In UP school, February 14 is Family Day

Couples managed to evade the Shiv Sena and, for the most part, even the BJP, but there was no escaping CMS Founder-Director Jagdish Gandhi a...

Couples managed to evade the Shiv Sena and, for the most part, even the BJP, but there was no escaping CMS Founder-Director Jagdish Gandhi again today. As he has been doing in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, Gandhi was there showing the ‘‘right path’’ to city youngsters from the front.

Even as boys and girls boosted sales of card shops, cinema halls and restaurants, the 30,000 students of CMS (City Montessori School) branches were attending special assemblies where they were instructed to celebrate February 14 as ‘Family Day’ and strongly advised against any exchange of cards/gifts to mark the occasion. Gandhi’s ‘‘effort’’ will continue for seven days, with the CMS branches observing ‘Family Week’ from February 14 to 20.

At a press conference in the evening—attended by Gandhi; Principal, CMS Station Road, Aruna Gupta and teachers—10-odd students were even made to tell the assembled gathering about their ‘‘experience’’ of the day.

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‘‘Till last year I thought it was ‘cool’ to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but after today’s assembly, I have done a rethink and will concentrate on my studies and my family and invest in a career-minded approach rather than waste time and money on cards and gifts,’’ proclaimed a solemn Himanshu Sukhwani.

‘‘We have been told to direct our love and emotions towards our family and seek spiritual direction from God,’’ added Ankita Sharma, of Class XI.

Asked what necessitated this measure or the need for educationists to step in, Gandhi said: ‘‘With instances like the Delhi MMS scandal and with cyber cafes providing easy access to pornographic material to impressionable minds, it was time to give the right direction to students.’’

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