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THE NEW ALUMNI EXECUTIVE
From the Patron
Dear Fellow Stephanians,
This is to thank all of you for the wonderful experience that you
made possible last evening. I must say how encouraged I feel on
account of the positive energy the meeting generated. I have no
doubt at all that this marks the dawn of a new era in the life of
our cherished Alma Mater.
As President Ved Marwah exhorted us at the beginning, let us talk
less and do more. Or, let us walk the talk. (But let us talk to each
other even as we walk, for talking is the outworking of the love we
share. Let us talk about what we do for the College). We now have a
somewhat nationally representative Executive, though its 'national'
character needs to be enunciated and consolidated a little more. The
College is very fortunate in having a President and a Vice President
who, apart from distinguishing themselves in serving the nation in
key portfolios, are also widely respected authors. I attach special
significance to this, as we need to pay attention to the enhancement
of the intellectual and academic stature of the College in the days
ahead. I intend to do all I can in this respect, both personally and
institutionally. Incidentally, the out-going Vice President, Mr.
Probir Sen, too is an exceptionally lucid writer. I have posted his
piece on IA on the College website. (All alumni are invited to share
their writings with the College and they shall be posted similarly.)
All of you are in the Executive for your proven merit and
distinction. We also have a mix of experience and youth, continuity
and change. The gender balance is a bit skewed. But we can together
address this. Our principal merit is that we love our Alma Mater
with our whole heart. That given, everything else is taken care of.
As most of us realize, and are concerned about, the alumni are, as
of today, a trifle fractured. I seek your help and guidance in
stitching together the frayed edges of this beautiful and invaluable
tapestry. Please reach out! Our bonding and belonging together as
Stephanians cannot be compromised for partisan loyalties or clique
formations.
The positivity that pervaded the first meeting of the AEC needs to
be consolidated and enlarged. At a time when negativity is
threatening to be a national epidemic, we need to create an
alternative ambience. Thank God, it is possible and happening!
From here on, I shall be recede progressively and expect the
Executive to cut the path of its engagement with our Alma Mater. As
a textbook on obstetrics states (about the quality of an
obstetrician), I must develop the virtue of "sensitive watchfulness
and masterly inactivity". I would only submit to all of you that
periodic meetings are necessary, especially at this stage, to
energize the Executive and to make the College community also feel
the reality of the dawning of a new era.
We are not just an alumni Executive. We are into a silent
revolution! We can pioneer the meaningful engagement of an alumni
body with its alma mater in benchmarking excellence in higher
education. In this process please don't get dispirited by propaganda
blitzkrieg, much of which issues from sheer ignorance about the
ground realities in College which is being exploited by a handful of
people. As General Moshe Dayan of Israel (the famous 6-day war,
1967) used to say, "We let others assume that are duds and prove
that we are not!" The best response to mockery or misrepresentation
is fruitfulness. Remember the old poem, "Those who came to scoff,
remained to pray!" Why wouldn't it happen in St. Stephen's? But the
mockers have to be enabled to "come" to this Mecca of Education
which is the challenge before the Executive. From a distance people
can only throw stones. And those who wish only to pelt stones will
prefer to stay at a distance.; for distance is the very oxygen of
psychology of pelting stones. The alumni can transform the stones
into flowers. (Else why do a million flowers bloom on the campus of
our Alma Mater?) Mercifully this applies always, in every instance,
only to a handful of people. The rest are taken for a ride through
misrepresentations and terminological inexactitudes.
Plunging into the developmental throes of the College is now no
longer an optional luxury. It is a survival issue for the
institution. The Alumni are the hope of the College. In the days
ahead, I propose to engage with this issue from an institutional
perspective and see how best to write this into the life and
policies of the College. I need your help and guidance in this as
well.
All of you are busy people! But only the busy have any time. In the
years ahead, you will have to donate your time sacrificially to the
College. Time is a function of love. And time is needed from you not
merely for attending all Executive meetings but also, beyond that,
in transferring the vision we shall develop together to as many of
our fellow Stephanians as possible. You can be extremely effective,
if you put your heart and soul into it, which i am sure you will not
withhold from your Alma Mater.
Finally, a word of gratitude to those who have accepted gracefully
to share the burden of being office bearers. To Shri. Ved Marwah,
Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Bobby Kewalramani, Vijay Chibber and to Rohit
Bansal,a big "Thank You". May you have a wonderful and joyful time
serving our Alma Mater zealously and fruitfully as I am sure you
will.
I wish to place on record my profound gratitude to Mr. Probir Sen
for being the Vice President for a few years and to Mr. Arvind
Malhotra for looking after the Alumni Association and Executive for
a very, very long time. I am sure that we will continue to have
their help and guidance.
The College loves you. Ad Dei Gloriam!
Sincerely
Valson
Principal
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