The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Ex-students of Masula go down memory lane

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 28, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Ex-students of Masula go down memory lane

Staff Reporter

About 1,100 former students who were educated at Machilipatnam town since 1920's till date, participated

HYDERABAD: Going down the memory lane always rekindles a sense of nostalgia and on some occasions fills the heart with immense pride and joy. Revelling in this bonhomie were hundreds of individuals at Tyagaraya Gana Sabha, Chikkadpally on the Republic Day.

The reason for their pride was that all of them, at one point or the other had been a part of Machilipatnam or formerly Bandar town, which was the earliest known British settlement, renowned for its education and trade apart from the delightful Bandar laddu!

The 7th Machilipatnam Poorva Vidyaarthula Apoorupa Kalaika (meeting of former students of Machilipatnam town) was not just about reminiscing the glorious past but was also about sharing experiences and knowledge with youngsters who have little or no clue about the town.

Sound education

About 1,100 former students who were educated at Machilipatnam town since 1920's till date, participated in the meet. "Between 1910 and 1940, Bandar was the only town that provided sound education in coastal districts. Despite the shackles, Bandar town always encouraged women to take up education," recalls Janaki Ramana, AIR artist who read till SSLC.

Status

Aside from its status as a centre for French, British and Dutch trade, Bandar also was known for English medium schools and colleges. In fact, among the first colleges to be set up in the erstwhile Madras State in 1910 was National College or Andhra Jaatiya Kalasala. Sarvepalli Radhakrishna was also a teacher here," recalls Vallabha Srirammoorthy who did his BA at National College in 1945.

Prominent personalities

Machilipatnam has produced well-known personalities that have left an undeniable mark in the State's history. Pingali Venkayya, who was instrumental in designing the tricolour, founder of Andhra Bank Pattabhi Sitaramayya to name a few are from Bandar.

National College, Hindu College, Noble College and Jaihind Hind College that started on August 1947 are some of the top education institutions from which the past students came for the meet.

"This is not an association or an NGO that has organised such a meet. We don't even print invitation cards for this meet. We inform people either by phones or by word of mouth. Basically, it is a platform to celebrate a bygone era that had a glorious past," said organiser of the event Dora Raju.

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Andhra Pradesh