[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 23 Jun: In a moving gesture, a former teacher’s ashes were immersed in the river at the place where he had started his teaching career in Arunachal Pradesh.
Govind Gopinath Khandekar, who hailed from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, was a teacher working in Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya (VKV). He was the first principal of VKV Shergaon in West Kameng district. Later he served in various VKVs in the state. But his deep affection for his former school remained strong.
He had made a wish to his family and friends that his ashes be immersed in the Shergaon River after his death.
Khandekar recently passed away, and his former students joined hands together to fulfil his last wish. On Saturday his ashes were immersed in the Shergaon River by members of the VKV Alumni Association.
Former VKV Alumni Association chairman Taba Tatup brought back the ashes to Shergaon from Delhi, where Khandekar’s last rites were performed. A large number of people, including village elders, panchayat leaders, and former students turned up to pay their last respects to late Khandekar at the time of immersing his ashes.
“This move touches the heart and makes one’s eyesteary to see the attachment one has for the place where his teaching journey started. People usually wish their ashes to be immersed in the Ganga River. But beloved late Khandekar sir wished it to be Shergaon. That’s the utmost respect one can have for a place where he worked,” the VKV Alumni Association posted on Facebook while paying tributes to late Khandekar.
