Guru Utsav: Old Cottonians to make it special for fave teachers

Bengaluru: “What would we all be without our teachers?” That is the question the Old Cottonians' Association has put forth to its 15,000-odd members scattered across the world. Come September 5, scores of teachers from Bishop Cotton Boys' and Girls' schools will wake up to a flood of loving messages from students who passed out as far back as the 1970s.

In a very unique, heartwarming initiative undertaken by the Old Cottonian's Association, alumni from all over the world have been called upon to send in a message to the teachers who left a mark. The Association will see that every message reaches the concerned teacher. “Since 1927, the Old Cottonians' Association has brought Cottonians all over the world closer to each other. Our tribute to teachers underscores the strong bond that we share with them, even several decades after graduating from school!" said Mr C.N. Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the Association and an alumnus from the batch of 1970.

“On behalf of Old Cottonians worldwide, we plan to meet our teachers on September 5,” said Mr Sumeet Shetty, Honorary Secretary, Old Cottonian's Association. “They can send an email to our official ID or message us on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.” The messages will all be emailed to respective teachers. The Association is also organising a small get-together here in the city and about 30 teachers who are no longer with the school have been asked to attend. The best messages will be read out to them in person or over the phone, if they cannot make it to the city.

Making sure that every teacher gets the message intended for him or her sounds like a logistical nightmare, but the association seems to have this all figured out. They maintain an extensive electronic database of both students and teachers. “As far as teachers go, the database is nearly complete, we're quite an organised association that way!" said Mr Shetty.

Founded in 1865, Bishop Cotton Boys' School is Asia's oldest residential schools and one of the foremost educational institutions in the country. Eminent Old Cottonians include Nandan Nilekani, former Chairman, UIDAI, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and MD, Biocon, General K.S. Thimayya, former Chief of Army Staff and Admiral Vijay Singh Shekhawat, former Chief of Naval Staff. The Old Cottonians' Association was formally founded in 1927, under Rev. A.E. Scipio and is 87 years old in 2014. The Association, which prides itself on being tech savvy, has reserved 499 tweets on its Twitter handle.

The 500th tweet, said Shetty, who operates the account is reserved for the most special message of all – Happy Teachers' Day!