Teachers Responsible for Guiding Today's Leaders - Dr Susan Edwards, former principal of Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School, during the Teachers’ Day celebration held on Saturday at the Sankara Netralaya Academy on 05.09.2015

CHENNAI: Dr Susan Edwards, former principal of Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School, during the Teachers’ Day celebration held on Saturday at the Sankara Netralaya Academy, said that teachers have been responsible for giving many leaders directions during their student life.

Quoting an experience from her life, Susan Edwards recalled, “When I was the head of an institution, I came upon a student who was arrested and had not come to school for ten days. His mother pleaded me to take him back into school. Normally, we would have to given him a transfer certificate, but, I allowed him to join classes. Five years later, I happened to meet the boy’s parent and I was happy to know that her son successfully graduated. This brought immense happiness to me.”

The Sankara Nethralaya Academy conducts ‘Teacher’s Day’ with great reverence and enthusiasm on 05.09.2015 - Dr. Susan Edward Joseph, MSc, M Ed,M Phil, Ph D , Former Principal of the Presidency Girl’s Higher Secondary School, Chennai participated as Chief Guest for this Celebration

The Sankara Nethralaya Academy conducts ‘Teacher’s Day’ with great reverence and enthusiasm on 05.09.2015

Dr. Susan Edward Joseph, MSc, M Ed,M Phil, Ph D , Former Principal of the Presidency Girl’s Higher Secondary School, Chennai participated as Chief Guest for this Celebration

In India, 5th September is celebrated as Teachers Day as a mark of tribute to the contribution made by teachers to the society. It is the birthday of a great teacher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was a staunch believer in education and was a well-known diplomat, scholar and the President of India and above all, a great Teacher.

Teacher’s day was celebrated with pomp and splendour at The Sankara Nethralaya Academy( TSNA), a unit of Medical Research Foundation, Chennai at its Vanagaram Campus. It was a day of gratitude and remembrance towards all the teachers who have shaped our lives.

The Program started with a mellifluous invocation by Senior Lecturer Dr S Vandhana who invoked the Gods and praised the teachers through Vedic hymns. This was followed by a soulful rendition by the students of Sankara Nethralaya Academy who invoked Lord Ganesha for his blessings and divine Grace

Welcoming the gathering and the Chief Guest Dr. Susan Edward Joseph, MSc, M Ed,M Phil, Ph D , Former Principal of the Presidency Girl’s Higher Secondary School, Chennai, Mr. A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar, explained the service orientation of Sankara Nethralaya under the visionary leadership of the Living Legend Padma Bhushan Dr. SS Badrinath. He briefed on the educational facilities and collaborations of the academy, for offering a purposeful education to the society, he also highlighted that the healthcare service sector is booming and that there are abundant career opportunities here, which he explained has made many institutions like the Sankara Nethralaya Academy to offer specialized courses in this sector to prepare students aspiring to be a part of this high growth industry.

Mrs Akila Ganesan, Senior General Manager – Sankara Nethralaya and  Registrar of the SN Academy welcomed the Chief Guest Dr. Susan Edward Joseph the most distinguished ‘Chief Guest’ and most worthy Teacher on the occasion, she dwelt in-depth on the terms Guru which is coined by Gu and Ru.

She highlighted that Dr. Susan has donned several roles in an eventful career, she started as a Teacher, went on to become a headmistress at the Presidency Girls High School, became the Assistant Professor at the Holy Cross Home Science College, Tuticorin and the Divisional Education officer. Dr Susan left an indelible mark in every assignment that she handled, she was conferred the ‘Best Teacher Award’ for her high quality of work and the 65 schools under her showed, when she served as the district education officer, registered  all round progress.

Delivering the Chief Guest’s address Dr Susan Edward Joseph had a special word of thanks to the teachers for imparting knowledge to all, she shared interesting anecdotes from her student days and exhorted the students to bring glory and fame to their teachers, she extolled the virtues of the teaching profession and appealed to teachers to take active part in character building of their students.

Sankara Nethralaya Academy - Teachers Day Celebrations - Chief Guest Dr Susan Edward, MSc, M Ed,M Phil, Ph D

Agenda

10.00 am to 10.05 am	Invocation	Dr S Vandhana Asst Lecturer – SN Academy
10.05 am to 10.10 am	Welcome Address	Mr A Mahalingam Deputy Registrar – SN Academy
10.10 am to 10.20 am	Presentation SN Academy & Activities
10.20 am to 10.40 am	Address by	Mrs Akila Ganesan Senior General Manager – SN Registrar – SN Academy
10.40 am to 10.45am	Introduce the Chief Guest	Dr Anuja R Singh Head – Optometry – SN Academy
10.45 am to 10.50 am	Honouring the Chief Guest	Senior General Manager Sankara Nethralaya
10.50 am to 11.20 am	Honouring the Faculty	By the Chief Guest
11.20 am to 11.50 am	Teacher’s Day Speech by Chief Guest
11.50 am to 12 Noon	Vote of Thanks	Mrs CG Sreedevi Manager - Academics – SN Academy
National Anthem

Dr Susan Edward, MSc, M Ed,M Phil, Ph D

Profile

Dr. Susan Edward Joseph our most distinguished ‘Chief Guest’ and most worthy Teacher on the occasion of ‘Teacher’s Day’ being celebrated today – 05.09.2015

As an educational institution based on the principles of knowledge dissemination for a noble cause, I am sure we could not have had a more befitting person to grace the occasion.

The word ‘Teacher’ has a deep meaning and should not be interpreted simply as a person who stands before a black board and takes lessons, such a person may be called a tutor. A teacher plays a much greater role in the life of his/her students and society at large, she enlightens the mind through imparting of knowledge, moulds character by inculcating moral and ethical values and in a nation like India with a 2000 years unbroken Guru-Sishya parampara the Guru or Teacher assumes paramount importance in our lives.

