PRINCIPAL BS BEHL (1912-2015) 1. DAV JALANDHAR was and is a premier educational institute of Punjab. My father was a product of this college and he insisted that I follow. So from the prestigious Fergusson College Pune I landed at DAV Jalandhar in 1967. My father had filled me with the legacy of Principal Suraj Bhan, who was the principal earlier. However, during admission I was confronted by another Principal who went by the name of BS Behl. He was short, squat, balding with a shining head, and a serious countenance. His bushy eyebrows towered his expressive eyes, which were always clad in horn rimmed spectacles. Dressed in crisp pale colored cotton bush shirt and trousers he seemed diminutive behind his large desk and a huge chair. But that he exuded authority was all too clear even to me at that early stage. He met my father with respect and processed my admissions. 2. Principal Behl was academician in his own right having authored half a dozen books that were now part of the university curriculum. If I remember rightly it was Physics that was his forte. He was feared in the college for being strict and disciplinarian. Once in a while the public address system would go on the air and Principal Behl would address the college on key issues in his crisp and no-nonsense voice. One often saw him walk from his residence at the Main gate to his office via the cycle shed. He walked briskly with short steps in his sandal clad feet, nodding his reply to the ‘Good mornings’ and ‘Namaste’s’. He imposed fines for defaulters that enriched the college and disciplined the offenders. No physical punishment here. But there was a humane side too when he reimbursed fines that were genuinely not attributed to student fault. 3. An academician in his own right Principal Behl was an equally able administrator. He must have drawn up a long term plan because between 1967 -71 one saw expansion of the college complex, more class rooms/lecture halls, bigger laboratories, additional hostel rooms, expansion of the library and the creation of a girls hostel. He encouraged sports and cultural activity. DAV college repeatedly won the trophy for the champion sports college of the Punjab University. The DAV performance at the University Youth & Cultural festival was always sought after. 4. Principal Behl headed DAV Jalandhar for many many years before he moved to Chair the DAV Educational Trust. Recently, this great academician, administrator, CEO and a pious human being breathed his last at a ripe age of 103. Rest in peace Principal Behl !!
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:06:27 +0000
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