What Time is It?!

Have you ever tried to cross over from the office to the senior wing during the break? I’m talking about the assembly area. At that hour it is quite literally swarming with the Class Ones whose ‘safe area’ it is. They run wild without a care in the world, under the watchful eyes of the staff on duty and the equally scouring vigil of the eagles overhead!

But, if by mistake, one should try to make one’s way across this space instead of taking the less-trafficked corridor route, one quickly comes to experience what a magnet undergoes when it is set in the midst of a bunch of iron filings! As if by magic, one finds oneself surrounded by a sea of little faces, wishing one a cheerful good-morning and following up the greeting with a bow whose distinguished grace would put an Elizabethan courtier to shame, or else bending over in the age old gesture of respect that has characterized a student’s respect for his teacher in our ancient country – the ‘pranam’ from a ‘shishya’ to his ‘guru’.

Many a person who has witnessed this, has expressed a measure of surprise. The reactions all coalesce to one common pre-conception - ‘I thought St John’s was a westernized school’.

In an age when globalization is fast bludgeoning traditions and so called ‘archaic cultures’ into summary extinction, I find it so refreshing to see such a truly gracious expression of love and respect flourishing in our school. The fact that our boys have no qualms about displaying their affection through this old-world gesture, no matter where they come across one of their ‘gurus’, speaks of a timelessness and a continuity that are the hallmarks of a great institution – one that has not lost its roots but has managed to strike a graceful balance between the old ways and the new.

We need to teach our children to respect the culture of their own land. To blindly follow the west is to superimpose an alien construct upon a grand old edifice. To take the best of both worlds, however, is an axiomatic wisdom in itself and one that we would be wise to adhere to. For here, in St John’s, we have seen the efficacy of adopting the new, only after examining its relevance, and of retaining the sanctity of the old, to ensure an unshakeable foundation built on the concrete of attitudinal modern thought and the mortar of ancient humility. Our children are living proof of how well this strategy has worked!

Here I Am

Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

“Here I am”. It sounds so simple. But to answer a call by God, takes a rare courage and a measure of faith that few have. For to do so entails giving up your own life, your personal desires and ambitions and setting off down the road ‘less traveled’. The amazing part, however, is that when one does so, one finds a degree of peace and an accompanying wisdom that far exceeds one’s wildest dreams, for to follow God’s call is to rest in His word and therein lies the answer to all the truths we spend our sad lives seeking. It is then that we are fulfilling the true purpose God has for us. The irony lies in the fact that the ‘rare courage and faith’ are actually available to each one of us, for the good Lord Himself provides this, once we set off on His path. It is simply for us to say “Yes”. 

Edmund Rice did so. Mother Teresa did too.

Do we have the courage? Do we have the faith?

All it takes is a simple “Here I am”.

A Moment in Time

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to Him,
and He will make your paths straight.

It was an ‘overnighter’ to remember. For the very first time 5 sections of Class 4 spent a night within the school premises. Games, bonfires, tug of war, shared meals and secrets, bunking down in the hall, a movie to watch at night and finally closing one’s eyes at the unheard, exciting hour of 3.30 in the morning – only to jump up at 5 am in order to bag the ‘early bird’ prize!

But the grand finale lay in the unexpected arrival of the much awaited award, even as they packed their belongings in anticipation of their parents’ arrival. One hundred and seventy five 10 year olds’ voices suddenly raised in a triumphant battle cry as they laid eyes on the trophy that declared their school as having made the “most outstanding contribution to boy’s education in the country.” A moment to remember. A fierce, joyous shout of victory that will echo down the corridors of time and memory. A moment in space that captured the very essence of the young men who walk through this great institute – proud eagles, with triple H written all over them. Head Held High. 

But hovering behind the seeming arrogance and pride is the long shadow of the Mahatma’s gentle voice exhorting the young not to limit themselves to the three Rs of education but to attach to it the evergreen virtues of Head, Heart and Hand. Coupled with that is the deep and abiding spirituality that defines their school.  An essential simplicity that reaches out with true compassion to embrace those at the margins and to blunt the arrogance into an ‘attitude’ that makes for the finest young men of each generation. Young men who walk the talk of their alma mater’s motto – For God and Country.

And so it begins. They say it’s an ending – yes, we made it to the top. Finally! But for us, it is simply the start of yet another journey. One that is designed to make our eagles soar ever higher as they ride on the winds of faith, overcoming challenges with wisdom, courage and an abiding integrity that sets them apart from their fellow men.

- Kavita C. Das