IT WAS business at usual at B N High School in Vadnagar, Gujarat, with no posters announcing the scheduled function of its most famous alumnus. Principal Ashokpuri Goswami of the school where Narendra Modi spent his early teenage years, from 1963 to 1967, laid the line at the morning assembly, telling children, ?Abhyaas e mukhya karyakram chhe (Studies will be the main programme today).?

An advisory was issued to students, teachers and a handful of media gathered on the school premises not to disturb the students who have half-yearly exams from September 18.

There was almost no talk at the school about Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel?s address, at 11 am.

On Thursday, a dish antenna and camera with the school broke down due to rain, and the authorities had to make fresh arrangements. By Friday, a large LCD TV had been installed in the main courtyard.

Prahlad Patel, a retired schoolteacher who taught Modi Hindi and Sanskrit, was called to address the students in the morning. ?Narendrabhai was a bright student with a great flair for oratory,? Patel said. ?I used to tell him that learning Sanskrit would be useful to him. Later, he said he regretted not having given more time to Sanskrit.? As students trudged into classes around 11 am, Sahil Khan Pathan of Class IX seemed unsure of what to expect. ?We had our Teachers? Day celebration on Wednesday and on Thursday our school shut early owing to rains. We know something is there today but don?t exactly know what.?

However, at a mention of Modi, his face lit up. ?We are so proud of him, he used to stay just near my house and today he is PM.? Shortly before Modi?s address, a few teachers and the school staff gathered around the TV. Around 200 students from Classes IX and X sat before the screen.

But the first half of the speech was barely audible above the traffic sounds. Loudspeakers were then arranged.

As other students drifted in and out of Modi?s address, one of his teachers, N R Upadhyay, sitting in the front row, was in awe. ?After Pandit Nehru, he is the first PM to give so much respect to teachers. While Nehru would shake hands with children, did he ever open out his heart??