Speech Annual Sports Day
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. Ramasami,
Dr. Kavidasan,
Mr. Chandrasekar,
Dr. Ganesan,
Dr. Uma Maheshwari,
Dr. Sakthivel,
Mr. Kannan,
Dr. Sheela Grace,
Mr. Adhiseshan,
All teachers,
All staff members,
parents and of course
students of Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan International School
It was 5 years ago that the partnership between our two schools - the Königin-Luise-Gymnasium in Erfurt and the Sachidananda Jothi Nikethan International School in Coimbatore - found its starting point on the basis of the German-Indian economical and educational cooperation.
Through mutual visits of the principals of both schools,several colleagues and also Mr. Ramon and the Indian Embassadors in Germany, our contact and trust grew continuously throughout the years.
After long years of digital interactions, we are now finally able to stand here in front of everyone of you and look back onto an incredibly eventful, impressive and life-long memorable exchange of 20 students and 2 teachers from Germany to India.
The shared time here in India made us once more move closer together and made our diverse cultures move closer together, too. This is a vital - if not the essential step - to bring up the next generation of young global citizens. We are incredibly thankful to call ourselves a part of this.
You have invited and integrated us into your everyday school routines and opened your arms and hearts for us each and every second of it.
We were invited to get to know your cultural customs, your food and our students were even invited into your families wholeheartedly.
One of our students, Franziska Jakobi, wants to share her thoughts and feelings in the name of the entire German student body:
FRANZISKA JAKOBI
Vanakam
Thank you very much for the unique opportunity to share our experiences with you.
The entire school, even the youngest students, welcomed us with open arms and were really excited having us here. You shared your culture with us, by teaching us traditional dances and the art of Kolam. We also received a lot of lovely handcrafted presents, like individual welcome messages. The school introduced us to their believes and values, by taking us to different temples, museums and the birthplace of Swawi Satchidananda. The last weekend we spend with different hostfamilies, also present today, which gave us an even closer insight in the day-to-day lives of Indians and special traditions, like this beautiful Murathani (Tamil name for Henna). You welcomed us into your homes with so much kindness and openheartedly that we can’t be thankful enough.
Thank you for taking such good care of us, even when feeling sick or exhausted, you never left a stone unturned, to make sure we are comfortable.
And Thank you for introducing us to so many new things, like Tamil, rifle-shooting, karate and cooking traditional South-Indian food, like Chapati. We liked them so much, that we even started a little „“Who-can-eat-the-Most-Chapati“ Competition.
Thank you everyone for this experience.
JÖRG LANGENAU
Particularly inspiring were the words of Mr. Ramasami about the values, general principles and goals of this school. The leitmotiv „To live and learn, to love and serve“ reminds us of the guiding ideas of one of the greatest German minds with the name „Goethe“.
In one of his many poems he formulated the following words intentionally in the imperative „Edel sei der Mensch, hilfreich und gut“ which translates to „ Man shall be noble, helpful and good“. This is not meant as a preachment, but a deep longing and appeal to all humans in general and everyone of you individually to offer whatever it is you can offer, especially in times of todays challenges.
PEGGY REIM
At school it is our responsibility to support our students in becoming proud, responsible, confident,honest and kind members of our society, who can refine their character and skills from this starting point onwards.
We want to exceedingly thank everyone here at school for the prolific two weeks, the profound insights, the emphatic and intelligent questions as well as the overlooking interactions and friendships that have developed.
We are eagerly awaiting the visit of your schools representatives in the months of November and December to Germany - to share our culture with you, as you did with yours - our hearts and arms await you in Erfurt.