1 s SURANA COLLEGE #16, South End Road, Bengaluru-04 ANNUAL REPORT 2017-‘18 Dr.Archana Surana, Managing Trustee’s message to Teachers on Teachers’ Day Celebration In 1985 Reliance conducted its first annual general meeting in Colaba Football Ground, Mumbai. A few years later, it was at Cross Maidan, Mumbai. Today, there is no stadium which can hold its shareholders during its annual meetings. Similarly when this Teachers’ day episodes started a few years ago, it used to be at the UG board room, later we moved to the seminar hall and here we are today at the PG Centre auditorium. You know what I mean. We are growing: in size and in terms of a large family. I am glad to see people from all the 4 campuses. But what worries me is, with increase in size comes increasing problems. Size is not the issue, but families are. Huge personal families were not a problem in those days. You do not trust me, talk to your grandparents. Getting used to noise, no personal time for couples, small cars and lap sittings, long ques outside restrooms etc. It was a heaven then. Today huge families, right from the beginning, face forces that could pull them apart. The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing. Work families are no exception to this fact. I am not sure how many of you present here have enjoyed this feeling being part of this large family at Surana. If you have, then you have understood the secret that a family at workplace is not an important thing, it is everything. If you have not, then it is time for introspection. In general, I know how most of your lives have unfolded so far and to a great extent I know how personally you face life and battle everyday wars. I know when most of your day starts and ends, especially women. I know what it takes to balance a child, husband and the rest of the family. I know about the numerous smiles and arguments that happen across your breakfast and dinner table at home. I am aware of the sacrifices and compromises you make. Your struggle to prove a point to many constantly living under public gaze. Dyeing your hair, losing weight, later gaining the lost weight, health scares, traumas etc. etc. You are all exemplary individuals. No doubt! But what stops you from making a happy work family here? I can see a few of you nodding in refusal. I am not talking about the ‘department family’; I am concerned about the ‘institutional family’. In the last 2 decades, this place has only become a big gated community with 16 large and small families living alongside each other. But where is the feeling of ‘one large family’? Where is the co-existence and understanding between departments? There are events like this, fests and festivities, professional forums and platforms, outbound, leisure trips, cups of chai and loads of biscuits. Hours of discussions, gossips, aggression, rumours – all under ANNUAL REPORTS 2017-‘18 2 s SURANA COLLEGE #16, South End Road, Bengaluru-04 one roof and yet there is a division. People are so obsessed with their own departments. Obsession is a negative passion. I am surprised that you are very reluctant to collaborate with other departments. We have separate staff-rooms for convenience sake. Let this physical boundary not become a mental one. You may have 100 reasons why you are finding it difficult to work as a family with other departments, but I have the following reasons why you should. 1. You spend more time with your work family. Over 40 hours a week to be precise. Mixing with other department adds flavor to this work family composition. 2. You can share your inner most secrets with people from other departments. Whether it is a truth or lie, they are going to believe you with utmost honesty. 3. People from other departments can be your best relationship counselor. While your own department people may laugh at your falling, other department members will pity for you and lend you a great support. 4. You will not be able to make fun of your own department people in your staffroom. But you can always do so sitting in some other department and have a good laugh to ease your stress. What do you say Mahalakshmi? Want to say anything about Mini Abraham. Murali’s department is always open for you. 5. You know the good and bad of your department people, but learning about someone from other department may change your outlook about your own good and bad. 6. Your department people are always in a hurry to judge you, but it is always the other department faculty who are keen to listen to you without arriving at a judgment. After you leave they are going to make fun about you. That is different. But why stop moving with them? 7. Every department communication happens only through a closed WhatsApp group, but you can have a one-on-one chat with other department people. And trust me: it is the other department people who always share valuable secrets about your department people. For good gossip move to other departments. What do you say? 8. Finally, you get your best friends not from your own departments, but from other departments. Even if you are injured in an accident and admitted in a hospital, your own department people will ask ‘Hey buddy how are you”? But it is your friend from the other department who will ask ‘Hey buddy, how is the nurse’? Jokes apart, Dear Colleagues, families both personal and professional are the fundamental building block of society. This is a God-ordained natural phenomenon. We spend more on bringing resources from outside while we fail to utilize the resources available within this large Surana family. This hurts me the most. Have not we heard of the definition of synergy that 2+2 is not always equal to 4? Come on people, Surana as a brand is going through a fine phase of its existence. It needs your collective energy and support. Today cross-cultural experiences and learning is an integral part of business enterprises and non-profit organizations, from art to religion people are appreciating its ANNUAL REPORTS 2017-‘18 3 s SURANA COLLEGE #16, South End Road, Bengaluru-04 benefits. Let us not hold ourselves back and confine to a small tiny island called ‘My Department’. Come out and experience the ocean. Remember you are not only a teacher; you are a good friend, philosopher and a guide to your students. A good guide has always the bound duty of infusing values, especially about family and societal coexistence. Let us start by doing it ourselves. So start collaborating with other departments and be a partner in growth. Dear People, now do not cut a sorry face that the Managing Trustee has spoken something on a serious note. I only wanted my faculty team to be positively temperamental and not half temper and half mental. Enjoy the evening. Happy Teachers Day! ANNUAL REPORTS 2017-‘18 4 s SURANA COLLEGE #16, South End Road, Bengaluru-04 Dr.Archana Surana, Managing Trustee’s message to students on Graduation Day Celebration Good Afternoon! So finally, the time has come. It all started on day one of your class, the first teacher you met, the first friend you made, the first college fest, the first mass bunk, the first exam that you wrote, the first time you were made to stand out for coming late, the first fight you had, the first girlfriend/boyfriend, the second girlfriend/boyfriend and the third. Finally realizing that the problem was with you. How many laughter and tears? How many lessons and experiences? How many versions of your own you discovered? All have come to this point. Your graduation. How sweet! You might have heard of this new age liner ‘live life king size’. You thought a king’s or a queen’s life is full of luxuries, facilities, lifestyle of that stature, power to have anything one desires, command to control people, respect wherever he goes, royalty that can impress anyone? No. That is not the end of the list and that is not the real interpretation of a king’s or queen’s life. Rarely, we understand that to achieve all the above, one needs certain qualities. These are the qualities that would make you life your life king size. What are they? 1. Be infinite: Don’t be constantly consumed by your own problems. Consider other people’s feelings. More than anything, take pleasure in the happiness of others. Successful kings and queens in the books of history are those who went outside norms and made people feel good even when he or she knew they were of no good. True bravery of a king is showcased through selfless acts. Learn to forgive and forget. Act selfless and you will be infinite. 2. At the same time, live life on your own terms: Life on your own terms means the ability to live a life that is meaningful and fulfilling to you. If something doesn’t feel good, don’t do it. If you face a situation that goes against your principles, refuse to accept it. Kings and queens never allow others to rule their life. Take back your life from the people who cause pain and make you unhappy. This is your life and you are the author of your story. If you are stuck on the same page, just remember that at any moment you have the power to write a new chapter.