UDAY : OUR ANNUAL SCHOOL MAGAZINE

Most of our frenz remember , our school used to publish an yearly magazine " Uday" in which only students could contribute Jokes, Stories, Articles , Poems or any sort of light literatuture. It had contents in English ,Hindi and Bengali. Two editors ( school's students of class X ) for each languages were selected as teh editors. However, most of the task was performed by our teacher Shri S K Mishra. He was very respected among teachers and students. Our Headmaster used to believe him a lot. He was not our vice principal but we always thought him as our vice principal.

If somebody's article was selected , he would feel himself at the top of the world. I don't know if it is published during the reign of Shri A Pandey , the current principal  or not. However ,it was beautifully designed and contained a lot of things. For months ,we used to read various things ( obviously nothing in english and Bengali ). The magazine was distributed among students from class I to Class X. Do any body have any copy .... please scan it and mail me at    bhaskarchoumal@yahoo.in or bhaskarchoumal@gmail.com , I shall send it to everybody who will ask for it. If we form an alumni association , we may ask the school to provide a copy from the archives.

The main contents of Uday were :
1. Photgraphs of Annual school function
2. Annual school sports photographs
3. I D Singh addressing to the mass on all occassion
4. Kya aap jante hain ?
5. Hasna Mana Hai
6. Photographs of tours organised by Tantia
7. Stories in all the three languages, poems ,
8. Story of some Mahapurush ....

If anybody has that book , pls share with us!!

Events Celebrated @ Tantia

Perhaps it's in the preamble of our school to create spirit of competition among students. The house teachers were always in the search of talent. Whoever had talent to speak , they just promoted them to speak in various competitions. A fifth standard boys may compete senior boys of class 10 in competitions like Antakshari. Students of different classes used to go in the assembly hall to learn the speeches and poems mostly in Seventh and Eighth period. Even they were directed to extend their timings even after school timings. R.Singh Ist , A Pandey and S P Pandey always tried for young talent , however S K B was very conservative and he always involved boys from class V to X however just before the day of final competition he used to sent only the senior boys. I do remember , Shivaji house , in many competition won between 1986 to 1990 , however , in 1991 due to his conservative policy it collapsed and stood at fourth place in various competition as one of the victims from 1987 to `1990 refused to appear on the day of Antakshari.  After that Shivaji house never stood first for next three years in many inter house competitions.

Various Events which we celebrated :

1. 26 th January - Republic Day - Both in Assembly and in Classes ( V to VIII- Class IX and X were exempted)
2. Saraswati Puja
3. Annual School Sports - Greatest Event of the year
4. Annual School Function either @ Mahajati Sadan or University Institute Hall ( College Square)
5. Tulsi Jayanti
6. Premchand Jayanti
7. Teachers' day
8. Boys' own day ( on the last day before Summer Vacation)
9. Adhoc Function - on 100 th anniversary of some freedom fighter
10 Independence day same as republic day
Inter House Competition @ Assembly hall

1. Hindi Debate -- Different speeches each house one in favour and one against ( Paksh aur Vipaksh)
2. English Debate - One issue  for and against
3. One Hindi Poem - Two candidates from each house
4. One English Poem - Two Candidates from each house
5. Antakshari - Four candidates from each house - House winner and Individual Winners too

Some good memories from these events I will try to write.... keep reading and please contribute on the blog itself !!

The Spirit of Morning Prayers at Tantia

Our school was truly rich in its daily prayers conducted in the assembly hall. I consider myself one of the luckiest students, as I was among the few who regularly sang prayers on the microphone (mike). There were usually four or five of us who had the privilege of standing close enough to see I. D. Singh Sir quietly praying along with the students.

He never sang loudly, but he would softly recite every prayer while standing in the middle of the houses. This itself reflected his deep love for poetry, prayer, and the nation. At least once or twice, he would call all the prayer singers together to discuss issues related to singing—such as problems faced during prayers, the ragas of specific songs, who would sing which prayer on the microphone, who would provide support, and even how to stand properly while reciting “Jana Gana Mana,” our National Anthem.

