CAMPUS SCHOOL I. I. T. KANPUR

Painting by Ms.Neeru Bhatia (Teacher Campus School)

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

MY REMINISCENCES by

Mrs. D. Manorama Murty

CAMPUS SCHOOL I. I. T. KANPUR

“We want that education by which character is

formed, strength of mind is increased, the intel-lect is expanded, and by which one can stand on ones own feet”….Swami Vivekananda

The School

Our beloved Director Prof. P. K. Kelkar had taken extreme care in setting high standards for the school. He chose to stay in the bungalow right across from the school building so that he can see the young faces early in the morning! Through the Kanpur Indo American Program Prof. Kelkar ar-ranged for experts in education from United States, to visit and advice in matters of Child Development and teaching methodology. As a result we had Dr. Kehoe, Mrs. Josephine Brokaw and Mr. Reynolds as experts and gave us valuable advice and introduce us to modern methods of teaching. They were very friendly and interacted with the teachers very well. As part of the educational process, they helped in ar-ranging the In-Service program, Science Exhibitions, and visits to places

like American International School and Literacy House. They arranged, to visit places of cultural interest like Taj Mahal with teachers and students. We also interacted with them at many social gatherings and meetings over fabulous lunches. This created a feeling of oneness in the minds of the teachers with the School and a furlong in-volvement.

In-Service Program

The in-service program was held every Saturday. The I.I.T faculty was involved in overseeing the teaching methods. They would visit the school and inform the teachers on modern teaching methods and demonstrate Science experiments to children. The program used to be very knowl-edgeable and we teachers got to learn many new teaching techniques. Prof. J.N.Kapoor, Senior Professor of Mathematics, used to come to the school and teach concepts Mathematics to the children in a simple lan-guage and inculcate interest in mathematics.

Campus School - A Model School

My School and Me

I am Mrs. D Manorama Murty - joined the school in 1966. I was inter-viewed by Dr. M.S. Muthanna, the Deputy Director, Dr. Ananda Krish-nan, Chairman of the Campus School Committee and Dr. T. M Sriniva-san Professor in the Dept of physics.

The Deputy Director wanted to know, why I being, a Postgraduate in Science from I.A.R.I., wanted to join as a Primary School teacher. When I said that I was interested in teaching and all my family members are teachers, hence prefer to be a teacher, they have immediately appointed me as a teacher. The consolidated pay of Rs. 200 per month was way higher that the salary of the teachers at the Government School. Along-side Dr. Ananda Krishnan wanted me to become a Science Counsellor which was an honorary job.

Teaching the young minds is an art in itself...

Science Day Science Day is celebrated every year on February 28. As the science co-ordinator of the school, I had undertaken some projects for the benefit of the children as well as the Campus community.

On one such occasion we dressed up a student – Raghuram as Sir C.V. Raman with dhoti worn in south Indian style and a turban on his head. We all went to a school in Kanpur City where our young C.V. Raman gave a beautiful speech .There was great applause. It is a pleasure to re-member our principal (Late) Mr. Mattoo who helped in preparing the speech.

One year for science day we displayed the Solar System. Each child was dressed to represent a planet. My students still fondly remember these special occasions.

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are plan-ning for a lifetime, educate people” Chinese proverb

Science Exhibition

Every year we conducted the Science Exhibition. Semi permanent exhib-its were developed for these exhibitions. With the help of my colleague Mr. Ahmed, we set up a science lab. The exhibits were all arranged in a class room. Every child was given an experiment either individually or in groups. The children explained the exhibits “Evolution Tree”, “Newton’s Disc” and many experiments very well. All teachers joined together and made this event a success. Every teacher had some calibre and talent. Further our campus community helped make everything beautiful and our I.I.T Professors Dr. Ananda Krishnan and Dr. Srinivasan were very happy at our effort.

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember;

involve me and I'll understand.” Chinese proverb

Mini-Scientists in Action

Our school chairperson Mrs. Parasnis got a brilliant idea to record these experiments on video. She worked with Mrs Rupa Dhar and my-self from writing the script to the presentation. The result was a well produced Mini-Scientist in Action. The children were Mini Scientists dem-onstrating and explaining various experiments. Television Centre of I.I.T. Kanpur helped record this on video. Mrs Parasnis always refereed to Mrs Dhar and myself as „Pen and Ink’...inseparable!!!. My sincere re-gards to Mrs. Parasnis for encouraging and appreciating us when we did something novel.

