Alumni Meet of Sri PUSHPAM COLLEGE, POONDI September 26 2026

 Alumni Meet of Sri PUSHPAM COLLEGE, POONDI September 26 2026

 

We all know that the education market in India is indeed very large. Education, as we understand it, has several compartments in it. To begin with, we have primary and secondary education, which will ideally be followed by collegiate and vocational education.

At this stage, there is a professional stream which normally encompasses medicine, Nursing, law, teaching, etc. At the apex level, there is research and evolving policy right for ensuring the optimal blossoming of human resources.After Indian independence, and the adoption of the welfare-state model of the Constitution, including Reservation for Backward and Oppressed classes in today's India education in India is definitely getting more broad-based and inclusive.

One can say that, at least in respect of primary and secondary education, universal enrolment has percolated to the Indian grassroots. Even the children of the poor and oppressed are enrolling in elementary and higher secondary schools. The consolation is that we have done better than Pakistan, Nepal, Burma  or Sri Lanka. In the northern and eastern parts of India, one has to seriously introspect whether we have achieved the universal enrolment goal in respect of primary and secondary education.

Under law, anyone below 15 years is a child. Child labour in India is prohibited. So, between the ages of 5 and 15, every Indian resident will have to spend his time in school. Thereafter, the learner has a choice. When they becomes 16, they can probably become part of the labour force, if they wish and gets a chance.

I know that some of my classmates who completed their SSLC (secondary school leaving certificate) enrolled in colleges for pre-university or polytechnic education.After joining  graduate degrees, many started applying for jobs, entry-level jobs, particularly lower-division clerks, telephone operators, etc in Union and State governments departments and completed their education while being in job.

By the time they completed their second year in college, many of them had got jobs. So, they had a choice of education or discontinuing it and take a government job. You knew that, while being in job, after some time, you could get yourself posted to the place of your choice, where you have a reasonable economic infrastructure. Many  had done that. When I passed my SSLC in 1972, I joined for my pre-university course at AVVM SPC Poondi, A. Veeraiah Vandayar Memorial Sri Pushpam College, Poondi. I completed B.SC in Zoology in 1973-1976.

2.  Two of my brothers also enrolled for their college education in the same college. We walked 1.5 kilometres to the railway station every morning, caught the 8.05 Am, two-compartment small steam locomotive passenger train to Needamangalam, and then changed into the Nagore–Tanjore seven-compartment medium-sized steam locomotive and got down at Kudikadu for us to go to our college. My poor mom had to provide a meal in the morning and lunch for the afternoon, when there was no LPG or reliable  cooking appliances that we take for granted in a middle class kitchen.

In 1972, the Tamil Nadu Government had just opened a college at Mannargudi, known as Mannargudi Rajagopalaswamy Government Arts College. But still, my parents felt that AVVM SPC was a better college.Actually, it involved a travel time of about five hours a day, which, I think in retrospect, was not a good idea. But nevertheless, you know, getting a seat in the first list of SPC Poondi was a big deal for most in the district.

So, I completed my Pre-University Course there. After minor hiccups, I passed PUC in the first attempt and continued my graduation in B.Sc. Zoology.At that point of time, the Unified/Old Tanjore district, which now comprises Tanjore, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayavaram districts, had just four to five colleges. Tanjore had Raja Sarfoji College and a Government Medical College.Kumbakonam had Government College. Mayavaram town could boast of another college, A.V.C. College, Mannampandal. Adirampattinam had its own college,Khanderia Mohideen College, if I am not mistaken. There was Rajah's College in Pudukottai. But that was a different district.The other big college in the Tanjore district was SPC Poondi.I must state that locating a college in the hinterland of Tanjore district was a big boon to the population of the district of Tanjore.

A lot of people who had been too poor to pursue their dreams of graduation were able to do so because of AVVM SPC. I remember that the hostel was always full. The room which was meant for two people easily accommodated four to five people. Benches meant for accommodating four people actually accommodated five students.

In fact, many of the students who would have been eligible for the Tamil Nadu Government Backwards Class scholarship did not even pay the mess bill until their scholarship amount was finally disbursed before the end of the academic year. In fact, the college management had an undeclared obligation to ensure that the mess bill of the hostel for the students did not, in any way, exceed the total scholarship money which was meant for students belonging to backward classes. The food was reasonable, considering the monthly Mess Bill we paid.Like most students, I have also complained about the hostel food and the canteen food. But nevertheless, when I look back, I think the Founders and the Management of the college in the past have done a yeoman's service in establishing and continuing to run the college as an institute of graduate/ post graduate /place of learning in what could not be considered as one of the educationally advanced districts, at least in comparison with its  neighbouring Trichy district.

