Himachal CM Sukhvinder Sukhu visits alma mater at Chhota Shimla, interacts with students

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, February 28

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited his alma mater, Government Senior Secondary School at Chhota Shimla today. It was a special day for the school, teachers and students as the Chief Minister was the chief guest of the annual prize distribution function. It was also a memorable occasion for Sukhu’s classmates, who were specially invited to the function.

Going down memory lane, the Chief Minister shared with the students several anecdotes from his school time. “We had bunked classes to see movies. Also, we had stolen apples from an orchard that was close to our school. The childhood is for mischief,” said Sukhu amidst a loud approval from the students. He added, “Nevertheless, you can achieve anything in life through hard work and a strong willpower.”

Sukhu’s classmates also enjoyed relating old memories of the time spent with the Chief Minister. “There’s one incident that still makes us laugh. We had bunked the school for a trip to nearby Junga. We boarded a bus from the rear door, and Sukhu shouted, ‘Jaldi chalo ustadji’. Unfortunately, the driver of the bus was his father and he recognised his voice,” said Kushal Sood, one of his classmates. “You can imagine what would have happened to him when his father reached home in the evening,” he added.

Sukhu’s sister Sanjokta Thakur, who was junior to Sukhu at the school, said that he had to pay dearly for this indiscretion. She said that Sukhu was an outgoing and social person since his childhood. “He always moved around with a lot of friends. He was never alone,” she added.

Sukhu’s classmates recalled that like most of them, he also talked of taking up a government job after Class X. “He got interested in politics when he fought the class representative election in his college. After that, there was no looking back,” said Himesh Sharma, his classmate.

Meanwhile, Sukhu advised the students that hard work and commitment were the key to success and they should not have an inferiority complex. He announced Rs 50 lakh for the school. He also made several announcements for infrastructure improvement at the school, including smart classes with digital displays, digital library, digital office, etc.