(From the Mar Ivanios College magazine 2008-2009)
"A great teacher affect eternity, no one can say when his infuence stops." Someone said about great teachers who continue to live in the minds and deeds of thousands who happened to be their students. This is true with the thousands of students who passed through the portals of the Great House of Leaning, Mar Ivanios College,during the long eighteen long years between 1961 and 1979 when Rev.Dr.Geevanghee Panicker held the reins and paved the way for its incredible growth and unquestionable reputation. It is twenty years after he stepped down from his office and less than a year after he was called to Eternal Rest..But he continues to live in all glory in the hearts of the thousands who happened to be his students. How did this tall, handsome,heavy built priest attract his students, collegues and parents alike in spite of his tough exterior ,rigid imposition of discipline and down right talk? How did he evoke that in explainable sense of awe in his students? No amount of verbal description can adequately bring out the dimensions of his arresting personality. Rev Fr. Panicker was one of the very few Principals who tried and understood the younger generation and had the discriminatory wisdom to treat them with a strong and firm hand without ever hurting them. He had always been vigilant and never allowed excuses from the students..The students who always desire limitless freedom were scared of their Principal who was stern enough to handle them even physically if needed. But the parents all adored him for what he was and one of their dearest dreams was to put their children in Mar Ivanios College because of the reputation of the college as the only college in the whole state were decplined prevailed and remained inside the campus while many campuses reeled under the violence caused by the feud brewed up from student politics. University examinaton results of the college touched the cent percent level year after year. The top ranking leaders of all political parties including Ministers swere eager to send their children to Mar Ivanios College for obvious reasons Father Panicker had his own strong convictions about student discipline. His indignation, which sometimes manitested without limit has always been motivated by the courage ot conviction he possessecd. He had clearly ariculated the principles of discipline he always wanted to implement in the campus.The most important aim of education he said, "is to produce free, responsible, creatative personalties loving God and goodness and acting accordance with what they have learnt to love. " Those who have found him ruthless in demanding certain standards of behaviour was told that it was their delinquency that merits a heavy hand. "The serious, orderly, hard-working boy will not find anything harsh in the discipline of this college, the lazy, reckless fellow ,however, will find life a burden here, and unless he reforms, he will have to leave it for a more easy going regime.This was the 'manifesto of discipline, Rev. Fr. Geevarghese Panicker formulated, practised and declared in the Annual Report of the College for the academic year 1961-62, the very year he took over the reins of Mar Ivanios College to hold it till 1979. Rev. Fr. Panicker was most uncomprormising when came to the queston of discipline. He beleived in the noblest aims of education - namely creating a complete man and woman. In our quest for the secret of his success as an Educater and Principal,a success many recognized and a few did not,we come across the moral principles Rev.Fr. Panicker held close ti his heart and guided him. He is hopeful of success in his unrelenting courageous struggle even in the face of physical threat to instill the sense of discipline in his students.Father Panicker visualized discipline as an integral part of the development of the personaliy of the child. Whatever Fr. Panicker did in the campus, reished or not by the recepient, was done with this high ideal in view. So, the exterior toughness in his approach to the students became imperative. He wore this mask till the day he bade farewell to the Colege in 1979, an occasion that revealed the great Rev. Fr. Ghevarghese Panicker. As we trace our tranformation of our education system had undergone over the years, we see that our aim purpose of our system of education, particurly Higher Education had undergone am alarming detireoration that have shocked all those who have taken education with all seriousness. Only a very few educators like Fr. Panicker had reacted to this fall in standards and decipline all over the state. Rev Fr. Panicker repeatedly reminded his colleagues of the importance of a cordial relationwith their sudents. He took special care to mantain this beautiful bond which led to the strengthening of the Alumni Associaton, now designated AMICOS (Association of Mar lvanios College Old Students). His old students loved to meet him just because Fr. Panicker loved to meet them. He made it a point to participate in all the activities organized by the old students. If the old students got the information that Fr. Panicker was visiting any of the Gulf countries or the United States, the old students of Mar Ivanios College in these countries rushed driving hundreds of kilometers to see their beloved Principal. Fr.Panicker always had been an ardent advocate of radical reforms in the existing system of educaton. At the same time, he was fully consious that the education in our state was running off track and it was not easy to put it back on its rails. The fight could not be fought single-handedly. Still he did not yield to the circumstances he was thrown into. Even after retirement he used all available occassions, particuralaly the meetings organized by the collegr to bid farewell to the retiring teachers every year, to remind the teachers to uphold the values for which the founding fathers of Mar Ivanios College stood. The physical growth the college had achieved, the popularity the college had gained, the quality of teaching the college could mantain,the studious atmostphere the campus had enjoyed, the excellent results the college could produce in University Examinations, and the status the College could aim, were basically the product of a regime that lasted tor 18 years during which Rev.Fr.Ghevarghese Panicker was at the helm of affairs. The effect of his greatness will extend to eternity..... (Prof.James .M.Stewart was teaching in the Department of English for 32 years from1964 and knew Rev. Fr. Panicker intimately )
