Reminiscences from my School

REMINSCENCES – SCHOOL DAYS
PRINCIPAL MR RAVI SHANKAR TIWARI
One personality which dominated kv ranikhet for a long time was Mr Ravi shankar tiwari principal of kvr. Let me describe him. He had a round face ,high cheekbones, small chin and large threatening eyes . a thick mass of hairs protruding out of his ears giving him an authority of a stern master which he was.His complexion was fair.He was from kanpur but came to love Ranikhet and didnot voluntarily tried to get a transfer.If a pricipal must be one whose mere name and look should instil fear in students and teacher alike then he was a model principle.He had a wooden bamboo stick which remained with him round the clock during school time and was his main instrument of control. I dont know how many of you had the good fortune of tasting the impact of that stick but i do have. He had perfected to use this stick with utmost effect. That is ,what should be the height of the stick from your extended palm and with what force it should fall down . The result was if you got four thuds(which was usual) your palms were swelled almost to double of its size and took at least four -five hours to come back to normal.He had a blunt and rough style of interaction .Once when a school cleaning mission was going on (we collected the litter around school campus or worked on flower beds weeding out grass etc in such times) a girl came up to him enquiring where she should dispose some scraps of papers she had gathered and which were in her hands.Irritated he replied this way- Lao meri jeb mein dal do. Aur log kahan dal rahe hain?
He was hard on teachers too particularly young ones.A young lady music teacher frequently bore the brunt of his style. She was new and had not yet perfected harmonium. During ‘Daya kar dan’ her harmonium often went out of tune with the prayer. She was reprimanded in front of the whole assembly for this- ‘kucch seekh ke aayee ho ya aise hi chalee aai ho’ .
But having said this it must be said he was a good administrator. I never saw any parent coming to fight with him .Nor i saw any teacher talking to him in a raised voice.He was at kvr for ,i think, about ten years and the school had a good reputation in the city during his tenure. Above all he loved the school and town . it means he loved nature. These lines will never
reach principal R S Tiwari but i must record my admiration for all he contributed to the school in his own way. His persona was forceful enough to remain unforgettable to many students like me.Best wishes to you Sir wherever you are.