Media Release
Bengaluru, Jul 5: St Joseph's firmly believes in developing young people into men and women who selflessly serve others. A special assembly on the theme ‘Dream of A Caged Bird' in honour of the late Fr Stan Swamy SJ, was held on Wednesday, July 5.
Fr Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest, social activist, and human rights advocate, dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of Tribals and Adivasis living in the remotest part of India.The chief guest for the day was John Devaraj, a well-known sculptor, painter, architect, filmmaker, art director, singer, photographer, and noble human being, who had the privilege to work closely with Fr Stan for the social cause and promote peace and equality. In his address, John Devaraj reminisced about the time spent with Fr Stan to work for peace and reconciliation; he motivated the students to pick up pens rather than guns. He sang one of his original compositions 'This little light of Stan' as a tribute to Fr Stan.
The principal, Fr Rohan D’Almedia encouraged the students to stand for justice and peace by imbibing the values of Honesty, courage, and sincerity, following the path laid by Fr Stan.
The school choir melodiously presented the song ‘This Little Guiding Light of Stan'. Several activities like essay writing, debate, role play, and extempore were conducted across the classes to ingrain the values followed by Fr Stan, an exemplary person to stand for the Adivasis. "Our value system is important and we need to work as a community rather than as individuals in a capitalistic society" opined Rushil, a student of class 12 B
Nirvikar, a class 12 student, was motivated by the life journey of Fr Stan about the Adivasi culture of sharing the abundance of nature with nature.
"India’s culture is deeply rooted within the tribes of India as we can see in their interdependence and their connection to nature, which was one of the causes Fr Stan stood with the Adivasis", says Veeksha, a student of class 11B.
The assembly concluded with the students being educated to fight for their rights as well as for the ones who are underprivileged. As Fr Stan firmly believed that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.