125^th 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 125^th 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 125^th 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 125^th 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 125^th Anniversary to MH and all Hermonites! Hail Mt. Hermon!

 

 

(Ref: Hail Mount Hermon! A TRIBUTE, Jigme N. Kazi, Prowess Publishing, 2020.)