Christ the King Convent English LP School, Ponnurunny
CKC and I come from SHC. There is some linkage between the two. Both have Jesus Christ as the reference point. Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the King - ruler of the hearts, or according to whose rules the children should be formed as citizens of goodness and love. At SHC, we speak about Jesus' Sacred Heart, where the aim is to transform our hearts into Sacred Hearts. A heart aflame.
CKC is run by CTC - Congregation of Theresian Carmelites and I come from CMI - Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. The common factor is 'carmel'. It's a hill in Palestine region. A hill where Prophet Elijah of Old Testament times ran away and hid himself to escape the fury of the King whom he challenged for his unjust practices. As he hid there, God's voice came to him: Elijah, what are you doing here? And he answered: I am burning with the zeal for God the almighty. This question is being asked, and to be asked to everyone of us, especially to our kids here: What are you doing here? And 'dedication to excellence' as the motto of the school goes, should help them to answer : I am burning with the zeal for God the Almighty - not a zeal that would burn up others who are not likeminded, but a zeal that would first purify oneself, and make one a Sacred Heart, and in turn, also purify those who come into their contact.
As I stand here, I recall my own childhood as a student in a similar setting, in an English Medium Convent school run by SD sisters. There we were taught the basics of English and more.
Once, while I was doing my III grade, Sr. Lucy our headmistress, stormed into our class room, as the teacher was not coming, and looked around, and shouted at us: 'why the class is so littered, pick up'. That was one lesson, I have not forgotten - that we should not litter.
We are taught nursery rhyme: Bits of paper... lying on the ground, make the place untidy... pick them up. We learn the rhyme, but not the lesson. Nor are we insisted up on to live the lesson. That our learning, as Gandhiji said, should be for life, through life and throughout life.
One such lesson, which is of great value today, and which would underscore 'excellence' is that we keep our premises clean, that we do not litter, that we make the places of our use, better than how we got them.
Another lesson of my childhood days was that of shedding the jada being English medium student. My father was speaking to me, and there was a casual reference to kizhakku, and though I knew it was a direction, I didn't know exactly, and I feigned ignorance, asking him, 'kizhakku?' what is it? And his response was shocking that he shouted asking then what kind of schooling I was getting where I don't even know what kizhakku was.
Since then, I have not forgotten to learn my mother tongue also well, in spite of all its limitations.
We need English to ensure our survival, but we need our mother tongue to ensure our life beyond the biology. I hope the parents and the teachers will understand the significance of this as an aspect and indicator of 'excellence'.
Excellence is God, or God's quality. The Bible urges us to grow into that : Be perfect as the Father (or Mother?) in Heaven is perfect. I am sure that your child here is being given that training - this dressing up, this receiving guests, this grooming them, this serving others, the way in which water is poured for guests, a special care is taken for a guest, anticipating his/her needs, like providing warm water for the speaker - all these are finer steps to excellence. 'Excellence', as the saying goes, 'would lie in the ability to go more and more into less and less'.
Dedication to Excellence should lead at the school level to three types of friendship: a) typically with peers. Have great and lasting friendships from here - that should happen very naturally. A friendship that cares - like Balan whom the great cine actor friend depicted by Mammootty in katha parayumbol, recalls. b) friendship with God - God as a friend whom we can trust, speak to, share with, especially in those inevitable moments when we find that no body understands us. c) Friendship with the Planet - earth as our mother, that we keep it safe, that we don't litter and make it polluted further. That we become, to start with non-littering people, waste segregating people, wealth from waste people, and finally zero waste people.
In today's world, the much spoken about scandal has been the death of Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad University campus. He is now a martyr for many, who gave up his life for bringing to the fore an issue affecting a large number of Indians. - that is alleged to be 'discrimination on the basis of caste'. So I narrate to you the story of a seeker from the ancient times, who transcended such barriers in a much more rigidly hierarchical society. When a seeker, usually only a male, approached a teacher, a guru, he is asked three questions: What is your caste, what is your family (gotra), who is your father. Now the boy Satyakaman approached his mother and sought permission to go to be a disciple to acquire knowledge. The mother instructed him, if you were asked questions for the seeker, you answer that you were Satyakaman, the son of Jabala. When Rishi Gautama asked Satyakaman, the typical questions, Satyakaman the intelligent boy didn't hesitate to state that all that he could tell was that he was Satyakaman, the Son of Jabala. Gautama told him, only a brahmin can tell truth in that manner. You are a Brahmin, and you are accepted.
Now this can be challenged - is Brahmin on the top of a hierarchy? Or can only Brahmin tell the truth? Conversely, it points to the fact that in a society there is hierarchy, and the hierarchical status is attained not by birth, but by the deeds and speech which are truthful. Brahman is satyam, and we become people of excellence, when we 'adhere to truth' - satyagraha. When we desire truth - satyakama. And that is a possibility for everyone - to grow into the higher status by professing truth.
Let that be the dimension of excellence that we promote as parents and teachers and students of Christ the King School. Then our entire learning process will become 'an ascent of the mount Carmel' where everyday we will be answering the question of 'what are you doing here' as 'I AM BURNING WITH THE ZEAL FOR GOD THE ALMIGHTY.
