Significance of a halo

Cassandra Syiemlieh on the towering personality that Reverend Brother MG Shannon was

WHEN ONE looks at the works of great painters and artists, conjuring up as abstract paradigms the astounding works of Michelangelo where he greatly emphasized on the ethereal crown of glory, one can interpret and understand the message conveyed by this mastermind.  This crown is to be attained at a great price – a price that is spiritual, not material. Therefore it is not being distributed at random. If it is, then the halo loses its shine. It may even evaporate!

     However, I am depressed to observe that modernity with a fast lifestyle is too busy to place any significance on a halo. Perhaps it is also due to the general assumption that this iridescent circle of light hovers only on the heads of a very minuscule few, on this globe. Does it attract any publicity? The answer is a big “No”. Well, at least while the persons are still alive. However, all that changes when their souls bid adieu to their mortal remains.

     Thus, faulty as we are, won’t it be interesting to recall the life of any unsung hero? I am reviving my memory of a very unique academician. He was the late Reverend Brother MG Shannon who at one time was the principal of St Edmund’s College, Shillong and who passed away in Ireland. I have had the pleasure of working under his administration.

     Although he was an Irish, to me, he was the universal man. As a Presbyterian, I found out that religious dictum was out of his mind when dealing with practicality. Therefore, having an ulterior motive was alien to him, since he respected every human’s personal conviction. Brother Shannon understood that true religious conversion only comes from a person’s own personal choice and not otherwise.

     Members of the faculty as well as students simply adored him. Being a Catholic Christian Brother, he wore a white cassock with a white sash, forever lopsided, since his right hand habitually pressed down the sash. So college boys pointed out to me, “Look ‘miss’, Brother Shannon is wearing a gun belt!” And boys, monkeyish in nature, whispered very softly “Hi Tex” (meaning a Texan cowboy), whenever he passed by them. Yet when he confronted them just for a loving pat on the back and a warm greeting, they froze into pillars of salt!

     The Irish sense of humour never left him. On finding some students get into a car after classes were over, he saw the driver who was also a young student. Peeping in, he asked the passengers: “Are you heavily insured?” His humour brought the students closer to him.

     At one time, a humorous incident happened in the college. The cow of the principal went mad. She was rushing madly throughout the college campus, frothing at the mouth. Teachers and students ran helter-skelter, some rushing into the principal’s office to break the news. Brother Shannon picked up the phone and rang up the police. The SP picked up the phone and asked, “Yes sir? Is there any violent incident in your college?”

     Before Brother Shannon could reply, the line went dead. Twenty minutes later, the police came into the campus in a Maruti Gypsy. Brother Shannon cried out in panic: “Are you mad? I am not mad, but my cow is mad! Go and come back in a truck!” In no time came the police truck packed with ropes and policemen. They hauled up the struggling mad cow into the truck and soon everything was normal again. Brother Shannon profusely thanked the SP for the principal’s intention was to ward off the danger from the staff and students alike. What a clean soul!

     When the time came for college admission, there was a huge crowd standing in a long queue outside the principal’s office. So, the principal would arrange a few staff members to come to his office and help him in checking the admission forms. At such a time, I happened to notice a minister of Meghalaya leave the line and enter the principal’s office. “Get back in line!” thundered Brother Shannon. No partiality was shown by him. Rule was rule. Today, are there anymore courageous men like him? To stand up for the sake of justice and sacrifice one’s self? It was however known that the British government honoured such principals, who showed no partiality even to their royals.

     Mowing the college lawns was his favourite pastime. He was too happy to shed the burden of a college principal momentarily and take the role of a simple gardener. Perhaps, that was his way of giving his beloved ‘mali’ a break. What humility to remind others “to serve and not to be served”. What a divine reflection! How refreshing it was to enter his office, when he talked not only of mark sheets and the syllabus, but also the techniques of vegetable planting and the art of fishing. Some people in power preferred the monster touch; he preferred the humane touch.

     Shortly before his term ended as the college principal, I entered his office to have a discussion on the college routine. I was taken by surprise on seeing the three dimensional portrait of “The Shroud” standing on his table. I had never seen it before; seeing my curiosity he gently said in a single sentence: “It is simply a reminder”.

     Brother Shannon never preached about his faith. He practiced it! “Facta non verba”, the halo shines.

————————————————————