In an evening filled with nostalgia, India's Test captain Anil Kumble was felicitated by his alma mater, National High School, on its 90th anniversary here on Friday. In a simple function befitting the tradition of one of the oldest educational institutions in the city, the school celebrated one of its most illustrious alumnus — Anil K as his roll call reads — amidst deafening cheers from the students.
The programme started with the school's prayer followed by the soulful rendition of the Bhagavad Gita, State anthem and a poem (Baa Marali Sadhankerige...) by noted Kannada poet and Jnanapeetha awardee D R Bendre.
Kumble couldn't stop himself from joining the students when they began to sing the school prayer. "When you started the prayer, it reminded me of my days standing where you are and singing it," Kumble said while addressing the students later. Kumble was a student of the school from 1983 to 86, but the cricketer caught everyone pleasantly surprised by joining the students in the prayer. Even after 21 years, Kumble knew the prayer by heart.
What touched Kumble the most was the school's steadfast adherence to its tradition. “What is heartening to see is that the tradition and culture I saw and inculcated during my days here as a student are still intact. With the progress made in other fields, it's also important that we stick to our tradition," Kumble said while remembering eminent educationist Dr H Narasimhaiah, who led a simple life and lived in a small room in the school premises till he breathed his last.
"I still remember that day when Narasimhaiah addressed us eighth standard students as was the practice. He didn't like cricket much and expressed his unhappiness over people wasting a whole day watching the game and listening to commentary. But when he later came to know that I was playing for India, he began to follow my career keenly," he added.
Mentioning his cricketing days as a student, Kumble, said he received lots of encouragement from the school and how they used to bug their physical teacher A Aslam for the ball. During his time, Kumble was also part of the triumphant National HS cricket team in the BT Ramaiah Shield inter-school tournament. "Usually, either St Joseph's or Baldwins or Cottons used to win the tournament and it was a great moment for us when we managed to win BT Ramaiah," said Kumble. The school hasn't the won the prestigious inter-school tournament since then.
Recalling some of the funny incidents, Kumble narrated how he got do an inspector's role in a drama. “Looking at my height, my teacher told me 'you don the inspector's uniform and stand there, anyway you can't act'," Kumble said. Kumble’s teacher couldn’t have been more accurate. With the Bangalorean what you see is what you get.
The leg-spinner also had a word of advice for the students.
“You need to have great focus in whatever you want to do. Trust me you will achieve everything you aim for,” he advised. Few exemplify those words more than Kumble.