Principal | Salma Public School
Leads academic planning, curriculum delivery, and student welfare at SPS. Ensures the school's educational standards remain aligned with NEP and NCERT guidelines.
"Whatever life has brought - Salma has been my answer. And these teachers, every one of them, are stronger than iron for me."
Sheeba Sultana was born in 1974 in Meerut, into a family where education and cultural richness were constants. Her father Aamir Pin Raza and mother Firdaus Sultana shaped her early years in a town rich with literary tradition. She began her schooling at Sarralaldas K.B.K. Maheshwari Vidyalay in Meerut, where she was known as a quiet, respectful and attentive student.
Communal tensions in Meerut forced the family to relocate to their village, and her schooling moved to Sri Yamuna Inter College in Baghpat - where she describes spending the golden years of her student life. Her father passed away in 1994, shortly after her Class 12 exams, having told her: "I will not always be here - you must walk your path alone." She took that seriously.
She completed her B.A. from Meerut College (living in the hostel for three years), then pursued Fine Arts for her M.A. at Smile Degree College under Dr. Asha Anand. She completed her B.Ed. from Ramish Institute, Noida, and then enrolled for a Ph.D. in Fine Arts - but was ultimately unable to continue, because the daily commute to the Delhi National Museum library was not feasible.
It was during this time that Zahoor Sir and Nishat Ma'am reached out. They knew her, trusted her, and asked her to join Salma - confident she would give it her life. "Come to Rataul," they said. "Make it your home. Run Salma." She joined in 2008.
Her first years were humble - like any junior joining an institution. She made no use of her relationship with the founders, asked for no special treatment, and quietly learned the school's community, its children and their families. Gradually, Zahoor Sir's and Nishat Ma'am's trust in her deepened. She rose to become Principal.
Today, eighteen years on, Sheeba Ma'am speaks of her staff with reverence: Shabnam Rahman's quiet strength, Mahboob's loyal counsel, Monica's determination, Kashifa's integrity, Heena's steady learning - each one a thread in the fabric of Salma. And beyond the classroom, Asgari Aapa (30 years), Asha Devi, Sitara (now gone), and Nisha - all, she says, are pillars without whom Salma would not stand.
"Clearwater Analytics, Anurag Sir, Harsh Sir - through Chirag and then Clearwater, these gifted people have taken Salma to heights I watch with joy," she writes. "Salma will always be grateful."
Her personal world is music - classical films, Mehdi Hassan, Kamal Jharia. And she carries with her always a couplet from the film Garm Hawa:
*"Those who watch the storm from a distance - the storm is everywhere for them too.* *But those who merge with the current become the current itself.* *This proclamation of strength is here - and it is there too."*