Guru Devo Bhava

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL
Good morning to Distinguished Dignitaries, Respected Speakers, Honourable Teachers from various schools, the pride of Lions, Ladies & Gentlemen.

Imagine we are in a ship facing a storm! As sailors, What should we do? We cannot change the wind or calm the sea. Should we keep quiet and simply watch, or, can we do something. Can’t we adjust the sails & steer?

We are facing a storm today, and each of us is experiencing degeneration and possible downfall of the society. We are deeply concerned. We even express it every now and then. Being busy, we either feel we can’t do anything or it is too big for us. Ultimately we become mute spectators.

Should we resign to fate? or can we do anything about it?

Shri. Anil Khicha, Reena Madam & Myself, three diverse young people while meeting socially, casually remarked about the state the society and that it is amidst a storm. Somehow within us we felt, we needed to do something – in whatever small way we could. With pained hearts and restless minds, the destination not known & the path unclear, we decided not to sit quite. Thus began a journey with great intention & determination - to make a difference. The greatest challenge before us was, what kind of a society will we leave behind for our children?

Engaging in discussions and deliberations with, like-minded people, educators, professionals & thought leaders we arrived at a singular solution – you, The Teacher. The teacher has the greatest opportunity and ability to shape the future. With the able guidance and mentorship of Shri S Gurumurthy, these ideas took a shape and thus was born the movement named Guru Devo Bhava. Because early on we realized that it was not enough to just conduct events but to create a movement. The mission of Guru Devo Bhava is to engage, inspire, enrich & empower teachers so that they become respectable and therefore respected. Its aim - to bring Honour and Pride for Teachers.

The Guru Devo Bhava Team found its footing when we joined hands with the like-minded, large hearted service organization -Lions Club of Meenambakkam, who have been our pillar of support all these three years and should be for years to come. The movement was initiated in 2012 & conducted a few pilot programs with 10 schools engaging about 750 teachers and 10,000 students. All the 10 schools conducted intensive writing, oratorical & drawing competitions on the theme Guru Devo Bhava. They also participated in a skit competition on the same theme. The Launch program was held on September 8, 2012 at Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai. Distinguished educators & thinkers made their presentations.

Carrying on this august flag forward & sustaining the momentum, an enthralling program for over three hundred teachers, 'Live Life True Size' was held with the renowned life coach & motivational speaker Shri Tapas Das Mohapatra on June 8, 2013 at Chinmaya Heritage Centre, Chennai.

The movement has continuously attracted flag-bearers of the society and the industry not only contributed financially, but to the content and delivery of this cause as well. They came together to nudge this righteous wheel forward. Their endorsement & keen support encouraged the movement to do more and better.

Good Schools produce Good citizens, but the bigger question remains, what makes a good school.

Feeling enthused from the response of our earlier programs, this year, Guru Devo Bhava is embracing the opportunity to revere & support the teachers through this program designed around 'What makes a good school'

We have tried to reach over 500 schools of Chennai to get the Students’ & Teachers’ Perspectives. We have reached the whole of Chennai through various media to get the public opinion and we have been largely successful in garnering immense interest in this Topic.

Among the schools, over 20 schools participated in the Preliminary Round of presentations on what makes a good school which was held on 23rd August at Guru Shri ShanthiVijai Jain Vidyalaya, Vepery. Today you are about to see 10 of those schools participate in panel discussions with our experts.

We also got an overwhelming a lot of response from the general public.
Today’s program has seen the participation from over 70 schools and as of yesterday, our Registrations have crossed our target of 500 Teachers. What more, thanks to Purple Stream Convergence, this program is being live streamed online and can be seen by anyone on the website, www.purplestream.com/gdb.

On behalf of the Guru Devo Bhava Team, I thank you all for your wonderful enthusiasm in participating in this movement.

An array of eminent educators & thinkers are to follow and I hope you will return to your schools, invigourated, inspired and empowered.

Thank you.