Late Prof Schreiber and Late Prof Smullin, visiting faculty to IIT and the founders of the Television - visualized the importance of the Visual Medium, and have given valuable technical advice from time to time. One evening they were our chief guests at the school. The function was held in the moonlight and there were cheers at the output of the Televi-sion Centre. They con-tributed a might to the success of campus school and I.I.T/K.

Mrs. Indira Gandhi the then prime minister vis-ited our stall in Teen-murti Bhavan and with pride she said “I am proud that the Campus School is the first school in the country to make video cassettes in science involving chil-dren. We made a special presentation at the Ford Foundation where Prof Nor-man Dhal who was the Program Leader of Kanpur Indo American Pro-gram was excited to see the effort we put in making Mini-Scientists in Action.

Science Exhibitions at Teenmurti Bhavan

Our school was represented many times at the national science exhibi-tion held at New Delhi in Teenmurti Bhavan on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru‟s Birthday. Pandit Nehru liked children and science.

On one such exhibition we made a shadow play on the story of a Bean Plant. Admission to this was 25 paisa only. The children, who came to see the exhibition, clambered around our stall and wanted to see the shadow play again and again...The U.G.C chairman Dr. Kothari visited our stall and appreciated the shadow play a lot.

T.V Centre & T.V. Murty of I.I.T. Kanpur I would like to thank the T.V. Centre of I.I.T. Kanpur and most impor-tantly my husband Mr. D.V.S.S.N. Murty who worked at the T.V Centre and helped our school. He is know to many as T.V. Murty as he worked at the T.V. Center and his name had way too many initials!!!...even to-day people know him by this name!!! He supported and helped our school in the production of various educational programs Mt Murty was also instrumental in bringing the live broadcast of the 3rd cricket test match between INDIA & ENGLAND held at the green park stadium Kanpur. This was a in 1973 when there was no regional TV station.

Campus School and N.C.E.R.T

The N.C.E.R.T. (National Council of Education Research and Training) visited our school and many teachers were involved in writing work-books. Ms. Neeru Bhatia one of our senior teachers came out with a pictorial book for the first standard. Whenever the N.C.E.R.T conducted a workshop they used to be cautious and conscious of our teachers, as we had a volley of questions about their books and written matter. We always had suggestions about the various things in their English, Hindi, Social studies and Science books. Three teachers were represented in a workshop organized by N.C.E.R.T. They had arranged for us to visit to 10 Janpath to meet Mrs. Indira Gandhi and to explain our activities. We had a group photo with her. There were about 30 teachers from all over the country and the three of us from our school along with our respected Principal Mr. Mattoo were present.

NCERT workshop conducted in Campus School

I felt great pride at having met Mrs. Indira Gandhi and I got a chance to be in a group photograph with her. I got to sit very close to Mrs. Gandhi glancing at her. The photograph is with me as a memento and I am thankful to the school for nominating me to the workshop. These small things may look unimportant but to a teacher these moments are unfor-gettable.

The socio economic disparity in the Campus was brought to a minimum by mixing children from different backgrounds together. It turned out to be a great boon to the children as they learnt a lot from each other and inculcated the spirit of sharing. Visiting Americans also have partici-pated in this aspect.

.Mrs Murty

Mrs Murty along with 30 teachers from all over India with Mrs Indira Gandhi

Every child has potential and it is the teacher who has to bring it out.

MORNING ASSEMBLY

The morning assembly of the Campus School is a novel one. We intro-duced many things. We teachers had lot of freedom in planning the cur-riculum independent of the prevailing syllabus of School Boards.

Children would read the News of the Day.

Flower of the Week to introduce one flower every week. They would

learn the name and other details.

Thought for Today written on the blackboard outside the science room in the corridor so that children when they pass by they would

read and write down in their diary.

The Bulletin Board at the entrance of the school was a great

attraction which displayed latest things happening and important events were displayed in beautiful sketches. Our librarian Mrs. Mona Rolston and her assistant Mr. Phirtoo Ram were great in

display. My regards to them wherever they are.

Open House - Every grade took a theme and displayed with charts

and models.

Wall magazine is a concept introduced to encourage students to

write small stories and make paintings and compile them to form

apart of the annual magazine.

