IDHAR UDHAR KI BAAT 108 - KV SPIRIT Brig P S Gothra (Retd)

“Which school?” My college roommate, a proud alumnus of an elite Delhi school with marble floors and imported chairs, had asked me with an air of haughtiness. “Kendriya Vidyalaya,” I said. “Which one? You are everywhere!” “Yes,” I smiled. “Exactly.” That’s the thing about us KVites — we aren’t from one school. We’re from all of them. We’re a tribe stitched together by transfers, trunks, and the smell of chalk dust that lingers the same from Leh to Kanyakumari. My father worked for the Army which, meant pack your bags every two years . My schooling began in KV Jalandhar, where the morning assembly in the big ground felt like a national event. The air rang with prayers, pledge and patriotic songs. My mother’s said on day one, “See, beta, real playgrounds, real labs, real learning — and all this without paying a fortune.” She was right. KV gave us affordable quality education with the discipline of a fauj and the heart of India. The teachers weren’t just educators — t...