Bethany High School had two reasons to celebrate recently — not only has the educational institution reached its golden jubilee, it also launched a new school off Sarjapur Road. To mark both occasions, a grand ceremony was held at the new branch, which was attended by the faculty of the school as well as students and their parents.
The school’s campus was buzzing with activity, as students greeted each other and checked out the new facilities. The parents were equally curious about the school, and had a look around the venue to get a better idea of the institute their children would be studying in. The formal function was a delight as well. The chief guest for the occasion was Sumitra Gandhi Kulkarni — the grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, former MP of the Rajya Sabha and former member of the UN General Assembly. She addressed the packed venue, keeping the mood light with a few quips and funny anecdotes. She ended her speech on a serious note, though.
After congratulating the administration of the school, she advised the crowd, “Ensure you retain the habit of speaking Hindi. We are Indians and although I am not finding fault with English as a language, Hindi and Kannada have deeper moorings in our culture. They influence our thinking and behaviour, so I ask all parents to speak to their children in these languages.” Some of the students also serenaded the crowd with a bevy of delightful songs. Apart from the school song, ‘Onward Ever Onward’ — which the entire venue stood up to sing along to — the choir also sang ‘Testify to Love’ and quite a few proud parents could be seen taking pictures of their children on stage. Jayaprakash, whose son studies in the seventh standard in another branch of the school, said, “My daughter will be joining this school next year and I wanted to see what it’s like. Besides this, my wife teaches here as well. I’m planning to stick around and have a look around the campus.”
Anshu and Amit, whose son and daughter will soon be joining the school as well, were also anxious to have a look around. “They are new admissions and for the last month, have been studying at a different branch. Now, they will be joining here and we wanted to have a look around,” admitted Amit.
Anshu added, “The new campus looks good. And as long as the construction work outside gets over soon, I don’t think the commute will be a problem either. The children enjoy travelling by bus.”