Ananda College '82 Group Guru Upahara program:

A show of gratitude

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

A teacher - a pillar of support, an epitome of strength, as loving as a mother, as strict as a father, as caring as a friend, a disciplinarian yet always so approachable and warm at heart. A teacher - a beautiful human being. That's precisely what a teacher is, for every student.

Teachers are mentors. They are students' role models. Everything they say feels right. Everything about them looks nice. If you have been lucky to have teachers like these, think... have you thanked them or appreciated them for their noble work? Maybe you never got a chance to go and thank them. But it's never too late. Take it now.

There's no need to wait for Teacher's Day or any other occasion to thank someone who has meant so much to you - your teacher. Don't hesitate in saying that beautiful word "thank you" to someone as beautiful as your teacher. From the confines of a classroom, they expose you to the real world. They prepare you to live. You definitely owe them a thank you. Let's try to find the right words to express gratitude towards our teachers. Let's thank them and appreciate them for being there for us.

She couldn't hide her tears. Her 'sons' were right there to take care of their Tennakoon madam while she was confident she could climb the rocky path and steps leading to the holy temple. Being the oldest teacher she was looked after carefully by her one time little students, who were naughty but grew up to be good human beings.

The 93-year-old Sudharma Tennakoon, who taught at the Ananda College primary section for over 20-years recalled how she was looked after by her students of the '82 Group during an excursion to the South."I am fit enough to go anywhere. Thank God I can walk though I have a slight hearing impairment.

Ee unata mage Ananda puthala mawa hariyata parissim kala (But my sons at Ananda College took care of me all the time)", she giggled.It was the 'Guru Upahara' annual program where 89 teachers of the College were taken on an excursion to the South. With an intention to show their gratitude to teachers who moulded their lives, the '82 Group of the College annually organised events to say 'they are good human beings because of their teachers'."

Gratitude

They were a bunch of naughty little children but as teachers we taught them much more than just Science, Math and language. We taught them good human values", Madam Tennakoon, who started teaching Anandians from 1963 until she retired in 1980, said.Her voice was full of happiness and she paid gratitude to her students for taking her to places where her own children have not taken her due to their busy schedules. L. Gunasekara who was at Ananda for over 11-years, was the teacher in-charge of extracurricular activities. He also taught them Geometry and Mechanical Drawing.

He said the '82 Group organises annual events including trips by inviting retired teachers. " Last year they were taken on a trip to Anuradhapura. "All the teachers were given exclusive facilities and taken care of until we are dropped at our homes", Gunasekara who is the President of the past Teachers Association said.

He said they were talented students and had shown leadership qualities from their young days. " Anandians have always shown their leadership skills and their love for the motherland. At the same time the environment in Ananda made them to be patriotic citizens and also souls with ethics", he said giving a big 'thank you' to '82 Group including two Brigadiers - Dharshana Hettiarachchi and Devinda Perera, Rajive de Silva, Sumith Gomes and Sadamal Edirisinghe.

Motive

Rajive de Silva explaining the motive behind 'Guru Upahara' said the '82 Group started the program to give teachers of yester year the feeling that their students were still with them. Most of the teachers are old and can't afford to take trips to religious places due to poor facilities and also because they think they are too old far that.

The '82 Group gave them the best facilities. Eighty nine teachers who taught them from grade one to the Advanced Level, were taken on a nostalgic trip to the South."We got the support of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is an old Anandian, to make this trip a success.

Religious activities

Our teachers visited the Sithulpawwa temple, observed Sil at Kiri Vehera Temple, where they engaged in a number of religious activities such as meditation, dharma discussion and offered dana to 10 Buddhist monks.

Then they visited Tissamaharama Sandagiri Chaitiya and on the way back they also visited the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port and had lunch at the Navy Camp in Tangalle which was organised by the Defence Secretary", de Silva said.

De Silva said another objective of organising such events was to set an example to the younger generation that they should respect and pay gratitude to their teachers who shaped their lives turning them into humans they are today.When they were little boys clad in white shirts and blue shorts, cried when they entered grade one and embraced them with motherly affection.

When they were naughty they corrected them... When they were hungry they fed them and when they dreamed big they taught them never to fear failure... when they needed them they stood for them and most importantly when they grew up well, they silently smiled, just like candles, which consume themselves to brighten the lives of their students.

At the end of their excursion, their one time small 'kids' now full grown men and holding prestigious positions in society, worshipped them on bended knees. There was not a single teacher whose eyes were not filled with tears.

They embraced them and blessed them. "What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires a student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.", rings the saying of Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian lyricist and novelist, who has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today, in my ears.