Dressed as Netaji, a child prepares for I-Day celebrations. Picture by Pabitra Das

Students and guardians entering Delhi Public School, Ruby Park, on August 15 will be greeted by Abhinav Bindra in the foyer.

Well, it’ll be a giant collage of photographs and newspaper clippings highlighting the Olympic hero. “That is our way of honouring Abhinav Bindra, who has made us proud. We also mentioned his achievements at a special Rakhi assembly on Thursday,” said the school’s principal, Anushree Ghosh.

The boy with the golden gun has clearly fired the I-Day imagination of students. “This August 15 we have a spring in our step, thanks to Bindra. Watching the Tricolour unfurl and hearing Jana Gana Mana being played at the Beijing Olympics was so special,” smiled Pankaj Gupta, a Class IX student waiting eagerly for the flag-hoisting in school on Friday morning.

While some like The Heritage School hailed the rifle-shooter the very day he struck gold, others like Loreto House added him to their list of national heroes on the eve of August 15. “We had a special assembly on Thursday where students read out famous speeches and penned poems on freedom fighters. Bindra’s achievement found special mention at the assembly,” said Amrapali Jana, a Class VII student.

If it’s mention moments for some, it’s memento time for others. Mahadevi Birla Higher Secondary School is planning a special gift for Bindra. “We will be sending him a congratulatory scroll with signatures of all 3,500 students. We want to make it about 10 yards long,” said Malini Bhagat, the principal.

Thursday’s commemoration of the 25-year-old Olympian was special at Calcutta International School (CIS) as it formed a part of the assembly to mark the independence days of India, Pakistan and Korea. “Even the foreign students cheered our national hero enthusiastically,” said CIS principal Anuradha Das.

At some schools, the achievement was woven into assignments for students. “We had an Independence Week in the run-up to August 15, where students staged various programmes. Bindra’s achievement was mentioned in one of them,” said Devi Kar, the principal of Modern High School.

Students at Don Bosco School, Park Circus, were quick to put up charts on the Olympics, with the focus on Bindra of course, in classrooms. Teachers at Birla High School for Boys were gearing up to mention Bindra as a “role model” at the Independence Day celebrations.

The one rider came from Sunirmal Chakravarthi, the principal of La Martiniere for Boys’: “Bindra’s achievements are obviously a matter of pride, but at the same time, we feel sorry for the fate of weightlifter Monica Devi.”