The School Library was a boon to students and teachers. We had

an open shelf system. The children used to make Book Reports

and Book Covers and display them.

Children’s day is celebrated every year. On one such occasion, we

invited Monica and Raghuram (our ex students) as Chief Guests. They were in 9th grade in Central School and they felt honoured as they saw the Registrar and the School Principal waiting at the gate

to receive them. The two chief guests spoke very well.

Every Thursday, in the Morning assembly, one teacher speaks on a

topic of relevance. The topic is left to the teacher. This way every

teacher got a chance to address the assembly.

Book Bank. After passing through one grade they used to donate the

books to school and the teachers used to distribute those books to children who cannot afford to buy new text books as they were

pretty costly.

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” – Garrison Keil-

The Annual day: The annual day every year, is a great event espe-

cially for the graduating students. The entire school gets involved and the school hours are shortened so that students can partici-pate in the rehearsals for the annual day program. We had a huge wardrobe of all the items needed for the gala function. Teachers or-ganized stitching dresses to suit the various characters in the plays, making garlands with coloured papers, shopping for annual day presentations. It was like a wedding preparation, and everyone took it enthusiastically. Different teachers were given different as-

signments

Teachers Day: Every year September 5, is observed as Teachers Day

all over the country as a mark of respect and remembrance of Sir S. Radhakrishnan who was a great teacher and philosopher. On this day, which is his birthday, the senior students become Princi-pal and Teachers and take Mock- up Classes. The idea is to incul-

cate the importance of teaching.

Festivals: All the important festivals- Holi, Janmashtami, Ganesh

Chaturthi, Dusserah, Diwali, Christmas and EId were celebrated with pomp. Each class used to get one festival to celebrate and

they used to celebrate religiously.

Festivals of National importance: Gandhi Jayanthi, Independence

day, Republic day were observed with pomp and show.

…from the ramparts of Campus School

Extra Curricular Activities

Skits written by me on Thomas Alva Edison, My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman and Proud Poppy were enacted by the children in the School during the Annual Day function. The plays received standing ovation. The Dance teacher, Music teacher and the Li-brarian have helped me in making it a great success. I have bor-rowed the material heavily from our Library which stored fund of

knowledge.

Quiz programs were conducted periodically between different sec-

tions of he Class to enhance the all round abilities of the children

Sports day was another great event. It is a field day for Mr. Chauhan decorating the arena with colourful banners and conducting vari-

ous sports events in a very orderly manner.

Arts, Music, Dance and Physical Training

Our school gave a great importance to fine arts. All children went to art class, music and dance classes. Having dedicated teachers in

these subjects helped kids develop their talents and interests.

Music - Pathak ji was a wonderful music teacher. We cannot forget his innovative and slightly stern way of teaching music! Since it was difficult to provide every student with a separate harmonium, children had wooden planks with raised areas for the black keys and non raised areas as the white ones. Children practiced on those and even though no notes ensued from it he would catch if

they played a wrong sur (note).

Art - Every year the school organized Shankar‟s International On-the-Spot art competition. It was a beautiful sight to see a sea of kids

painting away in the lawns, corridors of the school.

Physical Training (P.T) - Mr. Chauhan made sports and physical exercises fun for children. On cold and foggy winter morning he got kids to do few exercises in the morning assembly to warm up for

the day.

Chairmen of the Campus School Committee

Campus School had the privilege of having very active personnel to chair the managing committee. Prof. Anandkrishnan, Prof, M.A. Pai, Prof. AVS Prabhakar Rao, Mrs. Parasnis, Prof. KVGK Gokhle. Prof. S.K. Gupta, Prof. S.G. Dhande and others have established healthy tradi-tions and gave the Campus School a good direction. They have brought in many reforms in the Elementary School Education. They have mixed freely with the teachers, made note of their views and taken care of their

needs amicably

Dr. Dhande as Chairman of the Campus School Committee at that time and presently Director of IIT/Kanpur is an excellent human being. His dynamic attitude has given a boost and enthusiasm in day to day working. My write up would be incomplete if I do not thank him. May the Almighty grant him more successes, good health and happiness. All

my colleagues used to feel the same.

Principals of Campus School\

Last but not the least, the Campus School had excellent Principals all through. None of them have ever been bourgeois and showy! Mr. SL Gupta, Mr. Mattoo, Mrs. R. Dhar, Mr. Siddique and now Mrs. Hora have been calm and docile and patiently pushed through belling the classes.

