Mrs. Manjula Ponda is an eminent name in the field of Education in the city of Bhopal. When India was going through the phase of dependence, illiteracy & women exploitation, at that time in the small, sleepy town of Bajana in Rakot District of Gujarat, on 3rd March a girl was born who, in future, came to be known as Manjula. From her childhood, she was very intelligent, skillful & eloquent in speech. Her father Himmatlal Akhani was a progressive gentleman and owned a private flying company. After completing her post-graduation in Arts from Nagpur, she got married to Mr. Kapil Ponda of Bhopal. The family today includes her son Sumeet, daughter-in-law Sejal and two grandsons Harshil & Yashraj. She later did her B. Ed. from Jabalpur University.

She started as a trainer for Hindustan Lever Limited in the cookery division. With the sole aim of helping the masses, she decided to spread the light of Education and took to teaching at St. Joseph’s Convent, Akola and thereafter at St. Joseph’s Convent, Bhopal. She also had a reassuring stint of teacher-cum-administrator at Shishu Vihar School, Bhopal.

In the year 1977, Mrs. Ponda decided to take a bigger step and started RED ROSE SCHOOL with a total strength of 35 students in a small apartment that served as their residence till six in the morning and after one in the afternoon.

From day one, the philosophy of the School has been in believing that a child is the most prized possession of any human being and when the same is entrusted to any School, the School is accountable and answerable.

With her hard work and strong determination in spreading the light of Education, confidence of the parents in the name grew and today the School has turned out to be a blooming flower with four branches of RED ROSE SCHOOL at different locations at Berasia Road (where it was originally started), Karond (1999), Trilanga (2001) and Bhopal’s first and only International School which is also a premium CBSE School with all modern facilities for education at Lambakheda in Bhopal. RED ROSE SCHOOL is due to complete its 30th session.

Mrs. Ponda’s untiring efforts and an unquenched thirst for imparting quality education can easily be seen from her daily routine where in the early morning, she can be seen attending the morning assembly at one of the four branches and thereafter, taking keen interest in trying to find out ways to improve the techniques and methodology of education. She is also in the process of writing a book on the formative stages of a child and the role of a teacher during this period.

She has received numerous awards and scrolls of honour by noted organizations for her contribution to education. A few of them include the Shiksha Navratna Samman by School Today magazine, Ahindibhashi-Hindi Sewa Samman, Social Service award by the TB Association of M. P., etc..

Mrs. Ponda is also an active member of the Lions Club where in she has scaled numerous heights, the Rashtrabhasha Prachaar Samiti, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, the Indian Red Cross Society, Shree Gujarati Samaaj, etc.