<p>About 4,000 former students of Acharya Pathasala (APS) will gather for a reunion on Sunday, marking the first major alumni meet since the institution’s inception in 1934-35. APS began as an informal class for three children and has since grown into a cluster of 14 schools and colleges across Basavanagudi and Somanahalli.</p>.<p>Notable alumni include chemist C N R Rao, the late aerospace scientist Roddam Narasimha, film stars Rajinikanth and Upendra, and singer Lucky Ali. Rao is a Bharat Ratna.</p>.Alumni of 90-yr-old Acharya Patashala to gather for reunion on Sunday .<p>A majority of the alumni attending Sunday’s event studied at APS between 1965 and 2010. According to the APS Educational Trust, 101-year-old G Venkatarao Mainvala is the oldest living alumnus. He studied at APS from 1939 to 1942 before becoming a teacher.</p>.<p>Basavanagudi is the original campus of APS. Families living in and around the area chose APS for its affordability, proximity, and emphasis on sports and culture. Its commerce section in college was in huge demand, and it ran separate high schools for boys and girls until they were merged in mid-2000s.</p>.<p><strong>Playground scenes</strong></p>.<p>The three-acre playground at Basavanagudi holds special memories for alumni who have played sports and led parades as NCC cadets.</p>.<p>Dharani K, who has played university-level volleyball and state-level cricket, recalls, “I lived close by. After breakfast, I would play, return to eat breakfast again, and go to school at 10.30 am.” She is one of 10 siblings, all of whom attended APS High School and almost half graduated from the same campus. “And our father taught music here,” says the 67-year-old.</p><p>Her elder sister R Poornima says the kho kho and kabbadi girls team were started in her time in the 70s. The teams comprised Rakhuma B, K Rama, R Sudha, B A Uma, Gayathri Reddy and several other girls, including Poornima. It was equally daring for girls to wear knee-length skirts while playing these games in a traditional area like Basavanagudi, she recalls. Poornima went on to become first woman editor of a mainstream Kannada daily. </p> .<p>Outside classrooms, classical musician Suma Sudhindra would spend as much time playing kho kho and ball badminton (a dying sport) as the veena.</p>.<p><strong>Mischief days</strong></p>.<p>Actor-comedian Richard Louis, who studied BCom at APS college, says his teachers did not mind his harmless mischief. He got away with making crow noises during lectures and writing on the blackboard ‘If you want to meet us, come to Shanti Theatre’. The idea was to skip class to watch the Hindi film ‘Aradhana’. “One of our batchmates worked part-time at the theatre near South End. We made sure the boys got seats next to their crushes,” the 74-year-old says.</p>.<p>Somashekar Patil also studied BCom and has an anecdote to share about a kind lecturer. “She would say, ‘Mr Patil, your attendance is marked. Now, go out and laugh’. We used to laugh a lot during the class,” says the managing director of an agarbatti brand.</p>.<p><strong>Lasting impressions</strong></p>.<p>Though moving from an English-medium school to a Kannada-medium college was intimidating, Louis found his appreciation for Kannada thanks to lecturers like Korati Srinivasa Rao and Annapurnamma, who used humour and poetry in class.</p>.<p>Mahesh Joshi, president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat, says APS High School and PUC of the mid-1970s made him a good debater and an intellectual. The movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan was at its peak and he took to the streets to protest against price rise. His biology teacher, N Raghunath Rao, instilled in him a sense of punctuality and discipline. A groundnut seller refused to take money from him because of Joshi’s popularity, and Joshi reciprocated by giving the man half his first salary.</p>.<p>Since the institution attracted students from diverse and poor backgrounds, Suma learned to stay “grounded and realistic in life”.</p>.<p>‘<strong>Rajini in disguise’</strong><br>Film star Rajinikanth joined APS High School in the late 1970s and later, their PUC. In his first inter-school drama competition, he won the best actor award. “He visits the Basavanagudi campus, but in disguises <br>ranging from a vegetable seller to a labourer,” says A R Acharya. He also remembers the sugama sangeeta legend C Ashwath drumming on his desk, and Kannada actor Upendra being a “filmy” backbencher.</p>.<p><strong>founder's story</strong></p>.<p>Despite holding an MA in history, N Ananthachar struggled to find a stable job in the 1930s. After brief teaching stints in Mysuru, he worked in Madhugiri in the revenue department, but quit in a day when <br>his senior knocked on his door at 5 pm, after working hours. He then sold coconuts and vegetables in Gandhi Bazaar in Bengaluru. “The elites were saddened to see a Brahmin with a high qualification <br>in such a state,” says A R Acharya, the fifth of his 12 children and an engineering graduate.</p><p>The turning point came when a headmaster mocked Ananthachar, for offering to give a lecture at his school. Following advice from well-wishers, he began tutoring poor children at home. The school was built in 1940, from rocks quarried from the hillock that the municipality had donated. The fee was just Re 1, and money came from donors. The government paid the salaries with a grant, and his wife Narmada Bai provided intermittent funds by pledging gold.</p>.<p>APS was a pioneer in starting evening courses in 1967, enabling many to pursue higher education while working. “Some clerks went on to become bank managers,” he says. “My father even admitted the son <br>of a barber into a diploma course for free. That boy retired as a deputy general manager from a public <br>sector company,” Acharya adds. </p>.<p>In the run-up to its centenary in 1935, the trust plans to host more alumni events and increase alumni involvement to support retired faculty, mentor students, and fund infrastructure, says Vishnu Bharath, president of the trust.</p>