Managing SIXTY and odd ladies is not a joke?

An extra word about Mr. J.N.Mattoo.

Mr. J.N.Mattoo had been the Principal for the longest period. But the going was not a bed of Roses for him. He had turbulent times during his tenure which has shaken up the CITADAL. You may call him obstinate but I call him a man of principles. He had brought name and fame to Campus School which is an integral part of IIT/Kanpur. Principal used to take lot of interest in extracurricular activities be it music, art, sports or debates. Our regards to Mr.Mattoo once again. I learnt a lot from

him. After all he is from Aurabindo Ashram.

May his soul rest in peace.

Recess

You call Recess or Tea time or Snack time – it was a fun time. Teaching in the Campus School at IIT/Kanpur was not all work and no leisure. Teachers used to have lighter moments in this recess. The ten minutes recess is popularly known as Short break. Different groups of teachers used to gather in different class rooms to have a quick exchange of gos-sip, news and views. The snack time starts with opening of Tiffin boxes to have yummy stuff . Invariably Samosas from the gate or Vadas from Ambi or IIT/K Staff Canteen, used to roll into celebrations... Birthdays or Anniver-saries... During this short time we used to exchange school mat-ters as well as Recipes, Gossip, Politics, Cinema, Television Serials, Mu-sic, other do‟s and don‟ts and what not. Any topic under the Sun can be

the topic of the Day.

Children of the school on their part used to rush out, pushing each other, to come to the play-ground to breathe fresh air. They too would

have their mid-day snacks brought from home and enjoy sharing with their friends and have fun. They would even share the deli-cious goodies with the teachers packed by their loving and caring mothers. This affection of children and teachers is unforgetta-ble and cannot be weighed

with anything.

Our Bell Master Mr. Raghunandan Prasad whom we fondly

called Pandit Ji used to ring the bell, dot to the second. He would ring the bell at the correct time not a sec before not a second after. He was very punctual and dedicated for his work. He hardly used to take leave and had almost 100% attendance. In winter he would come in a blue Jodhpuri Coat and a pant provided by I.I.T. and in summer in a dhoti kurta. He was more strict than our principal, standing at the gate and enquiring from teachers why we are late.. “Kal se 5 minute pehle aana” . Rain or heat or cold he would walk down from a village in Kalyanpur to school. I admire him for his honesty and time consciousness. My re-

gards to him wherever he is.

Hawkers at the School Gate The peanut hawker

was ready with his small cart- TELA, selling spicy peanuts . During re-cess the children would run to buy peanuts and so too would the teach-ers. In winter time we would be waiting for the small berries called BER in hindi and Guavas.. The berries are really tasty sweet and sour. These berries are my favorite. And my sling bag was always full of these. The pretty young woman who used to bring them in a big tela was always looking for me as I was a regular customer.. All the teachers knew that my bag always had these small berries and they had the liberty to steal. If I was absent one day “ber wali” would ask Hamari ber wali kahan

hai?

Kashmiri Shawlwala A Kashmiri person often used to

come to school during winters to sell shawls of Kashmir fame. We teach-ers would gather around him to buy matching shawls for our sarees.

This was a big attraction for us.

Mr. Motilal a wonderful person and helper of the school al-

ways smiling ready to help the teachers for small errands. He would never say “NO” to any work allotted to him. My best wishes to Motilal

wherever he is.

That was the closeness and attachment we all had with our school.

Activities Outside school Family planning campaign

Mrs. Smullin, Mrs. Mohini Lal (Health Centre) and I have taken up this was a voluntary work by way of visiting houses in the cam-pus to make them aware of Family Planning methods. Since I knew Tamil and Telugu over and above Hindi and English I could contact

the families and speak in their own language.

Mrs. Smullin with her motherly attire is a wonderful person. She mixed with the community very freely. I still treasure the beautiful spoon she presented which I use it daily and we call it Mrs.

Smullin‟s spoon.

Mrs. Lal a lovely lady and a close family friend, is no more in this

world. I miss her a lot. May her soul rest in peace.

