Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, along with his wife Sudesh Dhankhar, called on his beloved schoolteacher Ratna Nair at her residence at Champad in Kannur on Monday.
Mr. Dhankhar’s visit to Kerala had earlier grabbed national attention when he expressed his desire to visit his teacher who taught him at Sainik School at Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. He was meeting her after 55 years and the occasion turned into an emotional moment for both.
On reaching Anand, the house of Ms. Nair, the Vice President touched the feet of his teacher seeking her blessings and introduced his wife.
Expressing her happiness, Ms. Nair told the Vice President that “there can’t be a better guru dakshina than this.” She vividly remembered him as “a young boy in khaki, sitting in the first row, fully concentrated in the class.”
“He was a very active, well-disciplined, and obedient boy who excelled in all activities inside and outside the class. He was a good debater, a good sportsperson and was good at academics too,” she said.
“The Sainik School at Chittorgarh is a boarding school and students spend about 9 months in a year with their teachers, so they develop long-lasting bonds with teachers,” she said.
The teacher and her family, including her brother Viswanathan Nair, daughter Nidhi, and her husband Mridul, welcomed the Vice President. She also served the Vice President home-made idli and banana chips.
Mr. Dhankhar had arrived on a special flight of the Air Force which landed at the Kannur international airport at 1.33 p.m. He reached Ms. Nair’s house at 2.20 p.m. where he spent more than half an hour, before returning to the airport.
A.N. Shamseer, Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, was also present.
