"I take this opportunity to thank everyone of you seated here for every smile, every kind word, wise counsel, guidance and support to my academic and administrative ventures..."

A Solemn Farewell | A Soul-Stirring Speech

The Farewell Function for our Retiring Staff held yesterday, in the Anderson Hall was such a memorable one by all means.

Dr. Minnie, HoD, Department of Computer Science (MCA) who spoke about her colleague Dr. Johanna, made a beautiful and a highly structured speech. She had divided her talk into three parts, and rendered it in such an elegant style, that was so engaging and endearing to all of us.

This was followed by Dr. Johanna’s Farewell Speech which was soul-stirring and straight from the heart.

In my more than two decade-long stint in this blessed Institution, I’ve been part of numerous farewell events every year.

But this one was different in many ways.

That’s because the retiring staff member did not just stop with talking about her past in MCC, but also spoke with great burden about her vision for this blessed Institution, her burden for this blessed Institution and her vision statement that she’s envisaged personally for the growth of this blessed Institution.

The talk was all the more inspiring, because it carried the burden of a lovely heart! A concerned heart! A caring heart!

A heart that cared so much about the Institution that gave her - her identity for more than 30 blessed years of her service.

This morning the first thing I did, at the Main Entrance to Anderson Hall, was to land straight in front of Dr. Johanna, and request her if she could part with her farewell speech.

Immediately, without a second thought, she took out the entire script from her bag and gladly gave it to me. She also said that she would send me an email of the typed version soon after.

Afternoon, when I was maneuvering my way to the Department to take our sweet colleagues along with me for the fellowship lunch @ AB today, I saw Dr. Johanna at a distance, waving at me. I stopped my car, alighted from it, and went towards ma’am.

She said, ‘Sir, as promised, I’ve sent you the mail’.

That’s Johanna ma’am for us dear ladies and gentlemen.

Teachers like Dr. Johanna are indeed a great asset to our blessed Institution.

Me thought of sharing snippets from her Farewell Speech, that, I’m sure would inspire us and ennoble us in our labour of love, in our loyalty to our duty and in our devotion and dedication to our beloved institution.

Please join me in celebrating such a phenomenal life, a life so well-lived, even as we read through her commitment, her devotion and her dedication in the various roles and responsibilities given unto her.

Here goes –

MADRAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

FAREWELL

APRIL 12, 2023

 Respected Principal Dr. P. Wilson, Bursar Mr. Cyrus Kallupurackal, in absentia, my dear Colleague Dr. Shyamala Lionel who is retiring from service this year along with me, my most respected former Principals of the College, former Bursars, former Heads of Departments and Units, my dear Colleagues of yester years and now, Ladies and gentlemen! A warm and humble greetings to you all!

When I was contemplating on various aspects of my life that I could share this evening, a clear voice echoed in my heart saying, ‘Count your Blessings’. Heeding to this divine direction, I wish to share an array of blessings that I received in Madras Christian College, through precious people, events and situations. As I count my blessings, I urge you to rejoice with me on the grace and goodness of God to an insignificant simpleton like me. 

 First and foremost is my heartfelt gratitude and thanks with due praises, honour and glory to my beloved Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave me life and saved it in five near-death experiences in the past, to see this day and complete 30 years of service in Madras Christian College. At this moment, I prostrate before Him and surrender the rest of my life to be directed according to His perfect will for His purposes and His glory.

Dr.Minnie on Dr.Johanna

Born and brought up in Tirunelveli as the eldest daughter of Mr. M. Gabriel Johnson, a Government servant and Mrs. Navamalar Johnson, an elementary school teacher, I was blessed with convent education to completion of MCA in St. Joseph’s College Trichy, in spite of my family’s humble financial status. I cannot thank my parents enough for the disciplined Christian upbringing which was like a bitter pill at a tender age but was instrumental in bringing the protection and success in my life until now. My father’s dedication to the family, financial prowess and integrity are unparalleled and my mother’s perseverance and talent-investment are a great inspiration to me. I thank both my Appa and Amma for their love, sacrifice, guidance and care all my life and they continue to be a blessing to me in their ripe age of 90 years. 

