Saturday, August 25, 2012

A Farewell Speech


                    30 years have flown by as I stand here for the last time to formally address you all madam Principal, fellow colleagues and my dear children.
                     It has been a happy educative time spent here giving my expertise, imparting knowledge and skills while you all learn and grow and thereby learning a lot from my young teachers present here.


                     I received ample guidance from my seniors present here and predecessors gone before me. I hope I gave useful insight selflessly and empathetically to all my colleagues to the best of my knowledge and ability through my time here.

                    When I joined the institution in the prime of my youth I was full of enthusiasm and looked forward to my teaching career. My journey took me through the highs and lows of teaching. Sometimes I was angry and strict sometimes happy and jovial but always ready to impart knowledge, teach, get the best out of every young child placed in our care. These seedlings we sow every year grow into beautiful little flowers  go out into the world as young responsible citizens are our proud and true treasures we accumulate over time.

                         Friends coming here every day imbibed virtues of regularity, patience, love and care I also learned a lot as I grew into a happy and responsible individual. I am truly grateful to the staff and management for giving me this opportunity of selfless growth . I Am Grateful for the blessing of the charge of The Gurdwara Sahib And The Revered Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji . It was an added honour for me to recite The vaak Sahib every morning and I am truly grateful to Waheguruji for added abundance Of His Blessings.     In My learning I may have made many mistakes unknowingly for which I humbly and with folded hands ask for forgiveness. Here I also take the opportunity to ask for forgiveness of any conduct that did not meet with the eyes of my dear colleagues.

                                       The young children here have never let me feel that I have grown old I still feel energetic as I was ten years ago and it is because of the young blood around us and if I go by statistics I would have taught approximately 9000 students over these 30 years and learned much more from them than what I would have taught them. Learning to be grateful for each new day that brought a new challenge and overcoming it. Like Wallis Simpson Said “ For A gallant spirit there can never be defeat "

                         Now that I leave school I look back in fond memory at all the interesting wonderful times we all had welcoming honoured and  distinguished guests at different school functions, science projects we made and the various picnics we had together but I also look forward to a fresh new start towards a second inning. Maybe I might myself become a student and learn what I wanted to all these years and did not get the chance because of the time crunch.

                     Life keeps moving and with my retirement here I look forward to another inning and I would quote 

Goethe “what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” 


Another of my favourite quote is by Robert Louis Stevenson – “ Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant “.   

                                                                              Thank You !