Miss.Murphy, was our English Teacher, when we were in Sainik School, Amaravathinagar, between 1962 & 1966.
Recently, on Oct 6th 2012, twenty three Alumnis, belonging to the First Batch of the above school, ( which incidentally completed Golden Jubilee ) , celebrated Ms. Sheila Murphy Cherian’s Birthday, at Hotel Savera, Chennai.
On this occasion, Mr.Jayanth Pooviah, ( presently C.E.O.- Deccan Air ) read out this wonderfull Ode, which moved us very much.
Ode to Miss Murphy.
Oh Miss, where have all those years gone?
Just yesterday we were snot nosed kids
Teary sad and forlorn
And there you were tall and straight
Pretty as a picture telling our parents not to wait
As we were now in good hands.
English, geography, music that is what you taught
But when you smiled at one and not at the other ,
That is when we fought!
Your visits to the MI room to cool our fevered brow
Showed that you cared –and that’s all we needed to know.
You herded us all onto the Madras train
And when we reached home safely our parents marked you ten.
Your gentle ways and winning smile had captured many a heart
This included all us and one teacher apart.
We watched with wondering eyes
As chemistry grew in the physics lab!!
But it didn’t take us long to get wise.
What a handsome couple you made,
Who stood out in a crowd.
This is a match made in heaven
All of us avowed.
Visits to school in later years gave us a lot of pleasure
And seeing you both in your oasis of calm, was joy without measure.
Now there is one person amongst us who is of the view
That if he has grown so much, it is all because of you.
His mother gave him a tin to ensure that he is fed.
When you asked her what it was ,this is what she said:
My son can only drink his milk mixed with ovaltine
You returned the tin and said to him:
Mister you will take only milk. if you want to see your teens
If you go out just now and look up into the sky,
You will see a single star shining very bright
Telling us with a smile “you boys have turned out right”
As you sit here today miss looking at all of us,
We hope that you’d look back and think it was time well spent
And oh so worth all the love and all the fuss.
By: M.J.Manimaran. Chennai —-For Talkalittledo.
Photo Credit” http://www.rgbstock.com
Johny you are Great
This thoughtful letter on talkalittledo has immortalized Ms. Murphy … though I don’t know her personally the brightest star in the night sky will always remind me of this noble soul ….