My memories of D.M.School date back to 1972 - Biswaranjan Jena

My memories of D.M.School date back to 1972 when we joined the KG class ,though some of the memories are faint and foggy. I remember running around the corridors of the primary section along with Pradeep Das and Sajal Mukherjee. Though I never watched the movie Sholay till much later, it is still fresh in my mind that the dialogues were a such a rage that even RCE students used to enact some scene before our classes begun. I remember crying all the way to my home because I had stood second in Class II.

I remember the stylish turnout of Mr. KASSVK Rao in a 'Disco' shirt and the imposing figure of Mr. S S Das walking to the classroom with a rolled periodic table looking like a staff. Pujas at the school were much cherished and students eagerly waitied for the 'Chuda Ghasa'. I remember the First Terminal Maths result in Class V, when all students fared very badly, the highest being 70. Our class giving a tough fight to senior classes in football when in class IX was a great achievement.

I remember the expectancy with which we would wait for the snacks that was served after the NCC class. Mr. PN Mishra along with the students would do their best to get a first prize for the school in the Republic Day Parade. But despite our best efforts, the prize always eluded us. I remember the satisfaction of coming 4th in the 4 km NCC road race, despite never practising for it. The NCC camp at Khandagiri was an experience of a lifetime.
Moving around Bhubaneswar triple seat in a cycle, going all the way to Forest Park, even OUAT, after school hours is still fresh in my mind.

I remember the Kabaddi matches in which we would cheer our class team vociferously. Jayanta Mukherjee performed really well in the music competitions. In the fancy dress competition, Subrat Dwivedi stole the show for his comic acts and mimicry. Annual day function was eagerly awaited due to the plays, particularly the Odia play on the last day.
I remember the divide between the boys and girls in our section, each group trying to be one up on the other. I remember Sambit Mishra for his elegance, Subodh Sarangi for his quiet diligence, Sajal Mukherjee for his passion for cricket and other sport, Pradip Das for his harmless mischief, Pradip Mishra for his fearless candour, PB Vasudevan for his tenacity despite failures in his passion for singing and cricket, Rajesh Das for his friendly nature, Madhulita for her hard work, Ashish Roy and Biswajit Dash for being late bloomers, Saroj Kar for his histrionics in Odia. The list seems endless.

Though my association with students from other sections was limited to a few, our friendship has stood the test of time. I remember Rajesh Srivastava, Minakshi and Sipra for the much needed healthy competition in the class that helped all of us excel academically. Rajesh Chintak got laurels for the school by getting selected for the Republic Day Parade in Delhi. Amiya Ray was single-mindedly working towards excelling in cricket and later became one of the first from the school to represent the state in Ranji Trophy. Shared great comraderie with Tridib, Tariq, Satyakam, Debjit during our NCC days. The excursion to Hyderabad, Ajanta, Ellora was full of hilarious and mischievous incidents which made our bond even stronger. From the C section, I shared good friendship with Sushant and Pradosh Mohanty. Ambuja Chhotray was the one who would come up with atrocious statements intended to trouble the teachers and even some of the classmates who were wary of him despite his small size. Migrank with his flair for the English language and Science subjects kept the flag of the section flying high along with Geeta, Himanshu and Asutosh.