Five decades later, teachers can’t wait to meet ‘the girl with the striking eyes’

Teachers remember "the girl with the striking eyes", the one who "wore long skirts". Others recall a story she wrote for the college magazine — all about a boy who lived with his grandfather in conflict-hit Burma.

Almost five decades after she graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, Myanmar Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi returns to the college on Friday. And all of LSR is waiting to meet her.

In the foyer near the college auditorium, extracts from Suu Kyi's speeches are on display on boards, complete with photographs capturing her many moods.

A cultural programme has been planned in her honour but the details are being kept under wraps. College spokesperson Kanika Khandelwal said: "There is so much excitement on the campus. Our students have been working very hard for the event. We have invited our alumni, including teachers and classmates of Suu Kyi."

Meenakshi Pahuja, programme officer for alumni affairs at LSR, mentioned the short story Suu Kyi contributed to the college magazine.

Nirmala Khanna, one of her teachers, recalled: "I taught her a paper on international relations in 1964-65 when she was in the third year. I remember Suu Kyi's class had around twelve students."

She remembers Suu Kyi as

"a soft-spoken girl", one whose "striking eyes conveyed so much".

It was much later, Khanna said, that she found out that the girl was the daughter of the Ambassador of Burma — Suu Kyi's mother Khin Kyi was appointed Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal in 1960 and Suu Kyi studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary before joining Lady Shri Ram College.

P Tandon, who taught her political science, called her "a keen observer".

"She was a quiet, sober girl. I still remember the long skirts that she used to wear to class."

... contd.

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