It was an evening of music and memories as St. Lawrence High School completed its platinum jubilee.

“It is a matter of great joy and pleasure to be present here and be a part of the concluding ceremony of the platinum jubilee celebrations of St. Lawrence,” said Rev. Fr. Jeyaraj Veluswamy, president of St. Lawrence High School.

Veluswamy shared a short history of the school, retracing its journey through 75 years. “Ever since the Jesuit fathers planted tender saplings at St. Lawrence, they have continued to grow at a steady pace. It has been second home to several Lawrentians across the world.”

Education minister Bratya Basu, who was present as guest of honour, congratulated the school and shared the government’s education plans. “Our chief minister Mamata Banerjee is keen to improve elementary education…. It is essential for educational institutes to retain students. It is important to make learning enjoyable. If we make education enjoyable, dropout rate will decrease,” said Basu, who concluded by quoting former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, “Education is an endless journey through knowledge and enlightenment”.

Altamas Kabir, the Chief Justice of India and the chief guest of the evening, spoke about his schooldays. “I was student of a school similar to St. Lawrence.... CBS run by the Methodist church. Whatever I am today, a large extent is because of the education I received at school. Importance of education is not confined to books. Education is knowledge and knowledge is empowerment. Education is the all-round development of a personality. Any child worth his salt is never going to forget the time they spent in school and value they learnt there.”

Also present on the occasion were Arun Mishra, the chief justice of Calcutta High Court, and S.V. Raman, former deputy director of Max Mueller Bhavan and an ex-student of St. Lawrence.

The evening ended on a musical note with percussionist duo Madhusudan and Gopal Barman creating magic with the khol and tabla, songs by the school choir conducted by Nondon Bagchi, a musical based on The Pied Piper of Hamelin and a performance by Kunal Ganjawala.