Students of Stewart School in Cuttack take out a rally on the 114th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on Sunday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 23: Stewart School, which is managed by the Diocese of Cuttack under Church of North India, organised a students’ rally today to pay tribute to one of its most illustrious alumnus, Subhas Chandra Bose, on the occasion of his 114th birth anniversary.

Students marched through the streets of the city to Netaji Birthplace Museum, carrying a portrait of Netaji and shouting slogans in praise of the charismatic leader. They held placards too that had some of his famous one-liners such as “Give me blood, I will give you freedom”.

“It is a thing of great pride for us that Netaji was once a students of our school,” said student Koustubh Mohanty. A cross section of the students participating in the rally echoed Koustubh. Teachers accompanied them.

Subhas Chandra Bose had received six years of elementary education in this institution, which was formerly known as the Protestant European School. It was managed by the Baptist Missionary Society.

The school, which started as an Orphanage School in November 1882, came to be known as Protestant European School in 1891. In the same year, it opened its doors to Indian students. It was re-christened Stewart School in 1919 after its founder, civil surgeon William Day Stewart.

According to the official chronicle on admissions of Stewart School (now a part of the exhibits of the Netaji Birth Place Museum) J.N. Bose, then a flourishing lawyer in Cuttack, had got his son Subhas Chandra Bose admitted to the school on October 8, 1902, and had given January 23, 1897, as his date of birth.

The school records said “he had attended no other school” and in his case “exemption from religious instruction” was “not claimed”. He continued his education there till he was promoted to Class VII.

When he left the school after completing the academic session in Class VI on December 32, 1908, his character was certified as “very good”, the record states. J. Young was the principal of the school when he attended classes.

“To mark the birth anniversary, a meeting was also organised in the school before the rally,” principal Asha Margaret Das said.

In 2009, the school management had named a house “Subhas” after Netaji. Earlier, the school had four houses — Youngs, Bamfield, Biggs and Roberts — all named after former principals.

Lalmohan Patnaik

Cuttack, January 23 - Stewart School managed by the Diocese of Cuttack under Church of North India today organized a rally of students today to pay tribute to one of its most illustrious alumni Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of his 114 th birth anniversary.

The school students marched through the streets of the city to the Netaji Birthplace Museum in a procession carrying a portrait of Netaji and shouting slogans on the charismatic leader and placards carrying some of his famous lines like “Give me blood, I will give you freedom”.

“It is a thing of great pride for us that Netaji was once a part of our school”, said Koustubh Mohanty, a student. A cross section of the students participating in the rally echoed the same. Teachers accompanied the students.

Subhash Chandra Bose had received six years of elementary education in this institution then known as “Protestant European School” managed by the Baptist Missionary Society.

The school, which started as an Orphanage School in November 1882 soon came to be known as Protestant European School in 1891 and in the same year its doors opened to Indian students. It was re-christened Stewart School in 1919 after its founder William Day Stewart, a civil surgeon.

According to the official chronicle on admissions of Stewart School (now a part of the exhibits of the Netaji Birth Place Museum) J N Bose, then a flourishing lawyer in Cuttack had got his son Subash Chandra Bose admitted to the school on October 8, 1902, and had given January 23, 1897 as his date of birth.

The school records said, “he had attended no other school” and in his case” exemption from religious instruction” was “not claimed”. He continued his education there till he was promoted to Class VII.

When he left the school after completing the academic session in Class VI on December 32, 1908 his character was certified as “very good”, the record further reveals. J.Young was the Principal of the school when he attended classes.

“To mark the birth anniversary a meeting was also organized in the school before the rally”, Principal Asha Margaret Das said.

Earlier in 2009 the school management had named a house as “Subhas” after Netaji. Prior to it the school had four houses - Youngs, Bamfield, Biggs and Roberts – named after former Principals.