Aruna and Swraj Paul with Sister Christine and Thomas D’Souza at the unveiling of the foundation stone of the new Loreto College wing on Wednesday

An old girl helped her alma mater grow in the city on Wednesday.

“I am so glad to be back here. This place has so many memories for me,” said Lord Swraj Paul’s wife Aruna after unveiling the foundation stone for a new wing of Loreto College on Wednesday.

The Pauls’ connection with the institution goes back a long way. Lady Paul is a former student of both Loreto House and Loreto College and even taught at the school. Three of her four children, including her twin sons, studied at Loreto House.

The new wing, called Mary Ward – Lady Aruna Paul Wing, will come up on the proposed fourth floor of the college building on Middleton Row and will be constructed with financial support from the Ambika Paul Foundation and the UGC.

“When Sister Christine (Coutinho) told us about her dream to expand the college, I told her don’t worry. You do what you need to, I will find the money,” said Lord Paul, addressing the audience at the programme held on the occasion on the college premises. He promised to do his best if the college planned to expand further.

Students sing hymns at the programme. Pictures by Arnab Mondal

He spoke passionately about his association with the expansion project, the need for girls’ education and about Calcutta and dedicated the new wing to his daughter Ambika, who died of leukaemia when she was two years old, and his brothers Jeet and Surrendra.

“Calcutta has a very special attachment for me. I consider it home…. I have not been here since Jeet Paul’s death. I wanted to take this occasion to pay tribute to these two brothers…. Ambika has given us so much. Whatever I have been able to achieve till this day is a tribute to that girl,” said Lord Paul.

Sister Christine, the principal of the college, wants to start a postgraduate department and a research section in the new wing.

“This was part of our commitment during our jubilee year. We had also promised to start economics honours and we have already started that. The UGC set the ball rolling when it sanctioned us a jubilee grant for the vertical expansion of a part of the college building…. Little did I realise when I emailed Lady and Lord Paul that their kindness and encouragement would enable us to put up a new floor in one wing of the college building. This is my dream and I am going to work very hard to make sure it is realised,” Sister Christine told Metro.

Aruna recounted her association with Loreto. “My twin boys were admitted to the nursery class in the school. That was the first time they opened the school to boys. Now, of course, they don’t have it anymore,” she told Metro.

Lady Paul spoke fondly of her college, describing her memories as “beautiful” and “happy”. “Besides learning a lot and making lifelong friends, I had a very good mentor among the nuns and I have been able to do things 100 per cent, I think, because of my college education,” she said. She met some of her former colleagues at the function, where the students performed.

Alumnae, past and present teachers, Loreto sisters and past principals of Loreto College attended the programme. The Archbishop of Calcutta, Thomas D’Souza, blessed the foundation stone.

Lord Paul was vocal about the need for more women’s colleges in the country and urged the audience to invest in education of women. “The events of the last six months have made us hang our heads in shame and it is not an acceptable situation anywhere in the world. We need more education for women, we need more colleges for women and we need to make sure that education is not a business, it is an investment in the future of the country,” said Lord Paul.