Vajpayee and his father were classmates in Kanpur!

In 1945, when a 21-year-old Atal Bihari Vajpayee enrolled in a Kanpur college to study law, he had a classmate who was already retired after serving 30 years as a teacher.

He was none other than his father. Pandit Krishna Biharilal Vajpayee was above 50 when he became Vajpayee's classmate at DAV college Kanpur.

After Vajpayee became prime minister, his alma mater published a write-up by him in the college magazine in 2002-03, which reveals more about the two.

"Have you ever seen or heard of a college, where both father and son studied together, and that too even in the same class," Vajpayee wrote in the article.

"If not, then your information pertaining to Kanpur's DAV College will be simply considered incomplete. This was such a college, which not only witnessed a father and son studying together, but also set a theatrical stage for it."
"This situation was posing a problem for both of us, and it was decided that my father will remain in one section, while I will move to another."
"It was 1945-46. I had completed BA from Victoria College, Gwalior, and was worried about the future....My father had retired from government service. My two sisters were of marriageable age. Dowry had assumed the shape of a curse. From where will I manage resources for post-graduation?"
"The wrinkles of tension on fathers face gradually started to disappear. The family heaved a sigh of relief, and I too, took a plunge in happy dreams of the future."
After getting the scholarship from Gwalior riyasat (princely state), most of the students head to DAV College in Kanpur. He said he was also told to head to Kanpur. "My elder brother Prem Bihari Vajpayee was already studying law from there."
"Suddenly, my father decided that he too will pursue higher education. His decision had put all of us in wonder. He had retired after giving his contribution in the field of education for 30 years. When he saw that I am going to Kanpur for MA and to study law, he decided that he will go to Kanpur with me and study law."
"But when Mr Bhatnagar came to know that the elderly gentleman had come to enroll himself, he virtually jumped from his chair and started saying you have done a wonder."
"I still remember the Ramayana mandali which was organized by Purshottam Prasad Mishra. The mandali used to recite Ramayam every week, and my father was included in it as soon as he reached the hostel."
Vajpayee wrote, "I still remember the celebration of Independence Day. It was a strange coincidence of agony and ecstasy. We were ecstatic because 1,000 years of foreign rule has ended, and agonized due to the division of the motherland. On that day, former vice-chancellor of Agra University Dewaanchand had come. He handed a small reward from his pocket for my oratory skills."