<p>About 4,000 former students of Acharya Pathasala (APS) will gather for a reunion on Sunday, marking the first major alumni meet since the institution’s inception in 1934-35. APS began as an informal class for three children and has since grown into a cluster of 14 schools and colleges across Basavanagudi and Somanahalli.</p>.<p>Notable alumni include chemist C N R Rao, the late aerospace scientist Roddam Narasimha, film stars Rajinikanth and Upendra, and singer Lucky Ali. Rao is a Bharat Ratna.</p>.Alumni of 90-yr-old Acharya Patashala to gather for reunion on Sunday .<p>A majority of the alumni attending Sunday’s event studied at APS between 1965 and 2010. According to the APS Educational Trust, 101-year-old G Venkatarao Mainvala is the oldest living alumnus. He studied at APS from 1939 to 1942 before becoming a teacher.</p>.<p>Basavanagudi is the original campus of APS. Families living in and around the area chose APS for its affordability, proximity, and emphasis on sports and culture. Its commerce section in college was in huge demand, and it ran separate high schools for boys and girls until they were merged in mid-2000s.</p>.<p><strong>Playground scenes</strong></p>.<p>The three-acre playground at Basavanagudi holds special memories for alumni who have played sports and led parades as NCC cadets.</p>.<p>Dharani K, who has played university-level volleyball and state-level cricket, recalls, “I lived close by. After breakfast, I would play, return to eat breakfast again, and go to school at 10.30 am.” She is one of 10 siblings, all of whom attended APS High School and almost half graduated from the same campus. “And our father taught music here,” says the 67-year-old.</p><p>Her elder sister R Poornima says the kho kho and kabbadi girls team were started in her time in the 70s. The teams comprised Rakhuma B, K Rama, R Sudha, B A Uma, Gayathri Reddy and several other girls, including Poornima. It was equally daring for girls to wear knee-length skirts while playing these games in a traditional area like Basavanagudi, she recalls. Poornima went on to become first woman editor of a mainstream Kannada daily. </p> .<p>Outside classrooms, classical musician Suma Sudhindra would spend as much time playing kho kho and ball badminton (a dying sport) as the veena.</p>.<p><strong>Mischief days</strong></p>.<p>Actor-comedian Richard Louis, who studied BCom at APS college, says his teachers did not mind his harmless mischief. He got away with making crow noises during lectures and writing on the blackboard ‘If you want to meet us, come to Shanti Theatre’. The idea was to skip class to watch the Hindi film ‘Aradhana’. “One of our batchmates worked part-time at the theatre near South End. We made sure the boys got seats next to their crushes,” the 74-year-old says.</p>.<p>Somashekar Patil also studied BCom and has an anecdote to share about a kind lecturer. “She would say, ‘Mr Patil, your attendance is marked. Now, go out and laugh’. We used to laugh a lot during the class,” says the managing director of an agarbatti brand.</p>.<p><strong>Lasting impressions</strong></p>.<p>Though moving from an English-medium school to a Kannada-medium college was intimidating, Louis found his appreciation for Kannada thanks to lecturers like Korati Srinivasa Rao and Annapurnamma, who used humour and poetry in class.</p>.<p>Mahesh Joshi, president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat, says APS High School and PUC of the mid-1970s made him a good debater and an intellectual. The movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan was at its peak and he took to the streets to protest against price rise. His biology teacher, N Raghunath Rao, instilled in him a sense of punctuality and discipline. A groundnut seller refused to take money from him because of Joshi’s popularity, and Joshi reciprocated by giving the man half his first salary.</p>.<p>Since the institution attracted students from diverse and poor backgrounds, Suma learned to stay “grounded and realistic in life”.</p>.<p>‘<strong>Rajini in disguise’</strong><br>Film star Rajinikanth joined APS High School in the late 1970s and later, their PUC. In his first inter-school drama competition, he won the best actor award. “He visits the Basavanagudi campus, but in disguises <br>ranging from a vegetable seller to a labourer,” says A R Acharya. He also remembers the sugama sangeeta legend C Ashwath drumming on his desk, and Kannada actor Upendra being a “filmy” backbencher.</p>.<p><strong>founder's story</strong></p>.<p>Despite holding an MA in history, N Ananthachar struggled to find a stable job in the 1930s. After brief teaching stints in Mysuru, he worked in Madhugiri in the revenue department, but quit in a day when <br>his senior knocked on his door at 5 pm, after working hours. He then sold coconuts and vegetables in Gandhi Bazaar in Bengaluru. “The elites were saddened to see a Brahmin with a high qualification <br>in such a state,” says A R Acharya, the fifth of his 12 children and an engineering graduate.</p><p>The turning point came when a headmaster mocked Ananthachar, for offering to give a lecture at his school. Following advice from well-wishers, he began tutoring poor children at home. The school was built in 1940, from rocks quarried from the hillock that the municipality had donated. The fee was just Re 1, and money came from donors. The government paid the salaries with a grant, and his wife Narmada Bai provided intermittent funds by pledging gold.</p>.<p>APS was a pioneer in starting evening courses in 1967, enabling many to pursue higher education while working. “Some clerks went on to become bank managers,” he says. “My father even admitted the son <br>of a barber into a diploma course for free. That boy retired as a deputy general manager from a public <br>sector company,” Acharya adds. </p>.<p>In the run-up to its centenary in 1935, the trust plans to host more alumni events and increase alumni involvement to support retired faculty, mentor students, and fund infrastructure, says Vishnu Bharath, president of the trust.</p>