and accountants were also honoured on the occasion.

The applause got louder as Principals of the school including 88-year-old BR Mariya, Kamla Jain, Col DB Sharma, I Kumar, SC Saxena, Vijay Gupta came up on stage.

“We have had some of the great Principals at the school hence it was great to honour them,” a teacher said. Several veteran teachers of the school were also honoured.

A skit by teachers, a mimicry of popular teachers, who were present in the audience, sent everyone in splits of laughter.

Sham Chand from 1951 batch sang a song, while some alumni including Ritika, who passed out of the school 20 years ago, said she still felt part of the school.

Dr Vikas Jindal recited a poem reminiscing the school days, which most of the alumni related to and applauded several times.

Several alumni who had achieved a mark in their respective fields, including Harjot Kaur who is working as an adviser to the World Bank, international-level shooter Aditi Sewak, MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, among others were also honoured on the occasion.

Alumna speaks: Strategic adviser to WB says Indians respected in Afghanistan

Ludhiana: Indians are highly respected in Afghanistan because of the good work done by Indian doctors in the country, said Harjot Kaur (in pic), Strategic Adviser to the World Bank for Improvement of Education in Afghanistan. An alumna of Kundan Vidya Mandir, Kaur is a civil servant of 1992 batch. She is the only international adviser to the World Bank for the improvement of education in Afghanistan. She came to the city to attend the alumni meet. She said while working as a civil servant, she applied for a project regarding education in Afghanistan. After this, she was given another assignment by the World Bank. She has also worked with the United Nations and is posted in Kabul for the past seven years now. She said: "Education is improving despite various challenges in the society. There has been a lot of improvement in educational scenario, as about 14,000 schools have been opened with the help of international aid. "She has also been working in some key areas including school infrastructure, school curriculum and teacher training, in addition to several other projects. She is also working on social mobilisation, child labour issues and protection of children. "It is difficult to change the mindset of people for female education in rural areas than in cities, just as it is in India," she said. "Patriarchy is deeply entrenched in the social system there," she said. "You are identified with the country you come from and I feel good that I am bringing a positive change in their lives as an Indian," she said. Apart from the good work done by Indian doctors, the Indian government is also helping in improvement of education by offering scholarships to Afghan students. Asked why she opted to go and work in a strife-torn country leaving a good job here, she said despite it being challenging, it had also been gratifying to make a positive difference in people’s lives.