‘If the grandfather had 10 acres, the grandson gets half an acre.It’s hard to sustain a family on that. The alternative is industrialisation’

Pandit Neki Ram College. It was Government College, and then it was named after Pandit Neki Ram, a freedom fighter. Then it went to the university, and after I became chief minister, it has reverted back to the government.

• Not quite St Stephen’s or Presidency or Loyola.

But I feel proud of my college, and you must be proud of your college too.

• I believe that India is now being driven by people who come from small towns and non-elite institutions. Otherwise the top of the pyramid would have been too narrow for the country to go forward.

I’m proud of you. You are the editor of The Indian Express, and you have risen from this college to that place. I’m proud of you.

• We are here because you are here and you are doing very interesting things in your state.

Yes, our target is to become the Number 1 state in India. You’ll be happy to know that per capita investment in Haryana is the highest (in India) at Rs 78,500 this year.

• Can we take a look around the college? Not very much seems to have changed.

It’s almost the same, the same grounds, the same principal’s office. There’s the tennis court where I used to play.

• I went to the principal’s office and most of the portraits are the same — Chandrashekhar Azad, Subhash Chandra Bose, just as in many small-town colleges. There are some of students of this college who died fighting terrorism or in Jaffna (during the IPKF operations). This college produces a lot of soldiers.

It has produced many personalities. There are many from this college in the defence services. There are generals and major-generals serving the country. I met my teachers.

• So did I.

Prof Srikanth, Mr Rathi and all. I was perplexed. I was so happy I couldn’t even talk to them.

... contd.