MY MOM RETIRES AS HEADMISTRESS! (A successful journey of a mother shared by her daughter Ketaki Barde, also a teacher)

For years together every 31^st May is the end of a long vacation for school teachers. But the 31^st May this year marks the end of an era in the world of teaching itself for my mother, Mrs. Savita Borate. She retires as the Headmistress of Maharashtra High School, Upnagar, Nashik (the school that in recent years came to limelight on account of the UNO acclaimed Ozone Day Celebrations under her guidance and leadership).

On the 29^th May 1973 a young girl, Miss Mangal Keshav Mandavgane, B.A. (Hons.) in English from Jalgaon stepped into a new world in Nashik. The young man (T. S. Borate) she was married to was a professor of English in a local college. He has been a respectable self-made man who adheres to his own principles and is ready to face the consequences thereof. As she started sharing a new life with him, the young girl entered the new role of a mother. I was born on 29^th July 1974. The first four years of her life thereafter passed raising me, but then she became restless with thoughts about her own future. There were dreams to be brought into the world of reality, one of her father’s dreams being that she should, like himself, be a renowned teacher of English. She took a decision: joined the B.Ed. Course in the city college. That was in the year 1978. It was not easy to pursue her studies, leaving her four year old child for almost the whole day at home in Nashik-Road, daily up and down commutation by road-train (a special and unique means of city transport then introduced by the M.S.R.T.C.) between Nashik-Road and Nashik, which were two independent municipalities then, and then the daily household chores. Her hard and sincere work bore the expected fruits --- she secured a First Class in her B.Ed. After this nothing could stop her from attaining what she is today. She took her first and only job as a teacher in the year 1979. For the last 31 years she has relentlessly done her duty both as a teacher and a mother of two (me and my brother, Advait).

These 31 years just did not slide by smoothly. Life had some dark shades along with the bright ones. My mother faced them courageously. The first two decades of her married life passed by following the same routine. This was because her children were always in the forefront for her. Following their time table, catering to their needs and managing her own school job was life for her. But after my brother joined engineering in Pune, she decided to pursue her M.A. She completed her M.A. from Y.C.M.O.U. at the age of 50 with a First Class. Now it was the beginning of a glorious period in her life. Her seniority at her workplace had the post of Headmistress (the highest rank in her profession!) in store for her. She completed her D.S.M. (Diploma in School Management) before shouldering this responsibility. At the age of 54 my mother was appointed Headmistress of her school. In just about four years she managed to attract ten lakh rupees by way of donations and got a multi-purpose hall built for her beloved school in addition to replenishing the school library by adding to it books worth one lakh rupees. The pride I feel in mentioning this cannot be described in words!

Today, on May 31, 2010 my mother retires after a long successful career. I consider her as the epitome for all working mothers! She has maintained an excellent balance in all her relations.

All that I can do is pray to God to bless her with healthy life for years to come!

Mom! Now is the time for you to enjoy your life to the fullest and go back to your first love - singing - in which you had graduated yourself just as school-going girl in Jalgaon … JUST DO IT!

--- Ketaki Barde

New Era English School, Nashik