President Droupadi Murmu on Friday turned emotional as she sat on the cot on which she used to sleep during her student days in 1970s at Unit-II Government Girl's High School.
Murmu, on the second day of her Odisha tour, visited her alma mater and Kuntala Kumari Sabat Adivasi Hostel where she used to stay during her school days. She also met 13 classmates and expressed her happiness for being in midst of her classmates, students of her school and teachers.
The President started the day by visiting the Tapabana High School at Khandagiri in the city. Recalling her school days, Murmu said: "I started my schooling at my Uparbeda village. There was no school building, but a thatched house where we used to study."
Describing the children of the present day as "fortunate", the President said: "We used to sweep classrooms, clean the school premises with cow dung. The students in our time studied with a free mind. I appeal to you to work hard and concentrate on your studies."
During an interaction with girl students, Murmu said: "In our time there were no such facilities like internet, television and other provisions to know the world outside us. As such I do not have any role models from outside. My grandmother was my role model. I have seen how she used to help people, particularly women in our area. My grandmother was mentally very strong and I learnt a lot from her life."
As Murmu reached her alma mater where she studied from class 8 to 11, the school children greeted her. She entered the school premises by waving at the people who were eagerly waiting outside the campus to have a glimpse of her since morning.
She also visited the Kuntala Kumari Sabat Hostel, where she stayed during her studies at the state-run school. "When we showed the President her room and the cot on which she used to sleep during her student days, she turned emotional and sat on the same bed for a while," said a woman teacher.
The president also planted a sapling on the premises of the Kuntala Kumari Sabat Hostel where she stayed for four years from 1970 to 1974. Later, Murmu met her classmates, who were invited to the school.
"It was a different moment in our lives that the President of India invited to see us. We cannot express the feeling and we are so happy after meeting the country’s first citizen, who was our classmate during school days," said Chinmayee Mohanty, a retired college teacher and Murmu’s classmate.
Murmu enquired about her other hostel roommates and asked: "Where is Chuni? Incidentally, Murmu's friend Chuni was absent on the occasion. "We are really proud for having such a great friend. However, we could not talk much even as the President came close to us. She clicked photograph with us," Mohanty said.
Taking to twitter, the President of India said: "It was a nostalgic moment today when I visited my alma mater Government Girls High School and Kuntalakumari Sabat Adivasi Girls Hostel in Bhubaneswar. The visit brought back many fond memories of my student life”. Murmu also expressed pleasure after finding a sand art of her created on her school premises.
(With PTI Inputs)
