Malayalis are pioneers in many aspects of our country’s growth, R S Mooshahary, Governor of Meghalaya, told staff and students of Saraswathi Vidyalaya here on Monday. The Governor was inaugurating Edubition 2012, a two-day Arts and Science Exhibition conducted by the school.
“You are fortunate to belong to a very great state and community,” said Mooshahary. “Of the four southern states of India, Kerala may be the smallest, but it is the one that makes its presence felt the most world-wide.”
Stating that it was the Malayali tenacity and sense of adventure that took them to all corners, he said even in Shillong, the capital of his home state Meghalaya, Onam is celebrated every year by the community of 700-odd Keralites living there.
The Governor, who is married to a Malayali, has an association with Kerala that is a long-standing one, having been appointed to the Kerala cadre in the Indian Police Service batch of 1967. He has also served as Director-General of the National Security Guard and Border Security Force.
Advising the students to make the most of their educational opportunities, he said: “Your state is far ahead in human development factors like health and education as compared to all other states. I envy you for when I was growing up, the school I went to didn’t even have a proper roof. We could not afford paper or slates, so we used to write in the soil with our fingers.”
The Governor presented an amount of Rs 3.22 lakh, which was collected by the students of the school, to the representative of HelpAge India for sponsoring some of the elderly people in their care. Former Director General of Police, Kerala, Raman Srivastava, patron of Saraswathi Vidyalaya G Rajamohan and school chairman M R Sukumaran Nair were also present at the function.
Following the inaugural ceremony, the Governor visited some of the stalls put up as part of the exhibition. Projects and innovations by the students in various art and science subjects have been set up in 44 rooms of the school.