Learning the alphabets: There were no nurseries or pre-schools in those days. The starting point of our schooling was the alphabets of Hindi, English and Urdu. We used to write on a wooden plate (takhti) which used to be painted by multani mitti (Fuller’s earth) with the help of a sharpened straw and black ink. The takhti used to be washed and repainted after every use. .Initially, there were no pencils, paper or books and ofcourse there were no bags tied to the shoulders. Our first teacher was Abdul Qadir, an expremely caring and dedicated person. He had a very fine handwriting and because of his multi-lingual background, his pronunciations were phonetically exact and very smooth. As a consequence, we were able to develop a very neat and properly formed handwriting and a capacity for proper pronunciation of words in all languages. That became an obsession, which we have treasured all our life.
Our early schools: I started my formal schooling from class three in a primary school run by the state in a haveli located in the residential area. Those days the teaching of English commenced from class three. Other subjects were hindi and arithmatic. After a year or so, we moved to another school, where the education was upto class six. Those days, normally the headmasters of the school, used to be english teachers. Our headmaster was also an english teacher. He was lame and was very rough and tough. The students were generally very scared of him. Those days the language teachers used to be sticklers about grammer. On one occasion, while taking the class, the headmaster pointed to a word in a sentence and asked a student to identify the part of speech of that word. The student said something and the teacher moved on to the next student and then to the next. The fourth student said noun. Next student said pronoun and in the process all the eight parts of speech were pronounced. The next student again started from noun and one by one, all parts of speech were called by the boys three times. Apparently, the teacher was not satisfied. He went to his room, brought a thick stick and delivered one lashing to each of the students. The teacher never told, what the correct answer was. But, the students learnt the lesson of their life to find out the correct answer themselves.
The state used to arrange the distribution of sweets by weight, individually to all students, teachers and other staff, during festivals and special occasions like Maharaja’s birthday. The children used to line up and carried the packets of sweets home. Those were the little joys of children, which were difficult to fathom at that time. Our next school was Durbar High School, where I studied for one year in class six. The school was functioning in an old state building on the outskirts of the city. It seems, that, the building was perhaps built initially for the border guards and security forces in good old days.
King George V Jubilee High School: Darbar High School was shifted to the newly constructed building of King George V Jubilee High School in the year 1935. It was a magnificent building with imposing structure, built in colonial style. The building was opened by the British Agent General for Rajasthan. It was located about three kilometers outside the walled city on Kota road. It had a large number of spacious and well ventilated rooms, a big assembly hall and all other supporting facilities. The school had a sprawling campus, where liberal facilities for recreation, games and sports were developed. I was studying in class seven when we moved to KGVJ High School. Those were very different days. Most of our teachers were average graduates. Only a few were post-graduates. Some of them became teachers even before their graduation. Hindi and Sanskrit teachers used to be known as Panditji. Urdu and Persian teachers were known as Maulvi Sahib. Panditji and Maulvi Sahib shared a common staffroom provided with wooden takhats and desks. All other teachers had a separate common room with chairs and a big central table. The classes were usually small with an enrolment of about 15 to 20 students in a class. The students generally walked down two to three kilometers from inside the walled city. There were no busses or other modes of public transport. Some of the students and teachers used bicycles, which were imported from Britain or Germany . Books, instruments and other learning material were not available and had to be procured through specific orders by the teachers from outside the state. Final examination of High School was conducted by Rajputana Board and the centre for the examination used to be at Kota. Normally, five to ten students appeared in the High School Examination from Bundi. Those who cleared the board’s examination, were taken into state services and the teachers were often rewarded for the achievement of the school boys. Ours was the first batch in which seventeen students appeared in the High School Examination and all passed. Some of them joined state services and all those who opted for further studies were guaranteed full financial support by the state as long as they continued to pursue their studies successfully. No questions were asked. No applications were invited and no bonds were filled. Everything was left open on the inclination, aptitude, dedication and achievements of the individuals. As far as, I know there is no state or country, where such an unconditional, unqualified and openended support is provided to their people, without any formal bonds or strings.
Games and sports: King George V Jubilee High School had a special place in the games and sports activities of the state. That was the only institution which had spacious grounds and had all the facilities for common games and sports. Outdoor games and sports were a normal part of the life of children those days. Starting from the streets, public parks, bagichis and common outings and picnic places, the children got used to rubbing shoulders with each other. Those days popular outdoor activities in the school were hockey, football and athletics. Almost every student played some game or the other everyday. Inter-class matches and tournaments were regularly organized to provide opportunities to almost all students to participate, improve and excel. These were followed by annual sports meet, where the students participated in track and field events. Finally, there used to be a formal meet between the institution team, the selected team of Bumdi State and team of state police. All students witnessed the contests with great interest and enthusiasm. These contests also helped in the selection of the Bundi State team for the Hadoti tournaments which were held at Kota. Participating teams in Hadoti tournaments used to be from Kota, Baran, Jhalawar and Bundi in addition to two teams from Herbert Intermediate College Kota. Prominent role of KGVJ High School at Bundi and Herbert College at Kota in the promotion of the games and sports activities in the region and the level of their participation at state and inter-state levels is an indicator of the very limited opportunities available to budding youth of the times.
Looking back: King George V Jubilee High School was the only high school and the highest educational institution of Bundi State at that time. There were primary schools and middle schools in the city and other parts of the state. There were no technical training or vocational training institutes in the state. Kota was a comparatively more developed state, but there also the highest educational institution of the state was Herbert Intermediate College, located outside the walled city. Incidentally, Herbert Intermediate College Kota was also the only intermediate college and highest educational institution in Hadoti, which included Bundi, Kota, Baran and Jhalawar.
At that time, Rajputana did not have any university, engineering college, medical college or for that matter any other type of technical or professional institutions. There were two post graduate colleges located at Jaipur and Ajmer in the whole of Rajputana. There were three degree colleges functioning at Udaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner and there were only three intermediate colleges at Kota, Alwar and Pilani. The post graduate colleges of Ajmer and Jaipur and degree colleges of Udaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner were affiliated to Agra University, which was the only affiliating university for Rajasthan, United Provinces, Central India and Berar. However, there was a Board of High School and Intermediate Education for Rajputana at Ajmer which served as the examining and regulating body for all high school and intermediate classes running in different states of Rajputana.
Due to lack of communications there was almost no interaction of students of one state with students and educational institutions of other states. Generally, the students from Bundi went for further studies to Indore in Central Provinces or Agra and Benaras in United Provinces. Due to lack of exposure to the outside world and limited opportunities for growth and development in the states, most of the talented and energetic youth of Bundi and other states, found it extremely difficult to utilize their physical and intellectual capabilities and potential for creative work and spent most of their lives on routine jobs in the states, echoing the words of Thomas Gray:
“ Full many a gems of the purest ray, serene,
Unfathomed caves of the ocean bear,
Full many a flowers are born to blush unseen,
And waste their fragrance in the desert air.”