"Teacher's Day" Contest for September '09

The year was '97 or '98.I was doing my MCA and accountany was one of the subjects in III semester.Unfortunately college had not appointed a lecturer in the subject. This,coupled with the inputs from seniors that it was one of the difficult subjects in the whole course,forced us to look for a tuition teacher. Finally,we three,classmates cum hostel mates, were lucky to find a teacher.

This accountany sir was in his mid 60's, a retired college teacher,who was a very simple and down to earth person, who never had any air of superiority in him. He usually wore a spotless white dhoti and a full-sleeved white shirt and three horizontal lines of sacred ash adorned his forehead.Equally clean was his room with perfectly stacked books occupying his whole room.

The sir and family had newly moved in to the neighbourhood and his house was in walkable distance from our college and hostel.Very soon the sir won our hearts and we cherished our accountancy class.The whole subject seemed very simple to us and sir guided us through the subject with utmost ease.

The other members of household were sir's wife and a small girl about 6,Bhairavi,who was a bit physically challenged whom we presumed to be their grand daughter. Sir's wife was a god fearing and humble woman who would wait for us in the evenings with steaming cup of tea and some delicacies.Sir's house became second home for us hosteliers and it helped us to ward off our home sickness to a certain extent.

As days passed we came to know that Bhairavi was in fact their daughter not grand daughter.This news became a topic of discussion in our hostel and the old couple with a small child became a bundle of jokes for us,immature lassies.Our hostel walls were witnesses for the roar of laughter that arose from the comments that we passed about the family.

It was time for our tuitions to end.It was janmashtami and we three muskeeters landed in the tuition home at prompt time to eat the janmashtami specials.Bhairavi was busy drawing Krishnas' feet with kolam to symbolise entry of little Krishna into one's house. Sir was out and we had a small chit chat with sir's wife.

All on a sudden sir's wife told "Bhairavi is really Goddess Lakshmi ma". We were not amazed as all parents believe their daughters to be Mahalakshmi.Soon she started telling their whole life story from the day of wedding,how they waited for a child and how after a long wait of 10 years they got a child,a son.We could not believe,"a son?" Yes" she told,"a son" their only child who grew up only to be taken back by God at the age of 17 when he went on a study tour to Kallar. We were shell shocked. "Bhairavi?" one among us mumbled."We adopted her ma.."she told. "We mourned our son's death for quite some time but came out that and decided to give life to some one who deserves. So on his fifth death anniversary we adopted her..there may be many to adopt a normal child,but such physically challenged children hardly find any one as their adopter.So we just took her here."There was smile on her lips and tears in her eyes..

As our heads hung down in shame, our sir grew into godly proportions in our minds and so did we ourselves deteriorate to the status of an earth worm..

This write up is an offering to a great personality who taught us life and not mere a subject in our curriculum.

 

Dlr Binu

nice write up.
It reminds me of my cousin who had adopted a child when the baby was 4-5 months old and later found it has mentally and physically challenged child. Many asked him to return the child to the orphanage but his reply was. If it was my baby would I do the same thing. He is still taking care of the child and both husband and wife are working hard to meet his medical expenses.

I think we make fun of people with out understanding the truth. I think that is a very negative side of human beings.

 

[justify]My preceptor, My Inspiration

Sri Krishna Rao and Puthali Bai ,my school teachers influenced my life when I was young and I owe a lot to them for instilling good values like discipline, patience, compassion and honesty in me. I grew up, got married and was tending my house like a true house wife should be and chucked a beautiful opportunity to become a lecturer. I think God had some thing else in his mind. So he made me wait.

After a few years there was some turbulence in our life and we had to start from scratch. Life suddenly became tough for us, my hubby was quite strong but I did get depressed. I felt I could not contribute any thing financially when there was a huge need for it. I felt my qualification was of no use. I moped everyday.

One fine morning I came across an advertisement in a daily inviting ladies with good social and communication skills and I applied. I went through an interview and came across a fantastic personality. He is none other than Prof. Sunney Tharappan Director of Aim Insights, Mangalore an HRD institute. I got selected and was called for a training programme. I never knew what was in store for me. When I went there I could meet many ladies in different age groups who had come to attend the same. The training started and it was conducted by the same person who interviewed me. On the first day itself the training given by him cast a magic spell on me and I came out of my depression. He motivated all of us very well. The training went for 10 days and it was only fun and frolic, we were learning through activities.

The training had lot of interactive exercises, games, puzzles which I enjoyed like a little girl. He was very much happy about my participation and enthusiasm. He was launching his Life skills training programme for schools and he wanted good facilitators and hence the training. He also mentioned about his Communicative English training programme and I indicated my keenness. Seeing my interest he conducted this programme free of cost and I thank him a lot for this as I didn’t have enough money to pay all his fees. I am amazed at the way he helps people. I too reciprocated well and when ever he needed my assistance for training I obliged. That was the only thing I could do. But all this opportunities gave me good exposure. It made me what I am today, a go getter oozing with confidence. I owe a lot to him. He also gave me lot of opportunity to go to various schools for training students as he saw I was sincere. Since then life took a new turn for me and I have not looked back.

