September 5, 2008: Mr Selvadoray returns to DB Egmore for a Teacher's Day Special

The stage was set for a great evening - Teachers Day, A peerless teacher and an audience that has always been in awe of this great teacher. For all those present last evening, it was an evening we will treasure for ever and ever! Mr Selvadoray arrived ahead of the appointed time (5:00 pm) to a class room that was packed beyond our wildest expectations. At a rock show you grab any place you get - Chairs, the floor; this event was no different. The DBPPA had organised seating for 85 guys and there must have been over 150 past pupils of Don Bosco who became part of a unique moment in this school's great history and to witness the Return of the King. It was like being back in school all over again - Blackboard and chalk, a lot us in uniform, et all! Mr Selvadoray chose Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard" as the lesson for the day. This poem was written when the Industrial Revolution in England in the 18th Century had created a lot of social change, displaced a lot of the weaker sections of the society and made them poorer. Mr Selvadoray drew a parallel between England in the 18th Century and the Indian Economic Liberalisation story which is widening the gap between the wealthy and poor. That was all we needed to get into the Selva Zone - he dissected the first couple of stanzas for us and we already felt like we were back in school and were thoroughly spellbound. But the spell didn't last forever; after an hour of poetry, an interactive session and a lecture by Mr Selvadoray on a wide range of social issues, it was time to go home. Except this time nobody wanted to leave school; almost the same feeling like our last day at school.   

Click on these links for media coverage of the event: The New Indian Express  The Hindu