May God bless us all!
CKC and I come from SHC. There is some linkage between the two. Both have Jesus Christ as the reference point. Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the King - ruler of the hearts, or according to whose rules the children should be formed as citizens of goodness and love. At SHC, we speak about Jesus' Sacred Heart, where the aim is to transform our hearts into Sacred Hearts. A heart aflame.
CKC is run by CTC - Congregation of Theresian Carmelites and I come from CMI - Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. The common factor is 'carmel'. It's a hill in Palestine region. A hill where Prophet Elijah of Old Testament times ran away and hid himself to escape the fury of the King whom he challenged for his unjust practices. As he hid there, God's voice came to him: Elijah, what are you doing here? And he answered: I am burning with the zeal for God the almighty. This question is being asked, and to be asked to everyone of us, especially to our kids here: What are you doing here? And 'dedication to excellence' as the motto of the school goes, should help them to answer : I am burning with the zeal for God the Almighty - not a zeal that would burn up others who are not likeminded, but a zeal that would first purify oneself, and make one a Sacred Heart, and in turn, also purify those who come into their contact.
As I stand here, I recall my own childhood as a student in a similar setting, in an English Medium Convent school run by SD sisters. There we were taught the basics of English and more.
Once, while I was doing my III grade, Sr. Lucy our headmistress, stormed into our class room, as the teacher was not coming, and looked around, and shouted at us: 'why the class is so littered, pick up'. That was one lesson, I have not forgotten - that we should not litter.
We are taught nursery rhyme: Bits of paper... lying on the ground, make the place untidy... pick them up. We learn the rhyme, but not the lesson. Nor are we insisted up on to live the lesson. That our learning, as Gandhiji said, should be for life, through life and throughout life.
One such lesson, which is of great value today, and which would underscore 'excellence' is that we keep our premises clean, that we do not litter, that we make the places of our use, better than how we got them.
Another lesson of my childhood days was that of shedding the jada being English medium student. My father was speaking to me, and there was a casual reference to kizhakku, and though I knew it was a direction, I didn't know exactly, and I feigned ignorance, asking him, 'kizhakku?' what is it? And his response was shocking that he shouted asking then what kind of schooling I was getting where I don't even know what kizhakku was.
Since then, I have not forgotten to learn my mother tongue also well, in spite of all its limitations.
We need English to ensure our survival, but we need our mother tongue to ensure our life beyond the biology. I hope the parents and the teachers will understand the significance of this as an aspect and indicator of 'excellence'.
Excellence is God, or God's quality. The Bible urges us to grow into that : Be perfect as the Father (or Mother?) in Heaven is perfect. I am sure that your child here is being given that training - this dressing up, this receiving guests, this grooming them, this serving others, the way in which water is poured for guests, a special care is taken for a guest, anticipating his/her needs, like providing warm water for the speaker - all these are finer steps to excellence. 'Excellence', as the saying goes, 'would lie in the ability to go more and more into less and less'.
Dedication to Excellence should lead at the school level to three types of friendship: a) typically with peers. Have great and lasting friendships from here - that should happen very naturally. A friendship that cares - like Balan whom the great cine actor friend depicted by Mammootty in katha parayumbol, recalls. b) friendship with God - God as a friend whom we can trust, speak to, share with, especially in those inevitable moments when we find that no body understands us. c) Friendship with the Planet - earth as our mother, that we keep it safe, that we don't litter and make it polluted further. That we become, to start with non-littering people, waste segregating people, wealth from waste people, and finally zero waste people.
In today's world, the much spoken about scandal has been the death of Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad University campus. He is now a martyr for many, who gave up his life for bringing to the fore an issue affecting a large number of Indians. - that is alleged to be 'discrimination on the basis of caste'. So I narrate to you the story of a seeker from the ancient times, who transcended such barriers in a much more rigidly hierarchical society. When a seeker, usually only a male, approached a teacher, a guru, he is asked three questions: What is your caste, what is your family (gotra), who is your father. Now the boy Satyakaman approached his mother and sought permission to go to be a disciple to acquire knowledge. The mother instructed him, if you were asked questions for the seeker, you answer that you were Satyakaman, the son of Jabala. When Rishi Gautama asked Satyakaman, the typical questions, Satyakaman the intelligent boy didn't hesitate to state that all that he could tell was that he was Satyakaman, the Son of Jabala. Gautama told him, only a brahmin can tell truth in that manner. You are a Brahmin, and you are accepted.
Now this can be challenged - is Brahmin on the top of a hierarchy? Or can only Brahmin tell the truth? Conversely, it points to the fact that in a society there is hierarchy, and the hierarchical status is attained not by birth, but by the deeds and speech which are truthful. Brahman is satyam, and we become people of excellence, when we 'adhere to truth' - satyagraha. When we desire truth - satyakama. And that is a possibility for everyone - to grow into the higher status by professing truth.
Let that be the dimension of excellence that we promote as parents and teachers and students of Christ the King School. Then our entire learning process will become 'an ascent of the mount Carmel' where everyday we will be answering the question of 'what are you doing here' as 'I AM BURNING WITH THE ZEAL FOR GOD THE ALMIGHTY.
May God bless us all!
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