I am finally taking time out from my busy schedule and blogging this.
It's been almost a month that i have visited GRD and meeting old friends after 16 years - but memories are still fresh.
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| The new look to the building - GRD |
01st Sep, 2011 (GRD Academy)
We had left early from the hotel as we had a busy schedule ahead of us. Visiting GRD, meeting Principal Sir and then to visit Mussoorie for the night.
After a hearty meeting with Principal Sir and Maam – we decided to have a look at our school.
Gosh – we could not believe that something’s have not changed at all.
The entrance where Principal’s Office used to be – the bajri is still there. It now looks swanky,,,I could see a bunch of new faces glued to their computers. Spotted an old GRD fella working – but can’t recall his name.
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| Maam, Hardeep, Kanwaldeep, Kushwinder, Rajiv, Sir, Nitin, Sachin, Harmeet |
What is GRD right now:
GRD is right now a full fledged college. Mostly into Bachelor’s Degree courses – B.Pharma, B.Tech – well, I did not even bother to enquire more as I new – it’s the business and the cash flows they are more interested in,,,, GRD right now has shifted to a remote location somewhere near the Doon School,,, (will write much later on this)
Old School Building, Girls and Boys’ dorms – while we visited the buildings – seemed we were catching to the old memories of GRD,,,now – it rather looks more complete, well kept and neat. The study building has now a superb look,,only that I found the old Golden bell missing. The boys area has been divided based on the studies one does – so all the boys of the B.Pharma reside on 1 floor,,,
Many of us were interested where we used to reside – Blue, White and Gold House,,,the balconies are missing now and the back of the building looks much dilapidated,,,,
The forest at the backyard still remain as it is – lush, green and quiet as ever – wish it remains the same and not been bombarded by the urban development,,
We did not get time – or would rather say – not allowed to enter in the girl’s vicinity – Girl’s Dorm.
The Dining room is now in 2 floors. We just had a look at the basement – flowery colored benches remind me of the old school days. If you have a peek at the menu – looks and sumptuous – Butter Chicken, Eggs and Aloo Parantha,,,wish we had this during our time,,,,I guess the students must be paying a bomb to study here.
The Basket-Ball courtyard is still there except that the poles are missing. If you recall – where we used to have the lawn tennis court – a new Basket Ball facility has come up and looked pretty good.
The Tibetan area at the back does not exist any more. As I heard – there was a big hue n cry over this – but the administration had taken over,,,
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| new school area - Rajiv, Harbans Sir, Raja Singh, Kanwaldeep, Nitin, Hardeep |
Now, they have a Hockey ground,,,,I could not spot any horses. Well, in our time – Horse riding was rather a dream. The horses were fed so much that they could not even move or walk.
The only souls that we really for a moment in school was meeting Birgu Bhaiya and Sant Ram – check out the photos. When I met Birgu Bhaiya – hats off to his memory – he could recall everyone’s name. He was courteous as ever n smiling. Sant Ram – as tall as ever – was eager to meet us.
The New GRD
The new GRD is somewhere near the Doon School area. Please forgive me – I cant recall the place as it was getting dark when we visited. Spotted Harbans Sir – he is now the Head Master of the new school. The campus is new and is getting build,,,the same old story while we were new in GRD-Rajpur– 20 years ago,,,,the place is superb and is at an ideal location. We met Raja Singh – unbelievable to see him with the same old energy and enthusiasm.
Nazi tried his luck to play some basket ball while I was busy clicking photos. It was very nice of Sir and we sat to have Coffee and recall our old times. As always - i was not tuned with the nuances of Punjabi - so half of the conversation was buzzing over,,,,
My View and Opinion –
GRD as an institution has changed a lot. It has grown bigger by the day – they have a school in Ludhiana and 2 branches in Dehra Dun. I only wished if they had an Alumni association or they could be chances of doing this,,,
I really enjoyed visiting school and cherishing the old moments we had in back then. Above all, it was wonderful meeting old school mates and my best friends, Principal Sir / Maam
If you happen to finish reading this blog, take out time , creat an event on Facebook, dig out time to pull out phone numbers and start calling - thanks to Nitin & Hardeep, Facebook and other classmates for the wonderful effort to make this happen. When i recall - meeting friends after 16 years - that's amazing,,,
Everyone is busy in life but when you get to meet old friends and that too a dozen of years - you would laugh n laugh your way out of the wickedest things, screw ups, fuck ups, crashes, infatuations n some unheard stories,,,,
Our's was a wonderful trip and we still laugh over it