Of course, people would presume that Tanjore, being the headquarters of the Chola Kings, would be one among the most developed districts in the state of Tamil Nadu. It was not to be. In fact, there were many students who came to college in their four-yard single and humble dhotis. It is not unusual to  see students who did not wear chappals. Most of us travelled by train on season tickets which were subsidised by the Union of India. In fact, the Kudikadu railway station was made into a stop essentially for the students of Sri Pushpam College, Poondi.

 Changes:Overhead electric traction & Broad gauge railway

3. I have known that a lot of people who studied at Sri Pushpam College, Poondi, subsequently migrated to big towns like Chennai, Bangalore, Bombay, Delhi, Jaipur, Pune and lots of other small towns and made a credible living for themselves. A good lot have migrated to the Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia; some went to Europe and the USA.But the basic graduate degree was acquired by them at AVVM SPC at a very low cost.

I remember that we did not have comfortable, exclusive seats as we have today in self financing educational institutions. In the SPC Poondi Zoology Lab, it was just a good independent stool and a table, not even a chair with a backrest. But no one complained; everyone knew that they received more value from the college than the fee they paid to the college.

In the pre-university classes, where the benches could quite ideally accommodate four students , actually five people sat on it. Well, there had been minor deficiencies in terms of the physical amenities. But I must definitely state that most of the faculty whom we had were erudite, competent and sincere people who had commendable professional ethics as teachers.

On the whole, I think that my experience at AVVM SPC was an important event in my life. I spent four  years on the campus. As a learner, I had always been in touch with all my alma maters.Even today, at the age of 70, I am in touch with my classmates of elementary school , high school , from AVVM SPC, Government Law College Puducherry, and the Department of Legal Studies, University of Madras.

4. Then I used to think that the travel from Mannargudi to Kudikadu every day by train, spending about five hours each day, took a big toll on my academic performance.Now I know that I was just looking for excuses. There were a lot of people who did academically very well, like my friend V. Rajagopal, alias Jyoti, who was pretty good and excelled in a lot of things, actually.Afterwards, I joined law at Government Law College Puducherry. I felt that I had become a student of professional education in a more urban environment. But, in comparison, I then regarded my time in GLC, Government Law College Puducherry, as far more rewarding than the time that I had at AVVM SPC.The reason was essentially the five hours of commuting. Towards the later stages of my collegiate education, my parents tried to minimise this trouble by putting me in a hostel, which I think helped me a lot. I still visited home every weekend to be with my parents.

To my greatest regret, somehow, I could not remain in continuous touch with my college. So, when the college announced the alumni meet on September 26th and 27th, a few days ago, I thought I would go back. Believe me, the experience was worth it. I met two of my batchmates. One guy from Commerce, Sridhar another guy Badri from B.Sc. Physics. Both have sort of semi-retired. Settled well in life.

Murali, Sridhar, Badri

I am one who retired without taking a full-fledged job because I am a lawyer. We lawyers all declare it to be a profession that we pursue. It is not really employment in the real sense of the term.

Besides being a lawyer, I was also a teacher. So,  one day I hope to visit my old classroom again and engage with the current learners .The incentive is now  there are now girl students!Then there was not even a women faculty.Now I am happy to see my college co educational and boasts of many smart and competent women faculty.

I must state that the foresight and commitment of the visionaries such as Veeraiah Vandayar, Appavu Vandayar, Krishna Swamy Vandyar, and their descendants had gifted Sri Pushpam College, Poondi to the residents of TanjoreDistrict.

Today, I hear that, due to the opening of several educational institutions in and around Tanjore, the relative academic significance or the academic standing of Pushpam College, Poondi, has come down. But AVVM SPC will continue to shape the future of many learners who are economically disadvantaged.The fee charged by the college is very affordable in comparison with the neighbouring private colleges.

But I must add that the college management, under the present leadership, has done everything possible to integrate vocational courses such as biotechnology, computer science, physical education, etc.

Correspondent T. Krishna Swami Vandayar during alumni meet 

The college has introduced the B.P.Ed. course which is focusing more on Indian games such as kabaddi rather than on tennis  or cricket, which I think is very important and significant. Even when I was a student the college had a Tennis court .I am sure that in due course of time AVVM SPC will score an academic century. My humble PRANAMS and utmost admiration to the illustrious Vandayar  family of Poondi. They definitely made TANJORE District a better place to live in. AVVM SPC Poondi has substantially improved the academic level of Tanjore district and will continue to discharge this mission for the foreseeable future.