In a short but moving ceremony the ICC and the AlphaMax community honored Rabindranath Tagore by garlanding his bust in the school compound.
Students and staff did school assembly around the bust. The school's anthem prayer " Where the head is held high " - a poem from Tagore's Gitangali was said. Two hymns were sung then the bust was garlanded by Ambassador of India in Suriname Ms. Subrashini, Senior teachers, Members of ICC and the youngest students in the school.
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| Ambassador Subrashini of India |
Mr. Taylor, Mr. Drepaul, Mr. Kraak, other teachers, staff and students.
A very good morning to all of you.
Once again I am happy to be here to celebrate Rabindranath Tagore’s 154th birth anniversary in the esteemed institution of Alpha Max Academy.
We all know Tagore as a great poet, playwright and educationist. Tagore’s belief in scientific knowledge and his concept of humanism which transcended nationalism and patriotism into universal brotherhood makes him a visionary who anticipated the global village in which we live today.
His thoughts on these issues are of great relevance even today and I quote “ to accept the truth of our own age it will be necessary to establish a new education on the basis, not of nationalism but of a wider relationship of humanity”.
He believed that education should be comprehensive to teach us different aspects of life including the mundane and the spiritual. As a visionary his views on environment and women’s rights make him relevant to our existence today. Strong sense of aesthetics, freedom and dignity of human beings were some of the themes of his works.
Tagore saw the world as a vast give-and-take of ideas and innovations. He insisted that “whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin.” He went on to proclaim, “I am proud of my humanity when I can acknowledge the poets and artists of other countries as my own. Let me feel with unalloyed gladness that all the great glories of man are mine.” The importance of such ideas has not diminished in the divisive world in which we now live.
It is imperative that we deliberate on these modern thoughts and ideas of Tagore and derive benefits to better our lives Thank you.
