[Blog of the Dept. of English, Govt.CTE, Trivandrum]
Posted by Dr. C.Praveen
Towards
the end of each academic year, the trainees of the college,
go on a compulsory One-day tour. This year it was no different and as I
was relatively free, I accompanied the students to Kanyakumari in the first week of
this month.
Though
my trainees enjoyed the tour, they demanded that we go on an Optional tour, punctuating the fact
that all the other Optional students have gone for a tour! Normally, I brush aside such demands insisting that it is a silly way of maintaining status quo. But, the present batch is perhaps the only batch in my entire teaching career which did not require
an extra class for completion of the syllabus. In fact, revision commenced for this batch even before
their Practical Examination! So, losing
a day or two was not a big problem.
I
wondered where I could take them... It
was then that I recalled an invitation
from one of my former students, Sr. Reethamma (of the 2009-10 batch). A week
after taking up her new assignment in the Convent, in the coastal village of Poovar which is
roughly 30 Kilometres from Trivandrum
city, she rang me up to tell me about her new job- the teaching cum community-related
work which she is now performing. She had invited me and my students to the school where she is now teaching.
As classes for the academic year for the trainees was to end in the third week of October, the tour had
to be fixed in that week itself. I rang up Sr. Reethamma and she was only all to happy to
help. She immediately applied for leave
for one day and made all preparations necessary to receive my students.
The present batch
Before
I proceed any further, let me tell you something about the present batch
(2011-12) who will be bidding farewell
to the college this month. There are
fifteen girls and two boys in the class. Two students
of the class (Ms. Deepthi and Ms.Athira) were elected to the College Union as Vice Chairman and Magazine Editor
respectively. Both of them and the Class
Representative Ms. Anusree, had won accolades
for compeering in English, Malayalam and Hindi for several functions held in the college during
the academic year. Three trainees- Ms. Minu, Ms. Anusree and Ms. Anu got
married during the course and are on the family way.
The tour
Fourteen
trainees save the recently married ones and myself boarded the city service bus from the Central
Bus Station around 10 AM. An hour later, when we
reached the convent, both Sr. Reethama and other senior sisters of the convent were ready
to receive us. We were served snacks and
soft drinks and to our utter surprise,
we were rushed to the Jetty for a short trip. The boat cruised along groves which is home to several species of birds. Every now
and then we could see tourists, both Indian and foreign, shuttling in Speed Boats from tourist spots to Resorts.
After
a brief
halt at the estuary we returned
to the convent, had lunch and visited
the school run by the convent. We also
visited the fishing village adjacent to
the school. Before leaving the convent around 4.30 PM, we had tea and all the trainees thanked the
sisters of the convent for their warm hospitality and especially for
making the day a truly memorable one.
Sr.
Rethamma had this advice to give the trainees : “ As you become teachers,
remember there are children and communities who need your help... It is by
helping them that you really serve the
nation and find true happiness.”
Posted by Dr. C.Praveen
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