Remembering the Lady who built me...

That day remains, and shall forever remain, one of the most vividly cartographed days in the fabric of memories in my mind.

That day I learnt that Sister Flavian had been transferred, and that was her last day as the 'Principal of Carmel Junior College'.. yes, the fact took some time to swallow in, and even greater to digest. Sister was leaving.. My 'Pingu' was leaving.. and all I did was, collapsed on a chair and tried to gather myself, but however much I tried, I could not.. I just could not. It was a helplessly pathetic situation.. like a gigantic piece of glass had cracked into countless fragments and I was impotently trying to rejoin them.

As of then, she was not going miles away.. but just steps away. she was to undertake the responsibility of Bal-Vihar, the neighboring school for the deaf. But still, I felt incomplete.. we all did.
From the time I walked in through the gates of this coveted institution, I had always seen her as the all-in-all.. and her, only her, voice reverberated with authority every time she spoke on the intercom. It was hard to imagine someone else seated on that chair.. and even harder to 'listen' to somebody else's voice.

I still remember, that day when she stood on the stage, addressing thousands of melancholic ears, delivering her last speech as our Principal, the air in the hall breathed of dampness of tears. From teachers to students, truants to accomplishers, seniors to juniors, everybody cried. Nobody could let her go. The lady who built Carmel - who is Carmel for all of us, how could we let her leave?

From just a stack of concrete and bricks, she made CJC our second home. She made it stand high in the blues, proudly with self-dignity. She raised us.. she built us. We were her clay and she was our potter, and day by day, moment by moment, she strived to mould us into a beautiful human being, and now she would be gone. That holy candle who illuminated our dark paths, held our hands and led us through.. would be extinguished.

She was a lady every girl wanted to be.
When we were happy, she rejoiced with us, when we were despaired, she consoled us.. When we won, she congratulated us and when we lost, she encouraged us.. When we did something good, she rewarded us, and when we erred, she corrected us..
Her stern dignity enveloping her soft motherly soul inspired and attracted one and all.
Probably that was the reason why every eye was moistened and every lip trembled that day..
As for me, it felt like an integral part of me was being snatched away from my Life, leaving me bruised.

It's been nearly two years now.. time has passed and the hurt has healed, but the memories have not faded, and they never will. In the next couple of years, no one knows where one would be, but yet, the very name of 'Carmel Junior College' would always send me flying back in the cloud of time with nostalgic memories of 'My Sister Flavian'... and in my heart, her memories would remain as fresh as the morning dew on soft flower petals.

I began my first blog post with Sister Flavian.. but would end it on a little selfish note..
I wish, Sister, that once in Life you, acidentally or intentionally, happen to come across this post and realize how much you meant to me and what a void your absence has left in my heart..

Miss you Sister..
And hope, once again.. even if it is only once..
Destiny crosses our paths and I get to be enlightened by your purity.