R. Sivakumar
Many memories and images float across my mind as I reflect on my student days at Central. Memories and images linking the Past and Present………..
My life at Central began in 1963 when I joined the Kindergarten class located at Percival Hall. The gentle smiling face of my First Teacher Late Mrs. Karunakaran flashes across my mind. Her affectionate, charming voice resonates deep within. It is sad that students at Central lost the dedicated services of this excellent teacher very early in their school days. My friend Ravindrakumaran (Ravi) can remember these earlier days at Central.
During my thirteen years of student life, Central was managed by three Principals-the Late Mr. A.E. Thamber, the Late Mr.E.Sabalingam and the Late Mr. E.K. Shanmuaganathan. I remember Mr., Thamber as a calm aloof individual with a scholarly frame of mind. Since we were still in the lower classes during his tenure as Principal we got to see him mostly on “Report Card” days at the end of each term. We remember Mr. Sabalingam as a stern administrator with passion for enforcing discipline in the school. The moment his car rolled into the parking lot, we silently walked into our class rooms even before the bell rang. Mr. Sabalingam was an ardent supporter of sports activities in our school. Mr. E.K.Shanmuganathan became Principal when we were students in higher classes. We remember him as a soft-spoken gentleman who strove hard to give of his best to Central.
During my thirteen years of student life at Central. I came under the care and guidance of many dedicated teachers. Every one of them is remembered for their commitment and expert guidance. I have special memories though of some of these dedicated men and women. My English Language Teachers, Mrs. Ariyaratnam in Grade 5 and Mrs. Kanagaratnam in Grade 7 gave me the support and guidance to acquire fair competence in English Language. In Grade 10 Mr. Yusuf encouraged me to participate in English essay competitions and writing for the school magazine. Mr. Pararajasingam taught me History in Grade 8. Later in high school I had the opportunity to assist him school activities thereby imbibing many leadership skills. Late Mr. Paramananthan was my first Chemistry teacher in Grade 9. He was a wonderful teacher who gave respect to his students and cared for them in times of need. The image of his gentle smile with his head charmingly turned to a side as he rode his scooter is still fresh in my memory.
Our memories of A-Level classes at Central have more resonance in our lives This point in time was very significant for our academic life. It called for absolute concentration on studies amidst the enticements of many popular extracurricular activities. We needed to 'balance' our academic pursuits and extra curricular activities to come out well. I chose to join the Bio-class where the ambition of every student was to qualify as a Medical Doctor. We had Mr. Rajasenan as our Zoology teacher. We enjoyed his lessons. His excellent instructional presentations were interspersed with jokes. Mr. Kulendran was our Botany teacher. He was an excellent teacher. On many occasions the Botany class would branch off in to other 'non-Botanical' topics and questions initiated primarily by Rudran, Ravi and Mathy. Mr. Kuledran's tolerance of student foibles was remarkable.
During our class discussions we talked about the difficulties to get into the Medical College in the context of 'standardization'. Mr.Rajasenan was very realistic and down-to earth. I can remember his casual reference to one of his nephews who pursued a successful career in Accountancy. The open discussions in our class about the effects of standardization on the prospects of entering medical college stimulated some of us to opt for Accountancy. I was one of them and my friend Surendran was the other. Suren is a Management Consultant in New Zealand.
I record with pride that our class has produced three eminent doctors. Dr. Aumbhagawan (Internal Medicine, New York ,USA), Dr.Nagendra (Ophthalmologist, North Wales, U.K) and Dr. Manoharan. Two members of our class obtained PhD in their respective disciplines. My friend Sivanathan is PhD in Micro Biology- Ministry of Agriculture B.C. Vishnudas a Ph. D in Veterinary Science is a Professor at the University of Alabama, Friends Ragunathan, Saspanithi and Ketheeswaran are graduates in Bio-Science and Agriculture. Rudrakumaran , an outstanding lawyer, an expert legal consultant and a special advisor on Constitutional Rights is also a product of our class. His active participation in the Peace Talks as Legal Advisor is well known to most of us. I am quite certain that all my other class mates have achievements in fields like IT, Banking ,and Business Administration both in Canada and other countries of the world.
Members of our class distinguished themselves in special school activities. If my memory is correct six members of our class represented the college Board of Prefects. I had the privilege of serving as a prefect under Senior Prefects Thavachchelvam, the Late Sivamithiran and our famous cricketer Naguleswaran. We functioned under the guidance of our Vice-Principal at that time Mr. N.S. Ratanasingam. We were so-called 'cops' at the college. I remember the weekly assignment of duties by the Senior Prefects. The lucky prefects got assignments adjacent to the Girls' room .
Our class also captured the key A-Level
Union posts. Rudran was the president and Ravi was the secretary for the first
year.Mathi got elected as the president for the second year.
Our debates with Vembadi Girls and the Annual Dinners are some of the festive
events we treasure in our memories. None of us can ever forget the debates in
which Rudran, Krishna(Iyer),and Vasudevan took part. We look back with nostalgia
on the “delicious' dinner table arrangements the friendly scramble to
work out seats next to the charming guests-reps from girls schools. The 'choicest
morsels'-the glamorous seats next to the 'reps' from Vembadi went to the President
and the Secretary, their friends and cricketers. The toastmaster Ravikumar (my
brother) had to content himself with a seat next to the 'rep' from Chudukuli
Girls ! Of course another glamorous seat!
I am proud to say I studied with some outstanding cricketers at our time at Central Nagules, Rameez , Ravi Rajan Thambiah and A.Ravi.
Our special school activities continued even after leaving school. For instance we gathered in front of school in the evenings. These informal gatherings were ironically styled 'Senate'. Later during our time got the name 'Young Centralites Club' The club published a magazine called “Thendral”. At first a handwritten magazine later went into print. We were able to publish about four issues of Thendral with the provocative editorials of Rudran and Rameez's artistic cover page and cartoons.Our teachers Mr. Pararajasingam and Mr. Kulendran gave us support and guidance in this venture.
Reflecting on these precious memories
of our life at Central in the calmer moments of our busy life in Canada certainly
re-juvenates our spirits , link the Past with Present and the Future………