BENGALURU: One can easily mistake this government primary school in Basavanagudi for an IT company, given its stunning glass exterior. What makes this Kannada Model Primary School special is that superstar Rajinikanth spent his formative years here.
It was a crumbling 99-year-old structure when it was decided in 2007 to rebuild the school. Bearing the safety of 400-odd boys and girls studying here from classes I to VII, the then school president Somasundaram Dikshit wrote to the then chief secretary T N Chaturvedi, urging that this BBMP-run school be rebuilt.
Today, a total `1.53 crore has been invested in this stylish, three-storeyed structure in Gavipuram Guttahalli, which is set for inauguration in the first or second week of June.
The school now has 25 new computers, filtered drinking water facility, five toilets in each of the floors, high quality blackboards and a steel-barricaded compound wall for the safety of the children.
When the school doors open in June to ring in the academic year, it will also bring income to the auto drivers, hawkers and small-time vendors.
For the last five years, the students had been shifted to a nearby corporation school to pursue their studies.
Rajinikanth’s classmate from Class I to VII (1957 to 1964) G ‘Rajini’ Murugan has dedicated most of his time in the last five years in ensuring that the school building becomes a reality. He was spotted on Thursday at the construction site where the finishing touches were being given.
Dividing time between his battery business and overseeing the construction of the new school, Murugan told Express, “The name ‘Rajinikanth’ opened all doors for us. In 2008, the Yeddyurappa-headed BJP government offered the maximum share of `81.4 lakh. MP Ananth Kumar offered `25 lakh while Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya contributed `30 lakh, apart from convincing his friends and supporters to provide the remaining amount.”
“This school is my tribute to my childhood friend and is my lifetime achievement. I have struggled for one square meal a day and have studied in shabby government schools. I have always wanted children from underprivileged backgrounds to study in well-equipped schools.”
It was an uphill task initially.
“Though the education department received `81.4 lakh from the state government, the neighbouring Gosai Mutt insisted that the school land belonged to them. This held up the work till 2011. I approached the State Human Rights Commission impressing on the need for the children to have a safe school and it gave an order in our favour in 2012,” he said.Headmaster C Gurappa also played a crucial role in making the new school a reality.
I can’t wait to join school, says girl
With the inaugural date approaching, there is a buzz of excitement among students and parents alike. Nine-year-old Gayathri is eagerly waiting to step into her new classroom. “I will join Class IV there. I am so happy just to look at it from outside. I want to become a doctor,” she says. Her mother R Padma, wife of an autorickshaw driver, whose three other children also study in Kannada Model School, says, “I feel proud when I think that our children study in such a good-looking government school. The fact that Rajini sir studied here makes it so special.”
The school shot into national limelight when the actor gifted one of his former teachers, 78-year-old B N Shantamma, Rs 3 lakh on Teachers’ Day in 2013.