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REMINISCENCES OF A SCINDIAN PARENT!
Soon after my 1969 posting to Monghyr (now Munger) in Bihar, the sudden arrival of a telegram from The Scindia School created a major flutter in the household! It advised us that our nine year old only son, Vivek should be in Gwalior in about a months time for his admission, when we were anticipating "that day" to be in a somewhat distant future......
I was on a transferable job, and therefore we had decided that our son should best go to a good Boarding School, where uninterrupted progress after the early education at different locations and Schools would be possible for him. We had heard a lot about The Scindia School, where many of my friends, or their children, had their education, and we were happy with the product! We had therefore, decided on this School and applied, and Vivek had easily qualified for the admission. Nevertheless, when the actual time came to join, it suddenly created various apprehensions, doubts and impediments in our minds! However, after overcoming them, we decided to use this opportunity to also have a memorable family holiday by driving down from Bihar to Madhya Pradesh and back, in our Ambassador car - not knowing when and if we may be able to do so again.
The trip went off smoothly and was very enjoyable - Vivek was given the task of the map reader and to be my navigator - with all the route maps and Automobile Association pamphlets being entrusted to him. He performed his responsibilities with enthusiasm and excitement, and we reached our various destinations on schedule without losing our way! Accompanying the three of us was our cook, who was the general handyman and assistant during this trip, and was ever ready with the Icebox, serving cold drinks and tasty snacks as and when needed - which was every so often - during our long drive in the month of June. We took the first break journey at the Tillaya Dam, enjoying the picturesque surroundings and Bihar Electricity Departments Inspection Bungalow facilities, followed with a day at Benaras, and a few days at Lucknow and Agra visiting relatives and friends and sightseeing, before finally getting to our Hotel at Gwalior at noon, in time for the "next day" - when we would have to leave Vivek behind to his new residential student life.
The drive up to the Fort through the Urwai Gate was itself exciting, despite the impending sense of void and loss to follow. The meeting with Mr. S P Sahi, the then Principal, was exceptionally warm and comfortable, since during our conversation, we discovered many common friends - some as his very early students. We felt very reassured at the School environment and with the staff and teachers whom we met, both at the Main and the Junior School, where Vivek was to be admitted. He was in very confident and bright spirits, and collected the various comics that he was carrying in the car, which gave him instant acceptability and popularity amongst his co-students!
The Matron, Mrs. Mukherjee's questionnaire and advice were very reassuring, but it was with apprehensions that we left him behind in the School and returned to the Hotel at the end of the day. The parents were invited to join the students for a School lunch the next day, and were advised against contacting them thereafter, to enable the new entrants to settle down in their future boarding life without any further distraction. When we arrived, we had quite a difficulty in recognizing and locating our own son amongst all the boys similarly dressed in white kurta & pajama! He seemed to be quite well adjusted and liking his new found student life and the first night at the boarding - all our early preparatory work towards his future boarding school life had well prepared him for developing such an attitude. After the homely simple community school lunch, along with all other parents of the new boys, we had to say our final good bye and leave with heavy hearts.
During Vivek's following seven years in the School, we were delighted with his development from a youngster to a mature individual. With the encouragement from the School in furthering his talents, leadership qualities and interests, besides his excellent academic performance, Vivek graduated from Junior to Middle, and finally to Jayaji House in the Senior School. We were especially thankful and happy with the encouragement and inputs provided to him towards appreciating national heritage, culture and values, besides creating an adventurous spirit, and the opportunity to learn horse riding and to participate in various sports, and towards the all round general development - which also covered dramatics and being the student editor of the School
Review, amongst others.
I visited him at the School twice during his student days, and also enjoyed the hospitality of the Guest House, and the bonds with the Scindia School extended from the student to the parent! My last visit for the Annual day during Vivek's final year, when he was the School Captain and star of the Senior School play, was so proudly memorable... No wonder, he had, and continues to have, such a high regard and attachment for his School, where his initial foundation had been built, despite his many later distinctions at IIT Kanpur, University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA and finally at the Stanford University, from where he was awarded a Ph D in Computer Science. He is now with the IBM Corporation, and is also a Visiting Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from September 1996.
In later years, during my short visits on work to Gwalior, I have twice been to the School drawn by nostalgia and past pleasant memories. I have walked around alone through familiar areas, possibly like many others, ex-students, retired staff or past parents like me, attracted by our own sentimental reasons, through the fort ramparts, the asthachal, the residential School Houses, staff quarters, swimming pool and the many sports fields, seeing the then students actively progressing and getting on with their lives, bringing forth never to be forgotten strong emotional flashbacks of the past reminiscences!
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