With my first appointment in 08.07.1987 in Mepco Schlenk College in Sivakasi, I joined the education bandwagon following my mother and aunts. After six years of service in Mepco, I was prompted to apply for a position at Madras Christian College in Chennai. Not knowing its grandeur and legacy I attended the interview during the Principalship of Rev. Dr. Francis Soundarraj with one desire in my heart – to work in a Christian Institution in a city like Chennai. I thank God for fulfilling my desire. 

My first stay on Campus was at the Martin Hall with Dr. Anne Sudir, Ms. Ruth Kattumuri and Dr. Minnie and a band of supremely talented and ambitious girls. The Hall life under the wardens Late Ms. Chelliah and Ms. Mercy David served as a smooth launchpad to my work in MCC. I got married when I was in Martin Hall. 

The daily Hall prayers, the gatherings at Dr. Anne Sudhir’s room for laughter, discussions and fellowship provided the much-needed support to me when my marriage crumbled within a short span of three months. In spite of the storm, the Hand of God guided and oriented me to have focus and confidence to carry out my duties in MCC.  The exit from Martin Hall was indeed crowned with two gifts from heaven, Ms. Samantha Persis my only beloved daughter and completion of M.S from BITS, Pilani. 

Madras Christian College has the natural and professional ambience like no other college.  I thank God for the kind of love, care and friendship among the colleagues, the liberty that we enjoy and the teacher-student relationship, and salute our Founding Fathers for laying a Christian foundation in MCC and creating such a professional structure and ambience. I count it a great blessing to have known. every administrator of the college, colleagues, non-teaching staff, beloved students of MCA and other departments, hall and campus workers. The journey since1993 had been spiced up with memorable interactions between me and a host of scholarly, talented, god-fearing and accomplished men and women. 

I take this opportunity to thank everyone of you seated here for every smile, every kind word, wise counsel, guidance and support to my academic and administrative ventures, prayers and even admonitions during my interactions with you. I have been directly or indirectly mentored, nurtured and refined by you to who I am this day. I pray that God would bless each one of you and your families. 

My life in the Department of Computer Science was and is by far, the best. Kibble Computer Centre is not a palatial work environment like many other units of the College but it served as a humble nest of solace for me to work with a band of Colleagues who are god-fearing, amicable, extremely talented and hardworking. During my entire years of service, I was blessed to be under the leadership of Dr. Rani Siromoney, a legendary personality with unparalleled academic and research achievements who was much older than me and Dr. Milton and Dr. Minnie, who are younger than me. 

The Lord shaped my inner being and taught many vital life lessons through them. The company of Mr. Arumainathan and Mr. Alaguselvan were fun-filled. My daily professional and personal interactions with faculty members  Dr. Minnie, Dr. Feminna Sheeba, Prof. Christopher Charles, Ms. Felicia Rajathi and Dr. Shiny Priyadarshini to this day is a pleasant and purposeful affair. Mrs. Deborah Samuel and Mr. Shankar were the pets of the DCS family, and they were a healing balm with their hilarious comments and harmless pranks, when we were weighed down with personal or work-related burdens. We lived, loved and grew as a family. I will surely miss each one of them but will cherish the memories of our life together for the rest of my life. God bless you dears! 

Setting up of the Students Internet Centre, representing the Institution as a UBCHEA Fellow, serving as Dean of Women Students and IQAC Coordinator are certainly milestones in my career. With several constraints, the road I journeyed was sometimes narrow, stressful and challenging but the above God-given responsibilities were accomplished by His grace and not by my wisdom, strength or abilities. I thank the former Principals Dr. Alexander Mantramurti, Dr. VJ Philip, Dr. Alexander Jesudason and Dr. P. Wilson for considering me to represent the College and entrusting me with administrative responsibilities. 

I do not want to boast about what I have done in my administrative duties but at this juncture, I apologize to our Principal Dr. P. Wilson for what I did not do in IQAC in the recent past. I promise to consolidate the plans and guideline documents I drafted for the IQAC and send by email to you by May, which you may consider for implementation before the NAAC peer team visit, if you find it fitting and consented by all.  

My special thanks to Dr. Prince Annadurai and a host of colleagues who extended prayer support and administrative support when I served as the Dean of Women students. I also thank the Associate Coordinators of IQAC Dr. Amirthavalli and Dr. Ashik, the Criterion heads, the core team members and the IQAC Nodal officers from various departments for their wholehearted support to every initiative of the IQAC. My special love and thanks to Mrs. Jayalakshmi for her diligent work in IQAC and her love to me.  

