Thiruvananthapuram, May 22 () Keeping his promise, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar met his school teacher, 83-year-old Ratna Nair at Panniyannur Gram Panchayat in Kerala’s Kannur district on Monday.
Dhankar, who arrived in the state capital city on Sunday evening, after his function on Monday at the Kerala Legislative Assembly flew into Kannur where his teacher and her relatives had been waiting for the past few days.
Nair told her student “there can’t be a better Guru Dakshina than this,”
Dhankhar was her student at the Sainik School, Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) in the late sixties.
During the meeting, Ratna vividly remembered Dhankhar as “a young boy in khaki, sitting in the first row, fully concentrating in the class.”
“He was very active, well disciplined and an obedient boy who excelled in all activities inside and outside the class. He was a good debater, a good sportsperson and good at academics too,” she mentioned.
“Sainik School Chittorgarh is a boarding school and students spend approximately nine months in a year with their teachers, so they develop long lasting bonds with teachers. Parents used to visit school in between. I remember Jagdeep’s father was very regular at these meetings. He used to visit the school every month to monitor the progress of both his sons,” she said.
The teacher and her family welcomed the Vice President, who was accompanied by his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, with coconut water. She also served the Vice President homemade idli and Banana chips.
Though many of her students are in high positions, mostly in forces and police, it is the first time that one of them has reached the second highest constitutional position in the country, and his teacher is proud of her “Jagdeep”.
When Dhankar was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal, Nair had spoken to him. She had greeted her old student for being the first person in West Bengal, and had wished that he goes on to become the first person in the country.
Dhankar had sent an invite to his teacher to attend his swearing-in as the Vice President, but she had expressed her inability to make the long trip. It was then he promised her that on his first visit to the state, he would come and meet her.
After paying his respects to his teacher, the Vice President then left for a quick visit to the Ezhimala Naval Academy, and will return to Delhi in the evening.
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