The Hindu
Pics by Dayanand Kukkaje

Mangalore, Sep 8: As the clock struck eleven, teachers kept aside their chalk sticks and dusters, closed the textbooks and their notes and students got up from their seats to sing in unison "Vande Mataram".

This was the scene in almost all schools and colleges in the city as the city observed the centenary of the song. Hundreds of citizens, school children and college students gathered at the Town Hall under the leadership of the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishat at Town hall and sang the full version of Vande Mataram.

A few enthusiastic groups of students from various organisations and colleges in the city held "song meetings" at University College, Main Circle in Bunder, Kudroli, Valencia, Central Market and other places.

The district police had made elaborate security arrangements in the city especially in sensitive areas where song meetings were held in the city.

According to the Superintendent of Police, security arrangements were normal in the city and the district.