Mrs. Murty with Mrs Lal in front of IITK Health Centre

Adult Literacy Program

Dr. Bhattacharya, Director I.I.T/Kanpur was interested to bring in literacy among some of the employees who were illiterate. As an incentive he sanctioned one increment in their salary for those who passed the literacy test. For this he roped in the Campus Commu- nity to teach basics of English, Arithmetic and Hindi. This was an

excellent program and I volunteered to teach. The classes were held from 5 P.M to 7 P.M. I was very happy because after they passed through the examination they got an increment in their pay and were very grateful….and they used to literally touch my

feet and I would feel embarrassed.

When you teach your son, you teach your son's son. ~The Talmud

Our Health Centre

The doctors at the health centre are a friendly group. The Doctors chil-dren were in our school and we got special attention as teachers.. Dr. Sheela Srivastava, Dr. Mrs. Sinha and Dr. Sinha, Dr. Goel and Dr. Mishra gave their best advise to us. I am indeed grateful to all of them as they took care of our health. The nurses were excellent always ready

to help. My regards and best wishes to all the hospital staff.

He who has health, has hope.

And he who has hope, has everything.

My Students - NOSTALGIA

It is amazing to realize that the Campus School Alumni are doing ex-ceedingly well in their respective careers both in India and outside. I had the opportunity to interact with several of them during my travels to U.S.A., Canada and other places in India. Some of the reminiscences meetings and correspondence with them gives a nostalgic feeling. To mention a few who have come to my thoughts off hand, are penned

down.

Dr. Kanta Subbarao developed a vaccine for Swine Flu. Her photograph appeared on the front cover of National geographic magazine is

a rare honour.

Dr. Preeti Dhar now a professor at New York state university. I remember her reciting a poem titled “Oh captain my captain” written by

Walt Whitman when she was in grade 4.

Veera Sharma was excellent in her English pro-nunciation and a good actor. She acted like a convict in a play enti-tled “the Bishop‟s candlesticks”. She did a great job as a convict. Mr Shishupal our multi purpose man was an excellent car driver and spoke several languages. He has been the unofficial make up man for all the cultural meets in IIT/Kanpur. He used to take very special interest to prepare the students to suit the role. He did the make up for Veera as the convict in the play. The whole community

knew him and he was very popular.

Dr Tripti Awasthi now Tripti Mayson is a Dental Surgeon in Min neapolis. She is a product of our school. She is an athlete and a badminton player. When President Obama visited Minneapolis she got a chance to shake hands with him. Isn‟t that great! Immedi ately I gave her a mail and congratulated her. It seems the mail I wrote to her was touchy that she read to her friends and they had tears of joy.

Astha Shukla – Beautiful and well versed in Music wanted to meet well known Gazhal Singer Sri HariHaran . She was very good in creative writing and she wrote an essay on “Peeping through a win-dow on a rainy day”. It was very imaginative and I advised her to take up literature as her subject when she goes to college...and she

did!!!

Aparna Pandey whom I taught years back suddenly rang me up from Washinghton D.C. on this November 2. I was surprised how she got my telephone number. She came to know about our Golden Jubilee celebrations. She congratulated me for inspiring her. She is an educational counsellor and teaches the gifted children. Her pic-ture came before my eyes and I remembered her parents and her sisters. She got 100% in social studies in Xth board exam and she is a good runner too. Many things gets stored in a teacher‟s brain

effortlessly.

Angara Raja is a Professor in Economics at Central University. He was my first student when I started teaching in school. Even today when I meet him he addresses me as “Miss”. Raja is good in draw-ing sketches right from childhood. I still remember that he used to

draw so well in class and he is a good sitar player too.

Kalpana Sharma was one of the students we took for the Science Ex-hibition in Delhi. Kalpana is a brilliant student and remembers me saying…”Kalpana you are a very good student and continue to do

well. Success will be yours one day”.

Sangita, Shalini and Manisha Nigam - Daughters of Prof. and Mrs. Nigam are very talented girls and all have Ph.D in Chemistry. Sangita is a reader in the Department of Chemistry in Aligarh Muslim University. I still remember her beautiful hand writing and her neatness in work. Recently she wished me on teacher‟s day. Shalini and Manisha were classmates to my twin daughters and son. I am so happy to be in touch with them and to visit them dur-

ing my trip to USA.

Venkatesh Choppella is a Faculty member at I.I.I.T Hyderabad. He took great care of us when we went to I.I.T. Madras for a Science

Conference meant for teachers.

