...S P V !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Le chal pagle majhdhar mujhe
Lehero ke takrnae se aata reh reh ke pyar mujhe
Dede ab patwar mujhe
Lehro ke takarane se aata reh reh ke pyar mujhe
Sardar patel Vidyalaya has been like a womb to me. A womb in which my personality was conceived. As I grew up from those tiny baby steps in the care of Maduri aunty I discovered that this unique and special place was a universe within.
There are too many memories to recount, but one abiding lesson was in the Vidyalaya's tradition of not giving anyone a first in a race. The joy of participation, the old cricket saying, "Stick around this could be fun" inculcated early in our school was the one lesson I took with me when I step out to the outside world.
It is this that gives us Patelians that characteristic edge. We are not here to win. We are talking a walk, smelling the flowers, admiring the painting and while we are at it doing our job. It just turns out that we have been nurtured such that the job is well done, always.
We are trained to look at the bigger picture to find our individual gifts and to work on ways that perfect these.
The thing about our school is in its unique ability to ensure that the ethos of our motherland with all its diversity is steeped into each and every one of us. From the love for music to the unique bilingual medium onto the little things like art camps and nurturing Mandi gaon. Each of these seeming unconnected steps led to the creation of a rootedness so critical in a fast globalising world. Today the elite private school education creates that dreaded creature the resident non-Indian, we at SPV on the other hand, know our roots and have an essential comprehension that can only come from an involved passionate consideration of what it means to be an Indian.
The School's greatest strength is in the Holy trinity of teachers, friends and the support staff.
I felt right through the 14 years I spend in the school (they could easily have been 16 or 17 but for re tests and the god sent CBSE policy of lowering pass marks from 40 to 33!) that it was tailor made just for me. All my friends felt the same. I remember (with much dread back then) that Mrs. Parthsarthy knew the name of each and every kid. If I needed to learn management - I had no need to go to the Harvard business school. Peter Druker the distinguished management theorists, invented the terms managing by walking around, well our principal has been walking the talk for an entire generation of grateful students.
All my teacher, Madame Banerjee the strict yet loving guide friend and philosopher to us, Mamta maam with her great throw of the notebook into the dustbin to put the fear of god in us, Arunkant maam with her story telling skills, Mrs. Subramiam who made history interesting and empires come alive, Vijaya maam who crossed our t's and q's or Singh sir on the morning parade, to each I owe an abiding debt. Thank you, all the teachers from a student who did not realize he was learning so very much!
I very much miss late Mrs grace and Sharma sir who put the school on the cricket pitch. May god rest their soul and may it be remembered that in our hearts and deeds they live on. And of course late Patakh bhai taught us how to get things done without making any noise. He will be remembered as the walking real life super computer which got every thing down to the last detail done perfectly, every time.
As for friends well this is not the correct forum for me to go into regrets and confessions! The old line from the west comes to mind. We were all "friends for years, legends for life and tough guys forever." There was a Dill Chahta hai type bonding you meet after years and man it way like yesterday once more. Today with associations going back 20 years I need neither orkut nor facebook to connect. We have that extraordinary bond of being Patelians just reach out and you can touch anyone of these old and very dear friends.
As for the support staff from Balan sir to all the rest including the superb lab assistants one can only say that what is often the weakest link of an Indian hierarchy was the strongest tie at SPV. As a family of Patelians is strong because of this core functionaries who were tireless committed and always on call to help.
Finally the building itself is a fond memory. The green and the trees, the wide corridors and the principal's room ( with which I was well acquainted having spent a majority of my growing up years standing just outside) . The building is big but the rooms cozy, there is a large ground but lovely familiar old nooks.
So was there nothing bad about the school, you may ask? There must have been but I guess I was way too much fun to notice!
I am privileged that not only can I look back with satisfaction and nostalgia - I can also look forward with hope. In this the fiftieth year, my child Sharvil has taken the first tiny steps with Chitra maam as his teacher. I am sure a wondrous journey of self-discovery, music , quite confidence, art and color awaits him. Let us hope that like him the school flourishes as it goes back to the future.
