 A school turns fifty
 Surely few alma maters can evoke the kind of nostalgia and utter loyalty that Vidya Mandir of Mylapore, Chennai, invariably does with its alumni? It is the golden jubilee year for the school, which had its origin in the Mylapore Ladies Club, and the enthusiastic Alumni Association committee has been planning for its grand finale in December with something akin to fervour. Events have been conducted throughout the year.
 Blood donation camps and competitions for
school kids in various disciplines have brought excellent response from both the alumni and the participants in these tournaments. Remembering and honouring cricketers of the school including Test players K Srikkanth and L Sivaramakrishnan last year was quite a memorable occasion, as has been the Gautam Memorial double wicket cricket tournament in which a number of schools took part both last year and this year. Both years, the double wicket bash was followed by the veteran alumni showing glimpses of their past glory.
The Gautam Memorial games are a poignant tribute to a fine young cricketer who was snatched away from our midst when he was barely into his thirties. N Gautam was one of the school’s outstanding contributions to Tamil Nadu cricket, an accomplished batsman and a useful medium pace bowler, who had a number of creditable performances in Ranji Trophy cricket to his credit.
The ongoing celebrations have provided a rare opportunity for old students, present students and teachers past and present to spend some carefree time together, away from the responsibilities of work. Amazingly, the teachers still treat their old students - some of them literally so - as their students, and not as grown-up citizens of India. Even celebrities like Ramesh Krishnan have come in for the same kind of treatment, narrowly escaping having their ears tweaked affectionately!
Most of the alumni and teachers present talked about those not present or no longer with us. While it was difficult to judge which of the teachers present would win a popularity poll, there were no prizes for guessing who was the most loved teacher of all time. The vote in favour of the late principal R Srinivasan was overwhelming.
The alumni association is making some grand plans and old Vidya Mandir students reading this column should also read this letter from
T Nedumaran, the president of the association, if he or she wants to do something substantial for the school.
V Ramnarayan
vramnarayan@gmail.com
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