Eulogy For The Musical Magician – Mr Jeffory Kirk

Mr. Jeffory Kirk – the lead of Vizag’s first rock band Tempest & a music teacher at Timpany School – passed away on the early hours of 29 March, 2017. His passing has left many behind, sad and mourning for the great loss. While Yo! Vizag laments his loss too, students of Timpany School sent in this heart-touching eulogy for their beloved teacher, that we felt was worth sharing. 

Jeffory Kirk was a man whose actions spoke louder than words. He was a teacher who had immense knowledge about his subject which also happened to be his passion, music. On June 15 he would have finished 25 years in Timpany. Many batches passed out but their love for him always remains the same . Whenever the old students came for visiting their teachers, he was always on their ‘must see’ list. Timpany relied on this amazing man. He was the man behind every successful program. He was always tirelessly working with the sound system to make every program a hit. The people in the choir know best about him. The perfectionist that he was, every note that we sang had to be bang on. Christmas was nothing without carols and in Timpany, carols were nothing without Jeffory Sir.

We always had fun with him. The jam sessions and the karaoke sessions were the best. Every singing period we get something more than music. We got advice on a whole new range of topics; advice which we would remember for our entire life. He was a motivation. His presence was enough to cheer up people. His wit was always on whole new level. As people who’ve seen him for 12 long years, we know for sure that he is a person who had originality; he never tried to imitate anyone. He never caved in under pressure. He showed us the depth of the blues; he taught us how to appreciate rock music and showed us that EDM did not define music in the least.

Seeing a man so enthusiastic and vibrant, still, in a coffin, hit us hard as students. It was a hard blow under the belt. We realised that we had lost our inspiration, our motivation, that one person who believed in you, it was all gone.  We slowly realised that we could not change what had happened and decided that from now on we would make him proud with whatever we did in school. Let it be organising or singing or anything else, we would make him proud. He always said,

So what if people say you can’t sing? Why listen to everyone? It’s the passion that counts.

It is with that passion that we decided to do our best for him. He is one man who will never be forgotten, ever.

Usha Kattayani & Prashastha Cormaty,

Timpany School

Feature Image Credit: Esquire