29th April 1967
My dear Pradeep,
It gave me great pleasure to read your letter and to know that at least some of my students remember me occassionally.
In a life given to unpleasant and monotonous routine of twenty four hours of shepherding unwilling pupils, moments like the one given by your letter are the only pleasant ones that gave me a feeling of relief and achievements. I live through you all. My physical existence is here but my real and spiritual one is through you all. If I have been successful in bringing some thing good in your life, of changing the current of life (to some extent atleast) and bringing it on the right path, I am successful. My success and glory is through the success and glory of my students. I have no existence beyond them for I have given my life to the cause of education and there is no field of success for me outside education.
You have asked for my blessings and I give them with all my sincerity and the profession at my command. I will remind you Pradeep, that you owe a great debt to your parents. To me, he is an ungrateful son (I am using a strong word) who thinks that it is the parents’ duty to nurse him, feed him, provide him and worry about him. He sees only the duties of others but not his own. One who looks and remembers his own duty, one who has realised their gratefulness and realised his duty towards his parents first and then to the society, organisation and humanity needs no teacher. He is his own teacher and the path of life is clear to him. He will be a great man in his field, however small it may be. Remember my words. You must be a source of happiness to your parents, try to come up to their expectations and thus try to get yourself relieved of their debt. You may not realise how great this debt is and what their feelings and anxieties are. You will understand it when you become a father. He is wise who realises before the opportunity escapes.
About the (Vivekanand) House, yes, it is making great progress, not only in academics but also in sports and the achievements are spectacular. It shows how even ordinary to average people, when a will is created in them, can work wonders. You have the example of the Marathas in History. Not only have the boys won the athletics championships, they came first in football, second in other games and have now won the P.T. Banner, thus winning the —- trophy. Please inform Kalyan (Chatterji), who played a great role in this.
I am here, and most probably will stay on the Fort throughout the vacation. Raja and Sudhir have their exams from 11th May and would continue till 23rd. Sudhir is in his final year.
Mr. Mehta, it seems, has dropped the idea of sending Dilip with the wise counsel ‘once burnt twice shy.’!
About the ‘Review’, I shall arrange to send it to you. Probably you have not sent the subscription of Rs.3/=. If possible, write to Mr. D.N.Varma who is the editor now. With best of wishes in your exams, and my respects to your parents.
Yours sincerely,
S. B. Salvi