125th Anniversary and Beyond
“It is better to light a candle than
to curse the darkness.”
A group of Sikkim Hermonites got together
over dinner in Gangtok on Christmas eve, 2019 at their favourite haunt – Hotel
Tashi Delek. The main menu was, of course, MH! My batchmate O.T. Bhutia
reiterated that he would host the Thai party for dinner or lunch on March 7 or
8. Tsegyal Tashi, who was in MH for several years in the ’60s, has also invited
the Thai party for lunch or dinner on the same dates.
In December 2019 and January-February 2020,
I met a number of Hermonites and the subject of our discussion was the same –
MH, more particularly the celebration of the school’s 125th anniversary.
In Bangkok, 1973 batch Hermonite and Hermonites International President and my
dear friend Thip (Varongthip Lulitanond) confirmed that he and some Thai
Hermonites would come to Sikkim, Darjeeling and Siliguri to celebrate the
occasion. Navin (Khuria) Wangsejullarat,
also 1973 batch and a very active Hermonite, will not be able to travel due to
health reasons. We wish him good health and speedy recovery. Aphichoti (Oak)
Chavengsaksongkram, younger brother of late Krisada C, will be able to come to Kolkata
only to join the others for celebrations in March. This is also due to health reasons. We are getting old !! Oak has decided to
write an article for this book. This is wonderful as he is a good writer.
Incidentally, Oak’s mother is related to Sasithorn Boonlong, the pioneer of
Thai students’ ‘influx’ into MH. In fact, Sasithorn, batch of 1963-64 (!!) came
all the way from Bangkok to Darjeeling for Oak’s admission in mid-1960s.
In Calcutta (Kolkata), the Hermonites, under
Charan and Shakti, are doing a wonderful job in reviving the Hermonite spirit
there. I had earlier requested Charan Chabria to ‘make peace and move ahead’.
They seem to be doing more than that! Keep going. When Sikkim Hermonites’
President Uttam Pradhan and I met Helen Sanson and her husband over dinner in
Gangtok last year she promised that during their short stay in New Zealand this
year (the two work in Kolkata) they would meet up with other Hermonites in New
Zealand and celebrate our school’s 125th birth anniversary.
I’m sure Hermonites from all over the world
and from all groups and ages are geared up to celebrate the occasion in their
own way. The spirit and the manner in which some Hermonites, including some
from abroad, joined the school to celebrate MH’s 125th birth
anniversary on March 11, 2020, is proof enough of our strong bonding and camaraderie.
The spirit of MH is alive and refuses to
die.
However, we are well aware that
Hermonites all over the world are conscious of what’s happening to their beloved
MH. Some have given up on the school, others are holding on. Hopes are high but
apprehensions are genuine. What can I say at such moment!? Keep going. Aim.
Shoot to score!
During the celebration of the
Methodist Church’s 150 years of ministry in the sub-continent many years ago in
Lucknow, one of the speakers reminded the delegates of what Mahatma Gandhi said
about the Church in India. Bishop Robert Solomon of Singapore in his keynote
address recalled an incident between Stanley Jones, an American Methodist
Christian missionary, and Mahatma Gandhi. When Jones asked Gandhi, “You are an ardent practitioner of
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount; why don't you join the church?" Gandhi
replied, “I have no problem with Christ; my problem is with church."
When I see what has been going in our
beloved Mount Hermon, the temple of learning, in the past several years I’m
reminded of how Jesus Christ reacted when he saw what was happening in the
Church of God in the city of Jerusalem:
“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mathew 21)
In 1967 when Dr. Welthy Fisher spoke at our Speech Day she reminded us
how we should go about our job, particularly when things don’t go our way. She,
while quoting an old Chinese proverb, said: “It is better to light a candle than to curse the
darkness.”
Those who are concerned about MH and have
displayed their love, affection and loyalty to the school need not despair “for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”. It is the law of karma. “For
he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not
be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we
have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them
who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6: 8-10)
When the Chapel portion of our school’s main
building was restored and rededicated on August 15, seven months after the
disastrous earthquake of January 15, 1934, our Principal Miss Lila Enberg in
her dedicatory speech said, ““We need not mourn for the greater glory of the
former building that was shattered by the earthquake. Instead we all rejoice
that the latter glory is greater than the former. The Assembly Hall is now more
firmly constructed, more strongly bound together than before. We would now,
therefore, render hearts full of thanksgiving to your Gracious God who, of His
infinite mercy and goodness, has made all this possible. It was He who gave the
faith and courage that enabled us to say: “It shall be rebuilt!”
In this hour of another crisis at MH may we,
too, have the faith and courage to say: “It Shall Be Rebuilt!”
Inch by inch
Step by step
One day at a time
WE SHALL OVERCOME!
Cheers to all! Happy 125th
Anniversary to MH and all Hermonites! Hail Mt. Hermon!
(Ref: Hail Mount Hermon! A TRIBUTE, Jigme N. Kazi, Prowess
Publishing, 2020.)
