Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1

Farewell '98 - Beware, It's a Wide World

Respected Principal Sir, Vice-Principal Sir, Teachers, and all my dear friends, including those who are graciously bunking.

I looked around for farewell speeches but I couldn't find any worthwhile so I wrote this myself which is why this won't take long. We are gathered here, as most of us probably know, not only for the kachoris, but to bid a fond farewell to the students of Class XII who are leaving the esteemed establishment of the Kendriya VidyalayaSangathan, and venturing out into the real world. We don't know what truths they will find out there, what experiences they will have and we can only shower them with our best wishes and words of encouragement.

I'm not too good with words so I thought I'd make my message clearer with a few lines from a Maxi Priest song. I think it goes somewhat like this -

"... But if you want to leave,
Take good care.
Hope you find a lot of nice friends out there.
Just remember there's a lot of bad. Beware.
It's a wide world."
But most of us won't have a problem there because we've spent a lot of our years in KV, where along with the regular 'by the book' education we are imparted with values. All through your school life you have probably been wondering what exactly the teacher's were prattling on about but now that it's time for you to leave your sheltered life and go out into the real world, now, you will realise the value of those words that our teachers painstakingly drone into us.

And these moments of emotion will be the last that you'll be spending in the shelter of our school. Within a month you'd have left the shelter of your cocooned school lives and all you ugly caterpillars will flutter off in various directions as beautiful butterflies into a world where you know not what awaits you. But through your lives you'll always remember your days here, fondly I hope. And within those memories of friends, teachers and the muddle of pleasant and unpleasant experiences may you remember the lessons that this school and it's dedicated staff of teachers have taught. And may those lessons guide you on your paths to realise the dreams you've set out to make true. Because no matter what you do, no matter where you go, all through your lives you'll only be richer with the experiences and knowledge that you've gathered in your schooling lives.

I'd just like to sign off with a line from a Bob Dylan number that really contain the essence of what I've been trying to say here. 'Goodbye is too good a word, so I'll just say fare-thee-well.'