At the personal end, entering into MCC was a jump into a fiery furnace of affliction and I do not attribute it to anyone in my family, friends or my colleagues. A biblical verse in Isaiah 43:2 says, ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze’. Nothing that happened in my personal life could sabotage what God intended for my professional life. It was God’s grace. This is my story; this is my song and testimony. 

My wisdom and understanding are limited to a timeframe of 30 years and I consider myself no equal to many of the legends who have lived and served in this great Institution. But with all the love that I have for this Institution I would like to place my observations and requests before you, on two vital aspects, in my final official address. 

MCC needs synergy of discrete efforts by all: Times are changing. Instead of having a pleasant and purposeful pace of work, we are now pushed into the rat race of achievement to the norms and demands of external agencies. Without a shadow of doubt, it is mandatory to prioritize the following projects -Digitization of student records, Establishment of a Data Centre, creation of a Principal’s dashboard to serve as a quick Academic Decision Support system, and the Department / Faculty Document submission portal with a Data Capturing system and Supporting document submission system. The completion of the above would synchronize and change the work environment and also improve the perception of the College in the eyes of the stakeholders, with added benefits to the noteworthy and sincere academic and administrative efforts taken by our Principal Dr. Wilson. Sir, I have marveled at your brainstorming speed. I request you to take a fresh approach to the above projects and not continue with the trial and error method and patchwork form of resolving issues, in the earliest possible time to see the fruits of your labour before your tenure ends. 

College events to echo the Vision and core values of the College: With the demands of ranking and accreditation agencies, to prove our existence through varied activities, the campus is now buzzing with events throughout the academic year. I agree that the College campus is the best place for students to nurture and showcase their abilities and talents and cultivate leadership skills. 

But a conscious effort can be taken to finalize the event calendar of all the departments and units of the College before the commencement of the academic year. The events can be categorized into Collectively celebrated events (freshers’ day, farewell, retreats), College level events (IQAC, FDPs, Student seminars etc.) and Department Academic events (Academic theme-oriented workshops, seminars). The events must be ensured to be in sync with the vision and core values of the College namely Academic excellence, Spiritual vitality and Social relevance and must be those that contribute to accreditation and ranking of the College. The students are constantly pulled in diverse directions and are distracted from academic work due to overlapping and overflowing number of events, which has already been sensed by the teaching fraternity.  

MCC is like Samson of the Bible who was a mighty man of valor. God’s power was bestowed on Him to deliver His people from their enemies. Little did he realize that his decisions would bring a series of consequences, contrary to what was intended for him to accomplish. Someone shared this in one of the sermons I heard - God in His infinite wisdom placed His power symbolically on Samson’s hair so that if and when he failed, his hair would grow again by the grace of God and enable him to fulfill the purposes of God. 

The clarion call of God for Madras Christian College also rests upon the Head of the Institution and I pray for you Sir, that grace would abound in your life to build the Kingdom of God in MCC with godly wisdom and impart education to the younger generation, that is unadulterated in any form contrary to the vision of our founding fathers.   

My heart is wrapped in gratitude and joy for what this Institution has made me into and the opportunities it gave to contribute to the College community. With regard to my contributions in the past 3 decades, some may applaud what I have done and a few others in all honesty may consider it much lesser than what they would have done if given an opportunity. I honor everyone’s valuation and opinion. But I will be satisfied if my Master would certify me with the words as seen in Mark 14:8 – ‘She did what she could”. 

My special love and thanks to my spiritual mentor Prophet Samuel Jabez, Mr. John Abel and Mrs. Natalie Reinhardt, the members of my God-given family for being present here to celebrate this occasion with me. 

Finally, I want to make a special mention about my daughter Samantha Persis who is an alumna of this College and thank her for her sacrifices and patience with me for nearly 27 years. I believe that the Lord who is mindful of the sparrows will carry me and my daughter Samantha in the years to come and make all things beautiful in His time. In the sight of God, ‘The end is better than the beginning’. 

What started in 1993 is ending well in 2023 and to God be the glory. 

God bless Madras Christian College! 

Thank you. 

April 12, 2023