Jacob Mathews (1983)
Greetings, fellow alums of CREC/NITC!
The Editorial board is humbled by the feedback we have received from all of you about the first three issues of Kattangal Chimes! Thank you to all who wrote in and to those who contributed. We hope that you will keep sending in your articles and comments and that those who have not yet contributed will hear the call and respond! If this magazine must remain for the alumni, of the alumni and by the alumni, each of you gentle readers has a part to play! Do write in.
When I spend some quiet time, reflecting on life, I realize how indebted we all are to our teachers, for the men and women we have turned out to be. This includes teachers from our school days to our college days. I had to recite a poem in Class 6, in celebration of teacher’s day, and it has stayed with me through the ages- some of you may know it:
“A builder built a temple
He wrought with grace and skill,
Pillars and groins and arches,
All fashioned to do his will.
And men said when they saw its beauty,
It shall never know decay,
Great is thy skill O builder,
Thy fame shall endure for aye.
A teacher built a temple,
He wrought it with love and care,
Forming each pillar with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.
None saw the unceasing effort,
None knew of the marvelous plan,
For the temple the teacher built,
Was unseen by the eyes of man.”
Time passes and the days go by….
“Gone is the builder’s temple,
Crumpled into the dust,
Pillars and groins and arches,
Are food for the consuming rust.
But the temple the teacher built,
Shall endure while the ages roll,
For that beautiful unseen temple,
Was a child’s immortal soul.”
A lot of us have fond memories of some of our teachers and not so fond memories of some of them! It takes all sorts to make our world! But the poem brings to mind some teachers, and they deserve their moments in the sun, in our minds! Our salute to them! In case a particular teacher from either your school or college days comes to mind, you could try reaching out to them and send them a note of appreciation.
It is helpful to know that we are among the privileged who have been able to study and complete our education. A whole lot of young children in India and around the world are not afforded that luxury. It is my hope that with the stirring of all our consciences, we can make some small attempts to see how we could in some way initiate some efforts to see that “no child is left behind” and is able to receive basic education. It could start with a simple effort to visit a local school in your vicinity and have a discussion with the authorities on how some disenfranchised students could be helped. Like someone said, the best place to find a helping hand is the end of your own arm!
As we bring out this issue, the world is quite a different place from what it was a few months ago. We are seeing old alliances shift and all of us wait with baited breath to see how things will settle. It is our hope that the fundamental belief in the goodness of our fellow human beings will triumph over the seeming obstacles to that sentiment, that appear in our paths. As Kenneth Gamble wrote on the back cover of a Lou Rawls album, many moons ago, “Just as every snowflake has a different design, so are the patterns of life. There has never been another you or another me, on this earth before; we have one life to live, let us try and live it in peace, in truth and in harmony. There is a message in the music, listen!”