The 5th Sara Mathew Memorial lecture was attended by dignitaries like Rev. Valson Thampu Principal, St. Stephen’s College, Bharati Sharma, Principal, Amity International School Saket, ex students, parents, and the staff of Nursery, Junior, Middle and Senior school.
The proceedings began with the school song. Eric and Sherry Verghese led us down memory lane with their beautiful rendition of the song ‘Love Changes Everything’, while the presentation was on, bringing to us fond memories of Mrs. Mathew. She personified love- for everything. Rev. Valson Thampu led the gathering in prayer, after which the chorus ‘In His Time’ was sung. Pooja Pushparaj read from the Bible and Shruti Sharma from the Bhaghavad Gita.
Ms. Modi started her lecture by explaining the meaning of the word ‘Zindabad’ which means ‘long- live our struggle for justice, equality, and rights for every man.’ She is an old student of our school and passed out 28 years back. She came from a poor family and when she was in class V her mother wanted to put her and her sister in a government school because she could not afford the fees. Mrs. Mathew understood the seriousness of the situation and offered to teach the children free of cost. Shamim and her sister continued their studies in the school, with a scholarship. She expressed her immense gratitude to the school for the same. Imagine what could have happened if no one had extended a helping hand, and let her leave school. One good deed done passes on, to many generations.
When young children stand at the crossroads of their life wondering what career to choose, very often they consider only the pay package – nobody expresses their desire to make this world a better place.
Part - I
Part-II
Ms. Modi did her M. Phil from the Tata Institute of Social Science and worked with Oxford India Trust. Her work involved her to travel extensively especially to extremely remote areas. She spoke extensively about her work with the tribals of Chattisgarh, who urged her to join them in their fight for justice and a life of dignity. Their voiceless ness made her stay on for 16 years, and work for their cause. It was a fight against forest officials, politicians, police and the system itself. People in Jabalpur district, displaced by the Narmada river project had nowhere to go and ultimately died of starvation.
While working with the tribals there, she met and married Anurag Modi, who worked as a civil engineer. She was arrested for being an activist and was branded a nexalite while moving in Baithul district. She was arrested several times subsequently but she never gave up her cause, but rather delved deeper into it. She had to go without food for several days. It is easy to give up but proper brain-mapping helps in deciding what profession one has to pursue. Our heart should decide and our mind should work.
In 1993 she along with the tribals decided not to take part in the elections till their demands were met. There was non-payment of wages, sexual harassment by the officials, no development in the villages etc. She was arrested several times and in order to fight for justice, she did her L.L.B. She has got 14 cases pending against her and the corrupt officials had managed to get 150 witnesses to testify against her and punish her for what she was doing.
The Forest Right Act was never implemented. 50 cases were registered against every tribal. Their crime was that they were going to the forest to collect fire wood. These tribals were witnesses to the illegal felling of trees by the officials. Forest fires were created by the officials to cover-up their crime. On 15 February 2009 a massive rally was organized where she was waylaid and arrested. She was charged for kidnapping Phoolwathi, her colleague, in the struggle. She was put in jail for 23 days. Dharnas were staged all over India. When she was released, she was again attacked. They beat her up badly, slit her throat, and left her for dead. She ended up with 50 stitches on her head. She was constantly reminded of her son and her parents and hoped and prayed that they would be safe and would not see her in such a condition. If she was going to die, she wanted to die in a hospital. But she felt the presence of a supernatural power which helped her recover. She feels that it intervenes and urges you on, when you want to do something good. “I live as if I’ll die today. Believe in Life, Believe in Victory” that is her motto even with 118 stitches all over her body.
We plan for our future, seldom doing something for the society. We are so caught up in our own world. We blame the society for all the mistakes but why can’t we do little things to bring about change. Everybody has the potential to change the world – start listening to your heart.
The biggest threat to the Common Wealth Games is the poor. The government is busy beautifying the place. But where will the poor go? Inequality has been especially growing in the past 15 years. The rich have become richer and the poor, poorer. The whole world can be happy only if we have equality at all levels. We have enough for everyone’s needs but not for our greed. We need to change our lifestyle. Whatever you do, do it honestly. A handful of corrupt people are pressurizing people to do dishonest things. Why can’t we pressurize people to do good? In your lifetime you may not see the results for what you are fighting for. But sooner or later it will happen and we will create a new generation which will continue the struggle.
"Koshish karney valoon ki haar nahi hota"
Ms. Modi concluded her speech by urging the students to feel for others and to do whatever our heart tells us to do, and make a difference.
The choir sang the hymn ‘Abide With Me’ after which Anahita Fotedar delivered the vote of thanks.
The session concluded with the National Anthem.
Serene John & Abha Goyal