Ex-students surprise retired teacher in Mangalore by gifting gold necklace worth Rs 2 lakhs

The Darul Islam Aided Senior Primary School alumni gathered to gift their beloved teacher Jayalakshmi R Bhatt a 33-gram gold necklace worth Rs 2 lakhs. She served the school for three decades and retired in 2020.

Mangalore (Karnataka): It is a common practice to bid farewell to teachers through gifts during their retirement. However, ex-students from the Darul Islam Aided Senior Primary School in Mangalore created history on Wednesday by gifting a 33-gram gold necklace worth Rs 2 lakhs to their teacher, who had retired four years ago.

The teacher, Jayalakshmi R Bhatt, retired in 2020 after serving the school for three decades. She was elated after receiving such an expensive gift from her beloved students four years after her retirement, signifying the love and respect the students still held in their hearts for her.

Bhatt had continued to serve the school sans salary due to a paucity of teaching staff. Loved and adored by all, she mentored around 2,000 students in her lifetime. The alumni had planned to surprise her by sending her a precious gift after her retirement. They secretly formed a WhatsApp group and discussed the possible gift items. Finally, they zeroed in on the necklace, saved the money, set it aside and then bought it for Rs 2 lakhs. Bhatt, on receiving the gift got emotional and teary-eyed, with her joy knowing no bounds.

Bhatt said, "Love of children is enough and I didn't need this gift. I told them I didn't want any token of honour either. However, they have given me such a precious gift to be remembered forever and I am especially happy that they have received such valuable education."

Kabir, an ex-student, said that earlier a car was gifted to a teacher from the Alumni Association. "We decided to gift a necklace to our teacher as a mark of gratitude for serving our institution for so many years. The alumni, who studied here now hold different posts cutting across sectors. We contributed money from our salary to buy this special necklace."