Celebrations to mark 75 years of YPS-Patiala

Aman Sood

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Patiala, January 30

Yadavindra Public School (YPS), Patiala, will turn 75 on February 2. Scholars, politicians, writers, sportsmen and over 1,000 alumni will be part of the three-day platinum jubilee celebrations of the YPS.

The celebrations will commence from January 31 and see the top personalities participating in the grand celebrations. A fete will be held on February 2.

From top leaders from Delhi to former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, royal scion Malvinder Singh, Raninder Singh, former top judges, senior police and administrative officers, who are old students, and some who have come all the way from the USA and the UK, will be part of the celebrations.

Malvinder Singh, chairperson, YPS Board of Governors, told The Tribune that when his father started the school, he did what was the best “with limited time” at hand. “My vision is to ensure that it remains as one of the top schools of the country. We are working hard to add more facilities and ensure more exposure for the students,” adds Malvinder Singh.

“The YPS was an improvement on Aitchison College and anyone irrespective of race, belief or faith could join the school and it remains the same,” says Malvinder Singh, adding that they had recently added an indoor auditorium, a cricket pavilion, a boxing hall, a basketball court, a shooting range, an archery hall and an AstroTurf.

The events will kickstart tomorrow when old Yadavindrians will play a friendly cricket match at the YPS cricket grounds. On the same afternoon, an authors’ meet will be held under the auspices of Aitchisonian Yadavindrian Old Students Association (AYOSA). Old students of the school, who later carved a niche for themselves in the field of writing, will discuss their recent work. A play will also be hosted by old students in the school auditorium.

Maharaja Yadavindra Singh of Patiala, after whom the school is named, was a student of this institution and later, a member of its Board of Governors, controlled by the royal family of Patiala with Capt Amarinder Singh as its patron. It was on February 2, 1948, that the school started functioning with a meagre strength of 21 students and nine teachers. Rai Bahadur Dhani Ram Kapila was the first Principal. What made this school different even then was its open doors for any student who was willing to study irrespective of their caste, colour

or creed.