Bhubaneswar: For the teachers and students of Capital Girls High School, Unit II in Odisha capital, Tuesday was a day of celebration. For, the school was the alma mater of NDA’s Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
Murmu had studied from Class VIII to XI in the school and passed Matriculation from here also. As some of her contemporaries recalled her, the present teachers distributed sweets among the students and motivated them to follow her footsteps.
Remembering Murmu, who was staying in Kumtala Kumari Hostel, meant for SC/ST students of the school, the wife of then caretaker said the Presidential candidate was a quiet and disciplined girl. “She was very focused on her studies and was never indulged in any frivolous activities,” she said.
Murmu not only studied hard but also helped other students and around 12 boarders of the hostel in their studies. “In fact, she taught my husband how to write his signature,” she said smilingly, while speaking to media persons.
On Murmu’s lifestyle, she said as a girl, she used to lead a very simple and austere life. “There was not much facilities like today. The boarders used to sleep on the floor. They also got their mattresses and utensils from their homes and wash those regularly themselves. Murmu was also doing all these activities as a disciplined student,” she said.
Even after passing Matriculation, Murmu used to live for one year in the school hostel as there was no hostel facility for SC/ST students in RD Women’s College, Bhubaneswar where she had taken admission. Later, she shifted to the college hostel after it was constructed, said the caretaker’s wife.
A present teacher of the school, who was also its student, said she has heard about Murmu from her mother studied in the school at the time. Her mother said Murmu was a simple, innocent and amicable girl. She used to lead a very ordinary lifestyle and studied hard as there was no private tuition at the time.
“We are happy and proud that a former student of our school has been nominated for the highest constitutional post of the country,” she said.
