While students in Madurai city recently got their SSLC results, another group decided to remember their SSLC exams with a difference.
Sixteen alumni of V.H.N High School, Madurai, got together with their family members on May 25, marking 50 years after writing their SSLC exams in 1964. N. Santharam, one of the alumni members, said that he, along with another old student P. Vijaykumar, began to trace their batchmates two years ago by going through old school records. “We wrote the SSLC exams in 1964 as a batch of 33 students and haven’t met since then. It was an experience catching up with one another after so long. We recounted old memories, classroom experiences and introduced our school friends to our families,” Mr. Santharam said.
***
At an event held by the Madurai Corporation on June 6 to felicitate students who had emerged as toppers among corporation schools in the SSLC and Plus Two exams, Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa broke down.
With tears in his eyes, he emotionally said that many underprivileged children had struggled to become successful in their studies who included SSLC topper P. Anasuya (494 marks), who had lost her parents at a young age and was grown up by her grandparents.
Applauding the fact that Anasuya still wanted to study in a corporation school despite financial assistance and offers from several other schools, Mr. Rajan Chellappa said that the corporation schools were no less when it came to good education.
The stunned silence of the audience comprising students, parents and faculty gave way to loud applause at the end of his speech. A moving celebration indeed!
***
Saturday turned out to be a hectic day for S. Sundararajan, Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare, as he shuttled between Madurai and Ramanathapuram.
The Minister, who flew to Madurai from Chennai on Saturday morning, could not leave immediately to Ramanathapuram to attend an official function, scheduled at 10 a.m. as he had to visit party MLA M. Gunasekaran, undergoing treatment at a private hospital after he was hacked by a gang. As he proceeded after visiting the MLA in Madurai, he was told about the bereavement in a party worker’s family and he took a diversion. After taking bath at his house in Paramakudi, he rushed to Ramanathapuram and paid tributes to King Muthuramalinga Sethupathy on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
After the function, he was to visit Ariyaman beach near Uchipulli with officials, but cancelled the programme to distribute gold for Thali for beneficiaries at the Collectorate.
Soon after the programme, he inspected the facilities at sports stadium in Ramanathapuram with officials. He had a small break and after a hurried lunch, returned to Madurai to attend a function. There, the Minister reached on time, but had to wait for nearly 90 minutes as Local Minister ‘Sellur’ K Raju was late. The Minister was in a hurry to get back to Ramanathapuram to attend a function organised by the Press Club at 6 p.m. As the Madurai function got over at 7.30 p.m., the Minister who was already tired by then made it to the Press Club in Ramanathapuram at around 9 p.m. The function went on for more than two hours and by the time the Minister reached home, it was well past midnight.
Contributed by S. Poorvaja in Madurai and D. J. Walter Scott in Ramanathapuram
