Three things
I learnt from the Brothers
“There is something different about these brothers.” This was my first
reaction as I joined class 8 at St Joseph’s. We were from the Kannada medium
and we had a Brother teaching us English. Though we did not know much of
English, for some strange reason we would understand this Brother. The second
surprise that awaited us was when we saw the Brothers and teachers playing
football for founder’s day. And as I look back there are many more
memories which flash through my mind. I guess more powerful than the memories
are the lessons learnt. So here are three things that I learnt from the Brothers.
Equality:
There
were many a times I heard Brothers calling each other by their first names regardless
of their age or designation in the school. This was a real surprise to me as I
had always heard everybody else referring the person in authority as Father,
Sister, Sir or Madam. But this was not so with the Brothers.
When I look back probably this could be one of the biggest reason that
attracted me to the Brothers. Until then I had never seen someone treating each
other equally regardless of their age or position. Thanks to the Brothers that
today I make it a point to speak to a housekeeping staff or the security guard
of an organisation with the respect that I would give to their CEO or the MD.
Compassion:
As many of
you remember, there were extra study hours for students who were weak in
studies. Though I was an average student, I really enjoyed staying back. Well,
there was a hidden motive for that. During the study time, we would get nice
eateries from the nearby hotel. This filled our hungry tummies and energised us
to study even more. Brothers also help a lot of students with their fee and
other things and nobody gets to know about it. I feel the invitation to be the
same.
Discipline mixed with humour:
Brothers
are a peculiar bunch of people. In the class, they would be a terror. I got few
bashings from the Brothers for my mischief. But after school hours they would
stand outside cracking jokes with students. This is the third
lesson I learnt from the Brothers. To be absolutely focused while at work and
then to relax and have fun with the same people outside the workplace.
Old habits
die hard. The lessons that I learnt in my early adulthood are deep rooted. As I
look at my life I feel a deep sense of gratitude to the gift of brothers in my
life. Every time I do a workshop, help to heal a broken relationship or support
someone in facing a difficult situation the charism of the Brothers comes
alive.
Valerian Sequeira
Ex-student
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