Sujatha Chaklanobis is a Scientist in Delhi in Defence lab. She is on Face Book. Face Book is one medium which is bringing several of

us together!.

Abhay Shukla was a child prodigy and he used to write poetry and always had some questions which made me go to the library and

look up encyclopaedia. He is himself a encyclopaedia.

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think

about besides homework.

Sridhar Anandakrishnan whom we fondly call him as Tiku, remem-bered me when he went to see the U.N. building at the age of TEN. Tiku sent me a greeting card with picture of U.N.Building. He left for U.S.A. after grade IV, along with his father Prof. Anandakrish-nan who joined Indian Embassy as Scientific Attaché. Sridhar is a Professor now in UPENN and is in the Antartica Expedition for do-ing some Scientific Studies. Ravi and Satyen also were once Cam-

pus School boys now settled down USA.

Abhilasha Tiwari alumni of the Campus School is now a Faculty

member in the English Dept. at I.I.T. Kanpur.

Arabi Sunderajan and Ranjani Ramachandran are great singers in

addition to their specializations.

Jaya Sadagopan is another noted singer. She even represented in

the Antakshari programme on ZEE .T.V. and won prizes.

Sarada Chintala, now in Washington remembers me as her Science teacher. She remembers my sentence “after taking food do not lie down - the food has to be digested so do some work or walk up and down”. She was very hospitable gave us a good dinner and intro-

duced her lovely twins.

Padmaja works for N.A.S.A. at Jet Propulsion Labs, and is in the

team attached to Chandrayaan I.

Meeta, Suparna, Suchitra and Sona - daughters of Dr and Mrs. Sen are all doing well in their respective fields. They are known in the Campus for their histrionic talents. Suparna came to see us when we were in Cupertino and took us to their home to have tea with

their mother (Mrs. Sen) our lovely teacher.

Rinku Mitra’s reciting the poem “Where the mind is without fear” by

Rabindranath Tagore is still ringing in my ears.

Arunasree was a good dancer and wrote a beautiful poem on Chacha

Nehru and made a beautiful display about him.

Divya Tara a good singer herself is running a Music School in New Jersey in addition to her profession and her sisters Hima and Asha

are doing excellent.

Phani Tej Adidam is teaching in the University of Omaha. He visits different countries lecturing. I am proud of him for he represents

India in different platforms.

Alka Sharma studied grade IV in the Campus School and is a re-

puted Doctor now and has her own pathology lab.

Asmita and her sister, daughters of Dr. Nirmal Kumar and Anjana Sathya Murty are very good dancers and the whole dance scene is

before my eyes.

Manohar another student is in Portland and doing very well. He maintains regular contact and has wanted us to visit him. Inciden-tally he organizes annual meeting of some of his class fellows once

in a while.

It is well known for the meteoric rise of Badri Vishal and Shobha children of Rambahadur. Rambahdur became a ghar ka naam in

the Campus.

The compact powder box presented by Sanjay(CNR) Rao cannot be forgotten as he forced his parents to buy something for Mrs. Murty when they went to France. All sweet memories keep me engaged in

my leisure time.

I still cherish two small Japanese dolls presented by Sujata Choud-

hury which occupy vantage place in my miniature museum.

Every place I visit whether it be in India or abroad my students are a phone call away...I am so glad to be in touch with them...and also very happy that I made a difference in their lives. I would like to thank all my students who have invited me to their houses and for their amazing hospitality.

Our school children are like the branches of a tree extending over the whole earth in fruitful abundance and the strength is found in its te-nacious root...CAMPUS SCHOOL!!!

Children of Campus School are well placed in their lives and

work and the School takes great pride for their achievements.

As I close my eyes and see I find the silhouette of the then children of Campus School

...and many many more who touched my life and I am glad to have

made a difference in their lives…

Homage

Mr. J.N. Mattoo, Mrs.Young, Mrs. Deepali Ray, Mrs. Asha Gujral, are no more with us. They left this world in the middle of their lives in

unexpected circumstances.

Mr. Mattoo, has taken up an assignment in Maharshi Mahesh Yogi after retirement. After few years he fell ill and was in coma for a while before his end. We have seen him during his last days when

he was getting treated in Gangaram Hospital. New Delhi.

Mrs. Young was an excellent craft teacher apart from being a class

teacher.

Mrs. Deepali Ray and I did our B. Ed together and we used to have lot of fun. We were very good friends. Her death was sudden and

unexpected.

