Tribute to Teachers : An Address by Madhav Das at the School Reunion

Welcome, fellow alumni. By sheer love for the school and the wonderful years that we had here, we've turned back the calendar to the seventies, eighties and nineties. And sixties for a very few..
This morning, I have been chewing on every bit of event and milestone of those years. But, gradually, a trickle of memories became a river, immersing me in a flood of recollections --all pleasant. Time has mercifully erased any unpleasant ones.
Mata Pita Guru Deivam is an old saying which means Mother, Father and Teachers are equal to God. While parents gave life to our body , teachers gave life to our soul. For us on the benches, the teachers, were all intelligent. All beautiful. All heroes. All wonderful.
The year, 1974, was a great deal more than just our finishing year ― the year we went our separate ways and began our lives as young adults. Today, we’re all together again to remember those wonderful times we spent at KVK ― when we were together almost every day ― studied together ― went through play and pastime together ― when we formed many of the values we now hold dear, and many of the most intimate, precious and lasting friendships of our lives. We love this school ― and the teachers that the school and students have been privileged to benefit from….. believe many of you are here today because you share these feelings.
All in all, those were great days to grow up. We had no internet, neither did we have Wikipedia. Either the books had it, or the teachers. As we learnt and our knowledge grew, so did our bonds with teachers. We were not confined to books alone but free to play, and frolic, and engage with each other.
So we grew up- the teachers imbibed in us the purpose of achieving. We were anxious to learn and to read though, actually, some of us never appreciated "Far From the Madding Crowd". We knew the algebraic equations, the mysteries of heat and light, Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies and Kabir’s Dohas. For all the questions on why we were learning all of this when it did not make much sense then, it is life’s challenges and demands ,later, which placed our school learning and experiences in perspective. We thank you, teachers, for persisting with us.
Think of the teachers we had in those days! They taught us to be and think as winners. Vijayalakshmi Teacher told us about The Wealth of Nations, she would have been a sure winner in these days of economic uncertainty. Mohandas Master knew that we could only find our station in life if we could learn to speak and write correct and understandable English. Krishnamoorthy Sir opened our eyes to the colorful and reaction-filled world of chemicals, Soudamini Miss laid the foundations for our love for the flora and fauna. Each of them, Vasudevan Master in Sanskrit, Satyanarayana Sir in Maths and Padmanabhan Sir in History threw open the big wide world in their own remarkable way. And Sugathan Sir kept the whole high school playing and running, and seeing that we were amongst the best in the state and in the Sangathan.. We respected and somewhat feared our teachers but over-all knew them as friends.
And as I say this, I know each of you are reliving your great experiences with your respective teachers. God bless them all.
Think of the things we learned in everyday life: how to work for the things we needed and wanted, how to help each other when the going was tough, where to look for information, how to plan for the future, how to stand on our own two feet when we were put on the spot.
Think of the confidence we had in each other. The students were the brightest. The sports teams were always the winners. The athletes were the fastest. The studious toppers were the most accomplished. We had pride in the school- easily the best school in Calicut then.
We have never been short in good teachers and perseverant students. We have been sustained by purpose, by pride, by success of the alumni, and by academic and sporting excellence amongst peer schools. Even after so many years, we still look at this as our own.
For some of us, this is our first trip back to school. For many batches, there has been resounding set of networks that have been built on Facebook and the like. Good luck to all of them in this remarkable journey of reconnecting and reliving those memorable years at school.

Read Out A Poem by Kevin William Huff
Teachers
Paint their minds
and guide their thoughts
Share their achievements
and advise their faults

Inspire a Love
of knowledge and truth
As you light the path
Which leads our youth

For our future brightens
with each lesson you teach
Each smile you lengthen
Each goal you help reach

For the dawn of each poet
each philosopher and king
Begins with a Teacher
And the wisdom they bring