Let me give a brief introduction to out honoured chief guest, Dr Susan’s student phase was varied and spread over regions, from her early schooling in Sankaragiri in Salem to graduation and Post graduation in Holy Cross, Trichy, B.Ed in Mysore.

To young Susan the keen learner it was a rich and real time learning and exposure to the value systems so unique to rural India and she absorbed much more than what was taught in her classroom. This would have a great influence on Dr Susan who would don the role of an educator in the years to come.

Dr Susan married Shri Edward Joseph a duty conscious police officer and the couple were blessed with two Angels, Angeline and Alice, the Joy was however short lived as destiny most cruelly snatched the valiant police officer’s life, as he fell victim to the bomb blast that killed former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi in year 1991.

Dr Susan took the tragedy with great resilience, not a person to buckle down in the face of personal sorrow, she realized that the loss placed a greater responsibility of bringing up the children single-handedly and she did it most admirably displaying the valiant nature of her husband.

Dr. Susan has donned several roles in an eventful career, she started as a Teacher, went on to become a headmistress at the Presidency Girls High School, became the Assistant Professor at the Holy Cross Home Science College, Tuticorin and the Divisional Education officer. Dr Susan left an indelible mark in every assignment that she handled, she was conferred the ‘Best Teacher Award’ for her high quality of work and the 65 schools under her showed, when she served as the district education officer, registered  all round progress.

She played a major role in preparing and implementing the ‘Samacheer system of education’ and was also recognized by Rotary Club and with an award for her ‘Service to the cause of education’.

Dr Susan was known for her extraordinary counselling which changed the course of hundreds of students. A high point in Dr Susan’s academic life was the conferment of Doctorate for her research and presentation of thesis, she made a significant contribution to Zoology by discovering a new species of Scorpion not known to Zoologists earlier, and she named the same in memory of her beloved husband as Pseudo Scorpion Edwardis.

Kailasanathar temple @ Tharamangalam, Salem Dist

Kailasanathar temple @ my native place Tharamangalam, Salem

Tharamangalam temple EntranceTharamangalam is famous also for its beautiful and historic Kailasanathar temple. The temple features exquisite stone carvings of the Yaali (mythological dragon), depicted with an actual stone ball inside its mouth (one can even put one's finger inside the Yaali's mouth and rotate the ball).

The Kailasanthar Temple also has a carving of Manmathan looking at Siva and Parvathi, where if you look from Manmathan's side both Siva and Parvathi are visible but if you look from Parvathi's side, Manmathan is not visible since he is supposed to be hiding from Siva's view. Also depicted at the temple is a scene from the Hindu epic Ramayanam (Vali & Sukrivan fighting, depicted on one pillar, and Lord Ram with bow and arrow aiming to kill Vali depicted on another pillar).

Tempe History and Architecture

A Siva temple, perhaps the most beautiful of its kind in Salem District. Parts of it existed as early as the tenth century: as it stands now, it is the product of the Gatti Mudhali dynasty of the seventeenth century. Reconstruction and elaboration of the old temple was begun by Mummudi Gatti Mudaliyar, continued by Siyazhi Gatti Mudaliyar, and was brought near completion by Vanangamudi Gatti Mudaliyar.
This west facing temple is enclosed by a massive stone wall measuring 306' by 164' reportedly built in the thirteenth century. The main entrance tower ( 5 storeys 90'high) is conceived as a chariot on wheels, drawn by elephants and horses. The huge entrance doors, made of vengai ( pterocarpus marsupium) wood, are studied with untrusting iron knobs each of a different pattern. Their panels are decorated with wooden carvings depicting incarnations of Vishnu.

The entrance to the inner sanctum is through a portico supported by six sumptuously carved stone pillars. The scenes of tiger hunting by princes seated on horses and accompanied by footmen are depicted very realistically and with great sensitivity. A pillar of yazhi ( a mythical animal combining features of the lion and the elephant) is so ingeniously carved that a stone ball ( 4 ' diameter) in its mouth can be freely rolled but cannot be rolled out. The wooden doors of the portico are adorned with twenty four panels of excellent carving, some of which have been vandalized. The motifs for these carvings are drawn from the divine exploits of Siva and scenes from the daily lives of ordinary people.

The great hall is a fine gallery of sculptures of men, women, and Gods among which the sculpture of the voluptuous rishi pathini ( sages wife) is notable .

The ceiling is supported by rows of stone pillars from whose capitals hang elegant chains carved out of solid stone. The ceiling in front of the main shrine is covered by a block of stone seven feet in diameter carved in the shape of an inverted open lotus with parrots. This carving is surrounded by the Gatti Mudhali insignia. The outer walls of the inner most sanctum are covered with inscriptions.
Every year on February 21, and the consequent 3 days, a great solar and architectural wonder can be seen in the temple. During sunset, the rays of the sun travel down through the front Gopura at the temple's entrance gate and through a small hole in the and travels across the front plane to fall directly onto the statue of Siva. The movement of the sun beam can be witnessed as it progresses across the front of the temple, making the lingam appear to glow.

Several gigantic monolithic pillars of pink granite carved, polished, and ready for erection in the proposed Thousand Pillar Hall lie outside the temple. More are said to be under the ground. Before this project could be completed, Vanangamudi Gatti Mudaliyar was killed in 1667, leaving the foreground of the temple littered with ruins of a noble dream.

A temple tank (about (180' 180') is one of the finest of its kind in South India. Thirty Six Nandhi Sculptures (2' high) of black stone sit at intervals on top of the parapet wall whose inside holds 365 lamp niches.

Tharamangalam is located 22 km from Salem on the way to Mettur Dam