It was Buddha Poornima! To my mind, a happy and apt coincidence. A leadership towards enlightenment, towards communitarianism, towards dutifulness (Buddham saranam gaccami, sangham saranam gaccami, Dhammam saranam gaccami).
Rajagiri Doha held its investiture ceremony on May 16, 2022 Monday. It was a very colourful and ceremonial event, perhaps, one of the most important functions of the academic year. I felt, as if participating in a high profile convocation ceremony. The team with the Principal and the Vice Principal in the lead had gone into very minute details. The arts department had made sure that ambience of the auditorium would be befitting a grand celebration. The music department saw to it that the prayers, national anthem and choral singing, with more than 40 students on the stage, that added to the charm of the function, without losing its solemnity. The song was 'Unstoppable' by Sia, with our tenth grade student Nidhwa Nivas in the lead! At least for this time, I felt that unheard melody was sweet! The Physical Education department with the support of admin team saw to the arrangement of seating and marching and lining up of the leaders. And the coordinators were there all around to make the programme a flawless one. It was as if a well-oiled machine working in full swing.
The school views it as the celebration of leadership and part of its package of leadership training and democratic processes. The academic year in the Indian schools in the gulf region begins in April. In the very same month, the election to students' council is announced, and held. The CCA (co-curricular activities) coordinator (Mr Regal of English Department) is designated the election commissioner, there are norms for filing application and eligibility criteria includes academic excellence, disciplined behaviour etc as well.
The council is elected from senior classes IX grade up... There is a head-boy, head-girl, cultural secretary and sports secretary - they are called the ceremonial leaders. The elected leaders seemed to represent the school composition, with a greater edge for the girls. Then there are four houses, out here it is all Greco-Roman (I can't grasp the inspiration behind these names, and I consider it serves the purpose of making the whole experience beyond the Indian boundaries - one small step in the direction of being a global citizen!), Apollo, Atlas, Hercules and Pegasus, apparently, all male! (But they can evoke powerful challenges with Atlas having the burden of the planet or the universe on him and being the patron of philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and all such sciences, implying a pursuit of wisdom; Apollo being the patron of youth, health [fitness], fine arts - music, dance, drama; Hercules - inspiring Mission Impossible and adventure; and Pegasus - the flying horse, showing possibilities out-of-the-box and striving to reach heavens [read, heights]). There are captains for these houses - both teachers and students - they receive the house flags from the dignitaries - Green - Apollo, Blue - which bear the colours red, blue, green and white. Then there are eight prefects, elected from the batches ....
The classes are the constituencies, and 3 representatives are selected in a democratic manner as a panel, of whom one will be elected There is a system for campaign in front of the electorate, All eligible candidates are allotted a symbol by the election commissioner. and the candidates have to impress the voters. There might be other informal campaigns as well. A day of silence is observed as a cooling day and then there is election, using ballot papers. They are systematically collected, and then counted and the results declared.
The dates for election and investiture are all set in advance as the academic year begins. It is considered a prestigious event. There is someone of prominence, usually from the Indian embassy, invited as the chief guest. Rehearsal of the event is done, and the hall is adequately decorated. The parents of the elected students are invited as guests. It is considered an honour. The seating arrangments are all planned in advance.
There is a solemn ceremonial entry of the council members, with the guests - there is a prayerful recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by Rajagiri Anthem, a prefatory note is presented, the election commissioner declares the results, the dignitaries including the chief guest and other admin leaders invest the council members with appropriate symbols (a sash, flag etc.)- it is all very ceremonious and well ordered. Minute details are taken care of.
The chief guest, Mr. Sachin Dinkar Shankpal IFS, from Maharashtra, the secretary for culture and education of Indian Embassy, is the chief guest. He arrived in time, driving on his own. He is very unassuming. Makes a simple and straight forward speech asking the leaders to be solution providers rather than 'problem seekers' - mutual help oriented leadership as described by the management theorist Mary Parker Follet. He even suggests that there be an opposition team (something of the sort of a 'shadow cabinet'). Then the council is led in pledge by the Principal.
It is followed by my address as the Academic Director: I tried to challenge the leaders to walk ahead of the group, walk with the group, and walk behind the group to ensure that no one is left out. The first two requires that one learns to be elite without losing the common touch (As Kipling would say, 'if you can walk with kings and not lose the common touch; if you can talk to the crowds and keep your virtue'), and the last one requires compassion. I asked if someone aspired to be the Prime Minister of India - hardly anyone, but as an after-thought, the hand of the head boy rose up! I said that the leadership title 'minister' including that of the Prime Minister implies the readiness and call 'to minister to', that is nothing but that of being a 'servant' of all - as euphemistically being used 'public servant'! This is the leadership possibility is for each one beyond 'positions' - with the ability of reaching out, looking around and finding a need, and taking the first step to address it! That is servant leadership as suggested by Jesus Christ, but now reinvented as a management theory by Robert Greenleaf (1970).
I feel that the schools should throw open before the student community as such, especially, through such platforms, the possibilities of expanding one's boundaries through reaching out, developing the skill to look around (observe) and the knack of responding creatively with the daring to take the first step - without being asked for, without being invited! That would be the education for leadership.
(Going back, as usual, I recall my school days, as a head-boy, it was titled 'Prime Minister'. The Prime Ministers of the school, in the series I could recall, were usually some rebel, able to stand up to the authorities and lead strikes, and usually would not clear the SSLC in one go. In those days of fervent school politics of KSU and SFI, somehow, I managed to become the school leader, and a year went off without any political activity or strike, with some initiative for science exhibition, participation in the youth festival, organising a study tour, organising a 'social' and animating a KCSL unit on the campus. Regret that I did not take the initiative to bring all of the X graders together for a group photo - we had one exclusively of our class. I was the one to propose the vote of thanks for the annual day, and it was left to me to prepare and deliver it, no body monitored. And while doing my duty, I tried to pin point that school authorities should have done much better in providing leadership opportunities for the students, and made arrangements with my friends to applaud when I made this point, which they faithfully did. But who cared! We grew up thus - all to fend for ourselves! I don't have even a picture of any of the occasions!! However, I set a record of the sorts by clearing SSLC in the first instance, and that too with a respectable score for those times! And I recall gladly that I maintained a rather good relationship with most of the teachers including the headmaster, our beloved Math teacher Sri PM Cyriac!).
I look forward to the unfolding of the year, and the initiatives of the council with the Shariq Ahmed Vengasseril, who has already established a name for himself with his display of debating and public speaking skills, as the headboy and Ruth Sunil Thomas, a talented senior student, as the head girl. I hope they are able to grow beyond being 'ceremonial' to creative leaders, leading the student community from front and from behind . Both of them combinedly and skillfully proposed the vote of thanks one covering those who set stage for them to be there, and the other, the dignitaries and others who made the function a meaningful one.
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