Although he was he Head Master, only he used to sing prayers while other teachers never. 

We had a strong, disciplined, and committed team that sang prayers every single day. Honestly, it was a matter of great pride to be part of the prayer‑singing group during the assembly. Interestingly, no other teacher—except our Principal (though very strict)—ever sang prayers during the assembly.

---

Daily Prayers and Weekly Hymns

Every day, we would begin with a common prayer composed of seven shlokas from the Rigveda, ending with the Gayatri Mantra. In addition to this daily Sanskrit prayer, one special prayer was fixed for each day of the week.

The day‑wise prayers in the Secondary Section were as follows:

1. Monday – Var De, Vinavadini Var De
   (A prayer dedicated to Goddess Saraswati)

2. Tuesday – Watan Ki Raah Mein Watan Ke Naujawan Shaheed Ho
   (A patriotic song from a Hindi film)

3. Wednesday – Himadri Tung Shring Se, Prabuddh Shuddh Bharati
   (A poem by Jaishankar Prasad, from his play Skandagupta)

4. Thursday – Sare Jahan Se Achha, Hindustan Hamara
   (A poem by Allama Iqbal)

5. Friday – Chishti Ne Jis Zameen Par Paighaam‑e‑Haq Diya Tha
   (Another poem by Allama Iqbal)

6. Saturday – National Anthem – Jana Gana Mana
   (Written by Rabindranath Tagore)

Still I do remember all the prayers :)

Houses of Tantia High School

When we were students at Tantia, the school was officially a Hindi‑medium institution. However, thanks to the efforts of the trustees and our former Headmaster, the great H. S. Sharma Ji, the school always followed the convent school pattern in discipline and conduct. I will write more about H. S. Sharma Ji later, based on what I heard from our teachers, ex‑students, and even outsiders. He was truly an icon of discipline.

To encourage healthy competition among students in sports, debates, and other activities, the school was divided into four houses.

---

Primary Morning Section – Houses

The Primary Morning section was divided into four houses, each with its own house teachers:

1. Alok House
2. Jyoti House
3. Kiran House
4. Prabhat House

---

Primary Day & Secondary Section – Houses

The Primary Day and Secondary sections also had four houses, and their names were common across sections:

1. Pratap House – (R. Singh – First)
2. Vidyasagar House – (S. P. Pandey)
3. Raman House – (A. Pandey)
4. Shivaji House – (S. K. Bhattacharya)

---

House Periods and Discipline

From Class V to Class VIII, every student had to report to their respective houses during the last period of the day in the assembly hall on the ground floor. Usually, three of the house teachers would motivate students to perform better in inter‑house competitions and daily activities.

Students were allowed to tell jokes and stories. Some teachers even permitted film songs during these sessions. However, life was quite different in the fourth house.

Mr. S. K. Bhattacharya was extremely strict about discipline and performance. Any student responsible for a reduction in house marks was punished severely by SKB Sir. If a student came late to school, wore a thread of any colour other than white, or had shoes that were not strictly black and white, the house captain or prefect would deduct marks. The student’s name would then be entered into an old‑fashioned house register that was brought to every house session.

After punishing students, SKB Sir would ask English poems or questions related only to studies.

In contrast, the other house teachers were far more liberal in their attitude. For many, the house period became a time to relax. The best example of this was Shri A. Pandey, whose sessions were the most peaceful.

I will write more about our teachers and the house system later…
Wait 🙂

On Demand --- Names of Students 1992 from Section A and B

Section A was a great section. Most of the boys were padaku ...