I was growing in my field and again he gave me an opportunity to attend an advanced training programme in Mangalore, and gave me a scholarship for the same. What more do I want? He showed a ladder to climb and I moved up knowing well opportunity doesn’t strike twice at the same door. I have attended many of his work shops and have come in touch with many scholars whom I got a chance to interact and enlighten my self. He is doing a great service and is contributing a lot to the society. I have also decided to carry on with the good work started by my preceptor. His institution is engaged in lot of Philanthropic work. Hope my work also reaches a lot of people that is what he had in his mind when he trained me with out expectations. Great is it no? My heart swells with pride when I think of this. He always says a famous quote. ‘Give a fish to some one, you feed him once but if you teach him how to fish, you make his life.’ .He taught me how to fish.

He brought me out of pits. He empowered me.




[/justify]

 

Many years before, when we were staying as tenants in Rajaji’s house in Chennai, tragedy struck our family-my aunt’s (younger sister of my father) husband died suddenly. With a one-year baby to takecare of, my aunt was devastated and went into a deep shock.


My school headmistress was related to Rajaji’s family and came to our house to see Rajaji’s daughter,Namagiri (we all affectionately called her Aunty).


Aunty told HM that the family of one of her students (that’s me) is residing with her and also told her about the gloom in our family.Incidentally my aunt also was an old student of her.


When she came to our home we were taken by surprise to see her at that grieving moment.Little did we realise at that time ,that while God has snatched away my aunt’s husband,He had also sent a Savior in the form of my HM.

The great and compassionate lady she was, my HM consoled my grieving aunt, then slowly confronted her with the harsh reality. Narrating her own sufferings in life, she slowly brought my aunt out of her daze and shock, impressed on her the need to be brave and take on the cruel reality and win over it. That transformed my aunt, she took a job as a teacher in a government school, brought up her son to a good status in life and even after 3 decades still keeps her job.


For many, a tragedy in other’s life is just news, a gossip, to be forgotten in a few moments; not for my great HM. She really felt my aunt’s grief as her own and through her sincere advice, gave a second life to my aunt, who would have otherwise completely withdrawn from life, putting her baby to great peril.

Even now I remember my HM, with a lump in my throat and salute her.



In total contrast to the poignant memories of my HM,I still carry funny memories about my other HM – Hindi Miss .while I had joined her private hindi classes in all sincerity to learn hindi,my naughty brother and his gang of friends also came for the classes just for the fun of it.they would secretly write the transliteration of the hindi text in English. So when HM asked us to read out the lessons I will honestly read the hindi text slowly combining the words .on the other hand my brother’s gang just will just breeze through a 3 page lessons in hindi in 3 minutes-u know how!!but my HM didn’t know. They will get kudos from my HM for the quick grasping while I will get ‘kuttu’ on my head for my slow reading.it was fun anger and everything for me at the same time.Little wonder these birds flew away after a few classes while I studied upto M.A. level in Hindi.


My Hindi miss is really a darling,she taught not only hindi but also tailoring ,craft and Sanskrit to me.


I am sure that in almost everyone's life there is a teacher, god-sent, who becomesone's mentor,philosopher and guide.

 

Dear Teacher Veena

History had been the weakest link between me and studies thoughtout my school days - the main reason for it being the chronology! I hate learning that - not because I dont understand what is written but because I dont understand the point in learning by-hearting the dates (of unimportant events was my opinion then) just for the sake of answering the questions in you exam paper. History had merely reduced to this stage "earn marks so your grades remain constant" for me.

Thats when Teacher Veena stepped in as our History and English teacher in VII std. She was teaching us for the first time and we had heard from our seniors that by far she is the strictest teacher in our school!! Imagine my state - I couldn't afford to loose a single minute of concentartion in the class - for the fear of the strictest teacher's wrath! But, this was to change when she started teaching with the first lecture of history - World War I. She stepped in the class with a huge geography map - and we were all wondering if she would be teaching geography too.!? Well, but nope it was history alright. And then she started the narration (without reading from the text book like many of them do) of the story of the biggest catastrophe of its time!! She showed us the exact locations of the countries in war - who started it, how it spread, where did it spread, who invaded whom, how outside help came in, how it ended with an effect never seen before by mankind and then the phase of recession that followed. Then he stabilisation and Hitler's rule over his country and his ideologies and the alliances he formed, the WWII, the attackes the cold war, the fight back and recapture, the death of the
dictator and the end of the war. She went on an on with her stories while simulataneously giving us the visual feedback of where the army stood at that particular time. Even progress of the chapter was marked not in the textbooks but on the map - with a coloured chalk to indiacte the last position of the army before we paused the story for the day.

