Team effort takes Kolkata's RK Mission to new heights

KOLKATA: To borrow the words of Shelley, bare summer suddenly changed to spring on the picturesque lush green Narendrapur R K Mission campus on Friday.
As the news spread about the overwhelming success of Narendrapur students in this year’s higher secondary examinations, OB vans and vehicles marked “Press” thronged the shadowy mango grove in front of the senior school building.In the quaint, otherwise serene surroundings, they looked somewhat out of place. Clad in sky blue and grey, successful students huddled in small groups here and there. If one was attentive to what they discussed, one could point that most of them were happier about the success of their friends than they were about their own results. Akash Dasgupta, for example, could not decide whether he should be more excited about he himself coming fourth, or about Bilwasiva Basu Mallick, his hostel mate for six years, coming first in the state.
“If you want to know what is special about our school, mark this above everything else. We are certainly overjoyed at their success of our students, but here at Narendrapur we try to go beyond academic excellence. We try to instill in these young minds qualities that will make them good human beings, not only high-scoring students. That they can share their joys and sorrows with equal ease is a greater success of our system,” said the reticent Swami Vedpurushananda, the headmaster of the school.
“There is no magic. It is a team effort by the students, teachers and guardians. Swami Vivekananda wanted education to enable one to manifest one’s potential. The system students follow here – a disciplined and well-balanced life, extra-curricular activities and sports, 100% attendance in the classroom, a community life – helped in bringing out their potential to the fullest. The result reaffirms our faith in the system,” the swami added, visibly ill-at-ease in front of blazing flashguns and TV booms.
Sarad Kr Mirani, the bursar of the school, who has been at Narendrapur for almost five decades now, said, “One has to remember that our students did not take private tuition. They had to follow hostel routines everyday. They did not miss going to the playground on a single day. They took part in all campus activities. In spite of that, they did so well. Optimum use of the classroom hours is one big secret of this success. And there is no denying the fact that this year we had a very good batch. Many of them were Madhyamik rank-holders.”
Talking about classroom teaching, English teacher Jayanta Das said, “We stuck to the basics. We took care to finish all exercises. We introduced digital classrooms. Since there were no private tutors to fall back on, students utilized the class hours as best as they could. Language teachers took extra care to ensure our students did not lag behind others in Bengali and English. Ten students scored 100 in Bengali. This made a big difference.”
Akash agreed. “Headmaster maharaj told us at the beginning of Class XI that we should study the languages diligently. We did so and it paid rich dividends. Living in hostel is another big advantage. We knew each other’s shortcomings and helped each other overcome those. We were our own private tutors,” he said, the shine in his eyes unmistakable.
Many years ago, at a meeting with teachers, the legendary Swami Lokeshwarananda, the founder of the ashrama, had said, “I have not created Narendrapur for finishing syllabi on time. There are other schools which are doing that job religiously. Look beyond that.” RKM Narendrapur has certainly kept his words in mind. It is his lessons, above all, that still send fresh breeze to the beautiful campus here, and give the feel of spring even in the May heat.