Navgati

Farewell & remember...

 

Recently a school next door hosted a farewell party for the Std X class. It had the usual trappings of any such event – sentimental songs from Hindi movies, an adapted version of Auld Lang Syne, and of course faculty speeches to the outgoing batch. The sounds drifting from the microphones got me thinking about my own farewell party two decades ago! Sadly, there isn’t much I can recall except the simple yet deeply touching ritual of passing a lit candle to our juniors.

Though I loved school and had my share of achievements, what I learnt and achieved post-school seems more gratifying. I do wish sometimes though, that my school had equipped me a little better to deal with the world and my life.

So here’s my wish list of some of the things they could have told me on the night of our farewell party: 

v  Life is difficult and you are on your own!

v  The most precious gift from your school years are your friends. Never again will you get such a long time in one place to nurture friendships. So always stay in touch with your school friends.

v  We taught you language in school not so you can score marks in exams but more so that you have the ability to speak up when required. 

v  You probably didn’t make it to any sports team because the Physical Education teacher didn't know how to handle a large group. Find opportunities to play and enjoy a sport - you will learn a lot more than the game itself.

v  The labels you've earned in school are not part of your identity for life. You shed them when you step out of school. And life will present you plenty of opportunities to create new labels for yourself. 

v  It is not important what your teachers thought of you. What you believe about yourself will shape your destiny.

v  Failure is great because it will set you free to follow your dreams and give you the push to stretch yourself

v  We punished you in school not because what you did was wrong but because we as adults could not handle what was happening and needed to regain our sense of control! 

v  Knowledge that you gain from books will be insignificant compared to the knowledge you gain from your experiences. It maybe painful sometimes but it will be knowledge well earned. 

v  The world is filled with limitless opportunities and there is a space under the sun for everyone to achieve something. 

v  Competition is real but it will take you only to a particular level. After that, what propels you forward is your own willingness to do better than what you did yesterday.

v  Don't channel your efforts to build skills for a specific profession - instead channel your efforts in exploring your skills and then see which profession fits in for you.

v  And finally, working with children can be very satisfying!

Maybe my teachers did have such similar thoughts and maybe some might have even tried sharing them with me in their own way. But, maybe back then, it was me who was not ready to receive the messages and had to discover some over the years in my own ways. In any case, it might be interesting to go back and listen to what they are telling the girls now. And maybe request my school principal to allow me to share my two-bits with the outgoing batch as my token of my gratitude for the things I did learn in school!

Contributed by Vijji Chari. Vijji is a Navgati trainer with over 12 years experience in the Leadership Development with organizations like Infosys and T V Rao Learning Systems. Her work in leadership development has been through training, assessment centres, 360 degree feedback and coaching. At Navgati she facilitates programs on Assertiveness, People Leadership, Interviewing and Transitioning from campus.