And so went on the stories of the the world then came in the story of our nation, which I was bored of listening and reading as the past curricculums had already included those, but this time it was different. Nothing can even be compared to the story
telling that out teacher followed. No teaching has surpassed my expectations to this extend. I was amazed how stories that I
felt were withered could be brought back to life!! Along with it came a new enthusiasm in me - to learn about our old masters,
our past, everything that happened in my absence, every wonderful discoveries made in history hundreds of years ago.. I saw a
new story in everything - just the name HIS-STORY was really meant to be.

This phase of life altered my life for better - so much so that I love reading history of every country (even though after 11 years of the incidence, I have no one to ask me to read something for marks). My general curiosity about the world has raised a hundred folds. I took up German and I now am hoping to learn French soon. I visted UK this year and only because I read the history of the country I enjoyed the most of it - to know and understand a place, you should start from its roots and that I think is its history. And on top of it all, reading novel has become my best friend and reading Historical romances topped it (at one point of time)!

A special gift from my teacher is still working wonders till this day. And I believe every teacher has something or the other to give away to the students that they can carry away for the lifetime....


P.S : FYI Teacher Veena's English classes were revolutionary (esp. the grammar classes) but thats a story for some other time

 

I feel very nostalgic while writing this. These are those few moments, which make your swing of thoughts sway and sway till you are completely immersed in the joy from it.

School and teachers had been life till a few years back. I sit wondering, how much life has taken me further! Those times of naiveness are left far behind me.

I think of those days where I chose my favourite teacher based on the sarees she wore, based on leniency marking the term papers and so on. There was my regional Language teacher who made me love the language. To get her attention, I studied more. Eventually, I was successful grabing her attention. And there was my Maths teacher, who made the subject fun.

But amidst all those, I have the figure of one teacher whom I still admire. He, who thought me the act of apologizing. The incident is fresh in my mind as the fresh summer in Kerala. It was during one of the term exams. I was in the exam hall writing the test. Nervousness and heat during the midsummer in Kerala was causing irritation and an urge to complete and flee. Neverthless, I was still writing while the white sheets got over. I still had a lot to write. The norm followed to get more white sheets was that, I should get up from my seat and ask my invigilator for more sheets. I did what I was supposed to do. Now since the hall was really big, I assumed it may take a few minutes for the invigilator to reach me to handover the white sheets. So after notifying my need, I sat down to continue writing my papers. The invigilator was my above mentioned teacher.

The act of me sitting down to continue writing instead of waiting there till he handed over the paper offended my teacher to a very great extend. And I had no idea that I had done something to offend him till I completed the test and when I was trying to handover the papers to him. He said he will not take my papers and I will have to carry them to the office room myself. I had to follow him with my papers to the office room. All the time wondering what did I do wrong. Generally, candidates caught while cheating was made to do that. I was totally struck with embarrassment and cluelessness.

I kept asking myself what I did wrong and never got the answer till I reached his office. When he told me he considered my act as lack of respect, I tried to explain that I didn`t mean to be disrespectful.
He was irate...
I blamed the heat of midsummer.

The Office room was filled with busybodied teachers. I felt being scanned by every eye in the room. I was considered a well behaved teenager who consistently earned first rank in class. I could feel many intriguing eyes crawling over me. He asked me to place my papers on the table and leave. Humiliation dug out to my nerves. Behind me , I could faintly capture words exchanged between him and my regional language teacher. I felt that she was trying to explain to him, that I couldn`t have meant to be disrespectful. Her voice whirled with the fans in the room to sooth the heat, both of summer and of my mind, and may be of his mind too...

I went home pondering over the incident. He had been my History teacher for the year. I had not developed any special like or dislike towards him till that day. Well, now I wasn`t very sure!

Next day, to my surprise I felt he had softened and had a nice attitude towards me. Eventhough, he didn`t say anything, I was made feel at ease.

A few days later, the class was on an excursion, My History teacher came to me with a seashell bought from a beachside shop. He gave me the seashell and said, 'Sorry'. I didn`t know why did he do that, because everything was long forgotten by then. Then , suddeny it all flushed in and I knew what was it for. The breeze from the sea was cool... I very clearly knew that the heat in his eyes have been replaced by the cool and solacing breeze...

That act of him, made me think. He taught me that apologising for your acts cannot be embarassing. If your actions caused pain to others, an apology may really help them reduce the pain.

He taught me, no social status or age should stop you from apologising, if you feel you have done something wrong.
Today, I try my actions not to hurt anyone, and by odds if it does, if I know that I have done a mistake, then I apologise. May be, it will help you keep a best relationship at its best. Tomorrow, I don`t want to think, had I done things differently, things would have been different. I learned that everyone cannot act flawless all the time, and not to judge people by their momentary reactions.

A teacher is at his or her`s best when he or she imparts knowledge which helps someone to get the best out of his life... And that`s what he did...

 

Dear Archana,
Congratulations.
After reading your post, I thought you are going to win and it happened as it is. Your post definetely deserve the prize. :thumbsup

 

Congratulations Archana !!!!