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In the wake of the swearing in of the parliament of the world's largest democracy, the students of Lourdes Central School saw the dawn of a new era in the history of the institution. The swearing in or oath taking ceremony of the newly formed school cabinet of LCS, held on the morning of the 6 th of June 2009 in the school auditorium was at par with the swearing in witnessed by the country with awe and admiration.
The programme began with the dignitaries being escorted by the presiding officer, Ms Anita Thomas, to their seats. They included the chief guest, Rev Fr Steven D'Souza, Assistant Parish Priest, Bejai, the well-loved and respected duo, the Principal Ms Grace Noronha and vice-principal Ms Joy Rai. Following the invocation of God's blessings on the gathering with the aptly titled prayer song “bind us together”, Ms Shrika Rai of Std 7 welcomed the gathering. Ms Disha Bhandary of Std 10 then introduced our dynamic chief guest Fr Steven D'Souza.
Then came the solemn most anticipated moment, where the young Lourdite parliamentarians took oath, lead by the Principal, where by they declared and vowed to abide by the creed of their Alma mater and fulfill their duties according to their respective portfolios to the best of their abilities. Having made their sincere promise, the parliamentarians received their respective badges from the chief guest, who was also the first to greet them with his warm smile and encouraging words, followed by which they signed the register and took their seats in the house of the parliament.
Among those who took the oath were Mr Adit Jagdish, the head boy, Ms Shershad Rauf, the head girl, the opposition leader Ms Anam Noor and ministers, the speaker, secretary, ministers of various portfolios including health, uniform and cleanliness, discipline, information, cultural, sports and gardening, and the house captains. It is also interesting to note that taking the example of the central government, the school authorities appointed Ms Rhea Fernandes of Std 10 the speaker. She was greeted with a thunderous applause- no doubt a triumph for all feminists and women's liberates like me.
In the moments that followed, the chief guest waxed eloquently to the parliamentarians on how they were now a bridge between the student community and the school authorities. He also invited the young leaders to follow in the footsteps of Christ- to be leaders to serve. He motivated the gathering to grab opportunities and to live in ways so that they may be indicted as persons of value.
Then came the message of our dear Principal, who congratulated and advised the new cabinet members. She passionately moved the audience with the vision of the school's late founder, Rev Fr B L D'Souza and our manager, Rev Fr J P Tauro, making everyone burn with the desire to join the ranks of the Indian Civil Services. Once again, she highlighted the school's speaker and paid tribute to Ms Miera Kumar, IFS, the current Lok Sabha speaker.
Following the vote of thanks proposed by Ms Samantha D'Costa of Std 10, the whole gathering joined in unison to sing the National anthem.The ministers were, thus fired with zeal and zest to bear the banner of LCS aloft and to discharge their duties. I, Kevin Fernandes, the Minister of Information, deem it a pleasure to humbly present my first assignment to you all.
Copyright © 2008 Lourdes Central School. All rights reserved.
