VIP guest: Bathumalai flanked by former students P. Velayutham (left) and R. Selvanathan. Both were born in 1962 and joined the school as Primary One students in 1969.
KLANG: For close to 50 years, S. Bathumalai tended to the plants at SRJK (T) Kajang and offered invaluable help to everyone at school.
His work as a gardener and kindness has never been forgotten by the teachers and pupils who passed through the school gates.
When a group of the Tamil primary school’s former students – born between 1960 and 1965 – decided to have a reunion with their teachers recently, they also included the retired gardener in the VIP list.
“He played a pivotal role in our lives when we were children and we just could not leave him out,” said organising committee coordinator S. Vijayalakshmi, 62.
Besides being feted as a VIP, Bathumalai was also garlanded by the ex-students, who gave him a souvenir as well.
“I was overwhelmed and really touched by the gesture,” said the 76-year-old Bathumalai.
He said the school was an integral part of his life and he remembers most of the students when they were there from age seven to 12.
“It was also strange to see the children I once knew, not only as adults now but also senior citizens with grandchildren.
“It brought tears to my eyes and reminded me of the past. Time has indeed flown by rapidly,” said Bathumalai, who started as a gardener in the school when he was a mere 16 years old in 1964.
He continued working there until his retirement at age 55 and was re-employed on contract until he turned 65.
“The teachers and students were like a second family to me, and I used to make sure that I did everything possible to help them out,” said Bathumalai, who has three children and three grandchildren.
His daughter Kogilavani, 42, said her father was touched by the attention he got at the reunion.
“The school was very near and dear to him as it was the only job he held his entire life,” she said, adding that many of the school’s former teachers would occasionally visit her father.