1. Manish Didwania ( CA)
2. Nitin Sethia
3. Ajay Chachan

4. S . M .Roshan Bhati
5. S M Rafi Bhati
6. Jitendar Sharma
7. Sanjay Sharma
8. Pawan Agarwal
9. Rahul Sonthalia
10. Sunil Gupta ( Lambu )
11. Manish jain
12. .......Choudhary
13. Anish..... ( the fattest boy of our school )
14. ---------- Maheshwari
15. --------- Bagla
16. Siddharth Sharma ( now a doctor I suppose)
17. Manish Choudhary
18. Avinash Khattry ( Very Naughty ...but my friend)
19. Navin Thirani - Now in Mumbai
20. Vikash Saraogi
21. Umesh Poddar
22. Sanjay Poddar
23. Naushad
24. Vikrant Singh

25. Sunil Gupta

26.Hemant Bagla

27. Hemant Agarwal


I will add.... once i remember ..........

Gems of our School - 1986 to 1994

Many students during 1986 to 1994 were brilliant and extraoridnary. They were pampered by our teachers , they were experts in school sports, education and other extra curricular activities. I was not a Gem , however I remember many of them. Please forgive me If I forget some names :

1. Ram Gopal Bajaj - Headbody when Iwas in class V - personality.
2. Ravindra Agarwal- Good orator and good student - Starmarks
3. Vinod Singh Rathore - Good student and good orator
4. Anand Singh Rathore - Good Orator and student - Brother of Vinod Singh
5. Om Prakash Damani - One of the most Brilliant - Professor in one of the IITs
6. Vishal Sharma - School Cricket team captain
7. Jitendra singh - Two centuries in Inter School cricket competition - CAB
8. Ajay Singhi - Good orator and good Student
9. Sumit Lakhotia - One of the best in Maths
10. Manish Didwania - my batchmate , 1992 batch topper , best in extra curricular acts and Headboy
11. Binay Pathak - Natural Mathematician
12. Nitin Gami- Good Orator and student
13. Sawrab Nayak - Good student
14. Dheeraj Khatri - Good orator and good student.
15. Vineet Khaitan
16. Vikash Khaitan
17  Ramakant Holani - Good speaker and Student
18 Hanuman Agarwal - Head boy of 1987
19. Vinay Kariwal

As and when I remember ... I will update the list ...please contribute with years...

Remembering our Batchmates - 1992

Our batchmates are now scattered across different places. I remember almost everyone, but I do not know much about their present whereabouts or professions. I sincerely hope that through this platform, many of them will reconnect and come forward.

I was in Section C, but we had good friends in Sections A and B as well. Below are the names of my classmates as I remember them:

1. Anand Sharma
2. Amit Sharma
3. Ashish Jain
4. Bharat Gupta
5. Binay Pathak
6. Bhaskar Choumal
7. Chandan Jaiswal
8. Chandan Singh
9. Hare Ram Singh
10. Sanjay Chamaria
11. Vijay Agarwal
12. Vikash Patodia
13. Sumit Agarwal
14. Pawan Kumar Gupta
15. Manish Choudhary
16. Mukesh Dugar
17. Vikash Asthana
18. Jitendra Jain
19. Vikash Kariwal
20. Navin Minda
21. Ashish Agarwal
22. Surendra Ginoria (deceased now :( )
23. Sunil Ginoria
24. Rajeev Khandelwal
25. Pawan Ginoria
26. Shashi Prakash Yadav
27. Subhash Daruka
28. Navin Rungta
29. Amit Mishra
30. Rishi Handa (deceased now :( )
31. Subir Sehgal (deceased now :( )
32. Chirag Shah

Three more classmates were part of our batch. I will update their names as soon as I remember them.

Other friends who once were our classmates 

1. Vishnu Goel

2. Rajiv Khattry

3. Sandeep Jain 

4. Gopal Koiry

5. Rajesh Shah

6. Mukesh Gupta 

7. Parvinder Singh (deceased now) 

8. Anand Kajaria

9. Sanjeev 

10. Rajesh Chomal