When meeting old students, it is a pleasure to be told that everything they are today is due to what you have done for them in their school days. What they actually remember may be limited to your elocution classes and the slips you made, your good manners tips which you yourself violated in a moment of annoyance, or your strictness in discipline and the troubles you gave them. Forty years after events, these become central themes for thrilling narrations. Legends grow up over trifles, both positive and negative, and small bits of kindness you have shown assume Himalayan proportions. But what is touching to note is that they feel a sense of bondedness with you in spite of the smallness of your contribution and the flaws in your character. The affection you have shown them and the ideas you have shared remain a motivating force all the time.
The Real Difference
Your joy rises to another level when, independently of these idle tales, you hear that so-and-so is effective in whatever work he/she takes up, that he has a sense of mission in life, and that he exerts an influence for good in the neighbourhood. It rises further when you learn that he/she believes in certain principles, stands by some values and is extremely helpful to people in need. Your joy would be even more complete if, in addition to all this, he/she were to emerge as a ‘thought leader,’ influencing other intelligent persons positively in society.
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