Several hundred alumni of the Sainik School at Kazhakootam here, along with their families, attended the 42nd reunion of Old Boys held on Saturday.
They were led by Lieutenant General Jatinder Singh, Commandant, National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, who was also the chief guest.
On arrival, Lt. General Singh inspected a Guard of Honour by the cadets. He led the Principal of the school, Group Captain B. Janardhanan, teachers, staff, and other Old Boys in paying homage at the Stupa of Remembrance—a memorial for the departed alumni.
The solemn ceremonies were followed by several festival matches on the sports field between the Old Boys teams and the school teams. The other programmes included business meeting of the Old Boys Association and a commemoration meeting aptly titled “Guruvandanam”.
Many retired teachers—“Masters” for cadets and alumni—also attended the function. Many eminent Old Boys, including Lieutenant General Thomas Mathew (Retd.), Member, Armed Forces Tribunal, Kochi; Commodore M.R. Ajaykumar, Naval Officer in Charge (Kerala); and Rajoo Krishnan, former Joint Commissioner of Entrance Examinations, were also present.
The Sainik School, Kazhakootam, has till date sent more than 800 of its students into the officer cadre of the Armed Forces, with many of them rising to the higher echelons of leadership. Alumni from the school have also excelled in other walks of life like civil services, medicine, information technology, entrepreneurship, entertainment industry, engineering, and media.