Mrs. Asha Gujral came to Campus as a young bride and was my neighbor and colleague. She met with a ghastly accident and died

abruptly. I still remember her beautiful face, always gleaming.

The untimely death of Suchita and Sanjay drowned, Mrs.&Prof. Dayal Saran Srivastava into gloom. We wish them extra strength to

combat the weary and sadness.

It is the will of the Almighty for things to happen – like when Mrs. Jayanti and Prof Ranga Sai have not fully recovered from the acci-dental demise of Narendra, Mrs. Jayanti had to loose Prof. Ranga

Sai also.

Mrs. Rama Joshi is bereaved with the untimely death of Alok Joshi.

With the Institutions ageing, persons who have once manned, would start disappearing. This is the Nature and we have to be strong and

move along.

They are all safe in God’s abode and wish their Souls rest in Peace.

Children all over the world are alike.

During my visits to Canada and U.S.A, I used to go to the schools of my grand children and follow the pattern of teaching in their schools. The discussions used to lead me to engage the children with the teaching

methods we follow, like by way of story telling.

This made me narrate the fol-lowing stories The Thirsty Crow, The Cap Seller and the Monkey, and The Rooster and the Sun to the American Chil-dren in American Schools. I took the pictorial charts of the stories and the children at the school really enjoyed and put many questions. In addition they were curious to know about India, the Saree and the places of interest in India. Some of them wanted to know whether we have McDonald and other Eateries and etc.! My grand Children Pranav, Vivek and Krishna were excited and en-

thused when I was in their class rooms.

Once I went to the Defence Lab School, Hyderabad as a judge for a de-bate competition. My daughter used to teach Physics in this School. I

gave a small talk and I taught the chil-dren a song which I learnt when I was in high school. The song says when you are in trouble just Smile, Laugh and Grin and the trouble passes away. The principal of the school congratulated me for the little speech and said Now I know where your daughter got the teaching ability. I come from a family of

teachers and I am proud it.

This is to say the children all over the world are alike the same ques-tions, the same smiling faces, the same love and affection, irrespective of

nationality, caste, creed, and language.

Me and My Family

My husband Mr. DVSSN Murty Senior Tehnical Officer, Department of Electrical Engineering and myself, live in Hyderabad after our retirement. Mr Murty was with the Television Centre from its incep-tion and noted for setting up of several facilities in the Institute. He

had been a Handy Man for the Campus School.

My Twin Daughters and Son are products of Campus School too!!!

My daughter Sridevi lives in Victoria with her hus-band Sudhakar and son Pranav. She works for the Govt. of British Co-lumbia as a Research Analyst. In addition she participates in social and cultural activities and organizes Indian Music Festivals. I must say – she is more Indian than most of us and informs me ahead of the ensuing festivals! Wow – her son loves music and plays Alto Saxophone and

Tabla in Concerts.

My other daughter Padma lives in Hyderabad with her husband Krishna and daughter Prashanti Priya. Padma teaches Physics to the students of Hyderabad Public School. Prasanti Priya is again a wizard and is busy doing third year

Engineering with Computer Science Engineering as Major.

Mrs. Murty with her Twin girls

My son Pawan Kumar along with his wife Sarah and two adorable boys Vivek and Krishna lives and works in Cleveland. Our principal Mr. Mattoo used to call him a child prodigy. He was excellent in oration

and had good pronunciation. We made him learn a speech on Education and Society

in the words of Swamy Vivekananda. Mr. Mattoo, then and there went to our Tech-Coop

and bought saffron coloured cloth and dressed him like small Vivekananda. The speech was adjudged as the best and there was loud applause and cheers. The function took place in a school in Kanpur city. The chief guest was the then Education minister Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao. The next day he was made to deliver the same speech in the Morning Assembly at

school. Some of our colleagues pre-sented him with books. Our Librarian Mrs. Mona Rolston used to call Pawan – An-grezi.

Pawan with his teacher Ms. Neeru Bhatia Mrs. Murty with her Son

Pawan as Swami Vivekananda

Oh Yes! We were awarded the 25 years Long & Satisfactory Service

Certificate!

We reminisce our thirty five years of happy life at IIT/ Kanpur.

Best Regards,

D. Manorama Murty

Beautiful Peacocks and Beautiful Memories of I.I.T.Kanpur