St Aloysius College-Harihar bids Farewell to Fr Santhosh Fernandes SJ-Principal of PUC
Mangaluru : The students of St Aloysius College-Harihar bid farewell to Fr Santhosh Fernandes SJ- Principal of PU College on 20th of August, 2019. It was a bright sunny day but for the students and staffs it was a gloomy day where the air was filled with emotions. The guests for the day were Rev.Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ-the Rector of St Aloysius Institutions-Mangaluru and Vice principal of Mangalore Jesuit education society; Fr Eric Mathias SJ Principal and Superior of degree college; Fr Santhosh Fernandes SJ principal of PU college, Fr Pradeep Sequeira SJ finance officer of St Aloysius college, Fr Cyril Raj vice principal of degree college, Ms Demora Valsin Pereira and Ms Deepashree lecturers and coordinators of the programme.
The programee began with the students as well as the staffs welcoming the guests along with the College Band. The students of NCC escorted the guests towards the stage. The programme began with a prayer song led by Ms Deepthi D’souza. Anitha of first year B.com welcomed the gathering. The master of the ceremony Amar Katve and Varsha called upon all the guests to inaugurate the programme by watering the plant. Mrs Pushpalatha spoke about her delight working with Fr Santhosh for the past five years.
Ms Annet spoke about her experience as a student under the guidance of Fr Santhosh. She said that the word Santhosh derived from Sanskrit word meaning contentment, happiness and satisfaction and she added that all these characteristics are clearly depicted in the life of Fr Santhosh. Ms Revathi of second PU commerce shared her opinion about Fr Santhosh regarding what she learned from him and the cheerfulness and smile on his face which brightens up all the students. All the words in this universe won’t be able to express the feelings of the students. As Hans Christian Andersen said “where words fail, music speaks.” Students of first PUC came up with a wishing song which was led by Shobha Monis lecturer of English.
Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ felicitated Fr Santhosh. The felicitation was followed by a speech by Fr Eric Mathias SJ. He spoke about his experience working with Fr Santhosh Fernandes. He highlighted four things about Fr Santhosh first and foremost he said that Fr Santhosh is a very joyful and genial person same as his name suggests, he never let the smile fade from his face secondly Fr Eric Mathias said another quality of Fr Santhosh that is he is always available. Whatever the situation maybe he is always devoted to his work and he never says no. So, helping mentality is another quality of Fr Santhosh. Third quality is that of helping the underprivileged people in the society and he builds good relationship with all the families and locals. Whenever there is any situation to invite the guest for the programme Fr Santhosh will always have many options because of his connectivity. There are many more things to say about Fr Santhosh but Fr Eric Concluded his speech by wishing him all the best for his future and thanking him for all the good things he did for the college and for others. Wherever he goes he will always remain in the hearts of all students and staffs.
Dance is the hidden language of the soul. Students of first PUC mesmerized the audience with an energetic Dance performance. Dance was followed by a speech by Fr Santhosh Fernandes SJ the most awaited speech in the whole programme. First and foremost, he shared his experience working as a Principal in Aloysius for the fast five years. Fr Santhosh took the audience back to five years where he started his work. After narrating his own experience, he gave a message to the students regarding the importance of education through a story. The story was about a boy who has gone to attend an interview. He cleared all the rounds and at the end he had an interview with a person who is in higher rank. He answered all the intellectual question but failed in an emotional question. The interviewer asks him “how many times you cared for your mother till today and how many times you inquired about her difficulties?” the boy replied ‘No’ for the questions.
The interviewer told him to go home and see the hands of his mother. As soon as he reached home, he looked for his mother but mother was not there she was out for work. After five minutes she came back and the boy gently hold his mothers’ hands and rubbed her hands and saw all the wounds then he applied medicines to the wound and at that time he felt the pain of his mother all these years. She never complained about anything she looked after him and cared for him but he couldn’t do that in return. As a moral of this story Fr Santhosh gave a message to students that education without concern for your parents is of no use. Education should enlighten in all the ways.
Students of second PUC and degree performed a humorous skit which was led by Shashank. Skit was followed by an entertaining dance performance by the hostel girls they captured the hearts of all audience. Cultural programme came to an end with the dance performance. Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ delivered the presidential address. As a rector of the college he spoke about his experience working with Fr Santhosh. He appreciated Fr Santhosh for all his hard works. He said that earlier he didn’t find much happy while coming to the college because of the less number of students but now he enjoys coming to college because of the high number of students. This happened because of the hard work of both the principals. He concluded his speech by saying that more programme will be given for the students in order to bring out their talents.
Programme came to an end by vote of thanks which was delivered by Alwyn Alfred of first PU commerce. Students bid Adieu to the best principal who always helped, supported and shaped the lives of many students.
