A New Beginning, Goodbyes are not forever

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. ~Lazurus Long

The dignitaries sat on the stage. It included the Directors and Principals of the senior college, the Management college, the college of Education, and the upcoming school in the campus. The occasion was a normal one, the age old one, a farewell, a retirement, a superannuation. The faculty members and the non teaching staff were the audience, I could see our Principal dressed for the occasion. It was his retirement. A second retreat at the age of sixty five. He was to head  the upcoming research center, and would be there in the campus, yet it made us feel the pain. He held his head high in pride as he had indeed completed his tenure to the utmost satisfaction, which was worth the pleasure.

It took me back to the day when my father retired from his job. Each day before the superannuation, he would  dread the upcoming retirement as a disease, perhaps as a languish of time. The day he retired a party was thrown for him by the superiors, friends and juniors in the office in a classy hotel. We were also invited, we accompanied my father while giving him the moral support that we were with him. He sat on the dais, plenty of gifts were given, people spoke about his long association with the organisation, and then he delivered  his thoughts. He was just fifty eight years old, fitter than the youngest. He felt a retirement for him was  difficult to compromise, though he had his hobbies of freelance writing and many more. A few years thereafter he represented his organisation for the CBI cases as a prosecuting officer and took up writing more seriously.

My father often told me that people in the field of education never retire. Yet I have witnessed a retirement. APJ Kalam says that there two kinds of intelligence in human beings. When a person is young the computational ability is greater, but when a person grows older his reasoning, rationality and judgmental skills elevate making him a lot more superior to the youngsters, nevertheless people retire as they grow old. Perhaps  only politicians in India never retire.

 I have worked in various institutions with many people as a teacher in various cities,  but  have been impressed the most by very few people for their selfless contribution in the field of education. Here was our Principal whose qualities summed up to bring out what exactly an education should be. People said  that he was energetic like an eighteen year old with the experience of forty five years.

He was there on the grounds while the students practiced for sports, he was an inspirational part during all the cultural events, a part of soft skills, technology, research, conferences, seminars, National social service, and faculty development courses.  We felt his presence and learning joyfully. During every staff meeting there would be a gentle solidity of the faculty members towards research and a contribution to the society. My ability to persevere my research enthusiastically and complete it before the planned time was greatly due to the motivation and flexibility of time I received from him. The students found him to be a good soul mate with whom they shared all their woes. Every need of theirs was a priority for him, every  want of theirs was satisfied with the intention of leaving them confident and capable, above all employed.

He was a blend of firmness and flexibility with the ability to resist his errors and undeniably confess about it. He had the ability to lead us, and above all understood everyone as another fellow being should be. I could see him reach the college travelling several kilometers even before we would reach. The punctuality of a leader definitely determines the regularity of the team one leads. He was out on the porch, in the corridors and in the classes throughout the day sending the grown up naughty students in the classes. I wondered how he could manage the shifts of more than three thousand grown up students so perfectly. The freedom we received did not spoil us, but  the flexibility of schedules  gave rise to utmost sincerity and loyalty.

As we sat in the gathering, we listened to the teachers who spoke about the Principal as a pioneer in the field of education. There were many who could associate with his principles with the ideologies bestowed to them by their father making him more than special.

Finally, it was his turn to speak. He stood there and spoke undeterred saying that he had many options in life, yet research was his all time favourite fields. He spoke clearly, confidently as the number of years had made him invaluable with rich experiences, we kept listening, it definitely evoked the feeling of oneness. It reminded me of Ruskin Bond’s saying,

“The trunk of the Oak is rough and gnarled, full of experience. The oak had been there the longest, and the wind had bent its upper branches and twisted a few, so that it looked shaggy and undistinguished.”

Emergent adulthood makes an individual dignified owing to his rich experiences, yet a retirement is inevitable. In one way or another, I felt that withdrawal of a person from the field of education should be on the basis of the health, dynamism, potential and aptitude.

Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye?