Adios Sapta Swaras! Farewell to the ‘Magnificent 7’ for their ‘Magnificent Service’ at St Aloysius Institutions
Mangaluru: Time really files. And today, Monday, 18 March 2019 was a day of mixed feelings for the management and staff of St Aloysius Institutions comprising of St Aloysius College, St Aloysius Higher Primary School, and St Aloysius Gonzaga, when they had to bid goodbye to their most loved colleagues at their respective institution. Some of them had rendered their service over 30 years, while others between seven and twenty plus year. And everyone had one thing to say was a BIG Thank You to these seven retirees for being the most asset to St Aloysius Institutions, through their dedicated service, hard work, sincerity, faithfulness and commitment.
These seven persons have touched so many hearts through their dedicated service, that many had tears in their eyes since they were leaving them due to retirement. Mangalore Jesuit Education Society (MJES) hosted a Farewell function on Monday, 18 March for seven retirees namely- Ms Blanch Vida Dalmeida (21 plus years as teacher at St Aloysius Higher Primary School); Ms Lucia Joyce D’silva (38 plus years at St Aloysius Higher Primary School); Dr Rajgopal Bhat (36 plus years as professor in Chemistry at St Aloysius College); Valerian Nazareth (15 plus years as Security personnel at St Aloysius College); Ms Precilla D’Silva (31 plus years as Professor in Biology at St Aloysius College); Charles Lobo (37 plus years in Clerical post at St Aloysius College); and Ms Grace Noronha (7 plus years as Principal at St Aloysius Gonzaga CBSE School).
The programme began with a melodious prayer song by the teachers of St Aloysius Gonzaga, followed by welcome address by Rev Dr Praveen Martis SJ, Principal of St Aloysius College. Then came the moment of the day, where all the seven retirees were felicitated with a shawl, fruits basket, memento, citation and a flower pot. The citation of Ms Joyce was read by Liya D’Souza of St Aloysius Higher Primary School; citation of Charles was read by Ms Rita D’Costa; of Dr Rajgopal by Dr Richard Gonsalves of SAC; of Precilla by Prof Hemachandra; of Blanche by Ms Grace Menezes of SAHPS; of Valerian by Dr Chandrashekar Shetty of SAC; and of Ms Grace by Ms Aparna Suresh of St Aloysius Gonzaga.
Following the felicitation, all the seven retirees expressed their thought and feelings of their service at their respective institutions and thanked the Jesuits especially for the love and care shown towards them during their tenure at St Aloysius Institutions. And everyone got a loud applaud after they ended their thoughtful and grateful speeches. Addressing the audience in his presidential address, Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ- Rector of St Aloysius Institutions referring the seven retirees as “Sapta Swaras” said, “Quoting Abraham Lincoln where he said, “And in the end, it is not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years. Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”- and you all seven have lived for others with your dedicated and committed service at this great institution, for which the Jesuit community is very grateful”.
Ms Joyce D’Silva, Charles Lobo and Dr RajGopal Bhat
“We are here to celebrate and Thank God for seven rich personalities that He has given to this illustrious institution. We are indeed grateful to them. Gratitude does two things: it transforms the giver, and it also changes the receiver. You are all an Aloysian family, and you will remain as a member of the Aloysian family even though you are leaving us. You all have been leaders in your own way. “To lead is to inspire others by the way that you live. To lead is to walk through the fires of your hardest times to step up into forgiveness. To lead is to turn your terrors into triumphs and translate each of your heartbreaks into heroism. And more than all else, to lead is to be a force for good on this tiny planet of ours. Today, we get a grand call from this seven band army to raise the standard by which we live out remainder of our lives at SAC,” added Fr Rector.
Ms Prescilla D’Silva, Ms Blanch D almeida, Valerian Nazareth and Ms Grace Noronha
Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ concluded his speech with a quote from George Bernard Shaw-“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do it for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up and when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations”. Fr Denzil W Lobo, the secretary of Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society proposed the vote of thanks, and the programme was professionally compered by Vishal Nayak, of St Aloysius PG Journalism. Fr Melwin Mendonca-Principal of St Aloysius PUC and Fr Gerald Furtado-Headmaster of St Aloysius High School were also present on the dais.
In conclusion, in my perspective, “Life is full of goodbyes. People retire and ultimately leave your company. It’s no wonder, then, that people have found many ways to say farewell over the years. That’s why, when it’s time to say goodbye in the present, it’s often helpful to draw on the vast eloquence of the past. In times of great change, it can be hard to find the words to express the strong emotions we feel and/or sum up a period of our life that’s coming to a close. What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever they are, they will always be in your heart. The two hardest things to say in life are hello for the first time and goodbye for the last. All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.
So long as the memory of certain beloved colleagues lives in your heart, you can say that life is good. Goodbyes or farewells are not forever, Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean we’ll miss you Until we meet again. Even though these seven people are leaving you, they will always be remembered in your hearts, for all their love, caring and service rendered by them. Team Mangalorean wishes the “Magnificent 7” a Happy Retired Life!