Students of the 1953 batch of Keshava Memorial High School with their family members on Sunday. / Photo: G. Ramakrishna / The Hindu
Reunion meet of 1953 batch students held at Keshav Memorial High School
It was a Sunday, but the atmosphere at Keshav Memorial High School in Narayanguda was lively. Looking at a decades-old photograph hung in a hall, a group of elderly people tried to identify themselves, their best friends and teachers.
Childhood memories
Cracking jokes at each other, they recollected their childhood memories and enquired about their well being. This was the scene at “Sneha Sashtipoorti”, a reunion meet of 1953 students’ batch of Keshav Memorial High School. “It’s been 60 years since we were in school and that’s the reason, we named it as Sneha Sashtipoorti,” said Veturi Yoganandam, convenor of the programme. Veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao was chief guest for the event. “Age is just a number. Even today, I still want to act in movies and dance. These programmes remind me of my childhood and its memories. Meeting old friends rejuvenates us,” was the veteran actor’s message.
Though most of them in the batch were aged between 67 and 70 years, their zeal to organise the programme was quite spirited. It took days of planning, gathering information and addresses, communication etc but ultimately it paid off as 40 out of 70 students turned up for the event, claimed Mr. Yoganandam. “We have lot of memories associated with this school. Like most students, we too used to bunk classes and watched English movies in Deepak Mahal talkies. Of course, later we were punished,” laughs S. Prahalada Kumar, a retired JNTU professor.
As a mark of recognition and love for their teachers, they felicitated mathematics teacher Bhujanga Rao and social teacher Venkateshwar Rao. “Our teachers used to punish us, but it was out of love and affection. They always strived for overall development of students. Besides academics, they stressed on moral and physical education,” says Chandramohan, a businessman. “We used to play lot of football, volleyball and other games in the school and feel sorry for the present generation students as they lack sufficient playgrounds and quality education,” he adds.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / February 18th, 2013