Remembering My Teachers

My mother would rise up early in the morning, and go to the neighbour’s bungalow, to collect flowers from their garden. She would collect roses, shoeflowers and some other beautiful flowers, and make a beautiful bouquet out of it. Holding that bouquet with pride, I would go to my school. In the classroom, I would proudly show the grand bouquet to my fellow classmates, with a “my-bouquet-is-better-then-yours” look. And then I would feel even more proud to present this bouquet to my teacher, and receive her thanks and blessings. This was how we celebrated “Teacher’s Day” during our primary school days.

Then during the secondary school, it was again a different story. The classes would begin in the afternoon. We would get a little less then half-an-hour before the classes began. We would assemble together near the blackboard, and start decorating it with the quote, “Happy Teacher’s Day”. With colourful chalks some of us who were good in drawing (I was one of them), used to chalk out the best of our drawings. The teachers would then admire our work of art. They were courteous enough not to wipe out the blackboard, and teach the lessons without using the blackboard on that day.

But as we grew older, the enthusiasm of celebrating teacher’s day was overshadowed, may be because of the seriousness or the responsibility that the higher classes came with. Today is September the fifth! It’s the teacher’s day, yet again. It just struck me today, that now we are a part of the society. We are individuals, with an identity of our own. We have a job or a business of our own. But we no longer celebrate teacher’s day! The day of those teachers, who are the sculptors of the sculpture that we are today. It is because of them, that we are, what we are today!

In the view of the above thought, I decided that this teacher’s day, I would write something, remembering my teachers, all those teachers who have influenced my life the most, and who have left a mark in my life. This writing is dedicated to all my teachers, who mean a lot to me.

Christina D’Souza. (Tuition Teacher, Primary Schooling)

She was my tuition teacher, who shaped the most preliminary days of my schooling. She coached me during my 2nd, 3rd and 4th Std. During those days, we used to stay in a rented flat, and she used to stay in the flat adjacent to us. And since she was my neighbour, I was her only student who used to address her by calling “Aunty”, unlike others, who addressed her as “Teacher”.

She taught me the most basic lesson of discipline in studies. Homework and classwork are taken care by all tuition-teachers. But she was the one to inculcate in me, the habit of doing lessons beforehand. Once the lesson which is going on in class was done, she used to teach me the next lesson. “But Aunty, this lesson is not taught for us yet!” I would say, in the anticipation of going home early. But she would say, “Yes, but we will learn it, so that when you are taught that lesson, you will know it better then your friends”. And I was not too happy with this idea, as it would mean another hour in the tuition, even if I was done with the homework and lessons.

This habit of learning the lessons beforehand vanished as I passed out of primary, and I was no longer her tuition student. But I will always be indebted to her for trying to inculcate in me, the habit of preparing the lessons beforehand, and also a habit of self-learning, which is a real requisite, for higher studies.

Miss. Mahadevan (4th Standard, St. Annes School)

Miss. Mahadevan, was a known strict teacher of our days, in St. Annes School. She was a south-indian lady, wore a sari and applied sandalwood gel on her forehead, instead of a bindi. She was always good to me, as I was among the top-5 in the class. But when it came to writing, I was the slowest.

She raised her voice on me, which scared me out of my wits, when I would not complete my copy-writing on time. “What will you do in secondary school?? The teachers there won’t wait for you as I do!!” She said. She told my parents and other teachers about my slow writing, which embarrassed me. But that made me work on my slow writing speed. Fearing her, I practiced writing fast, and by the time I passed the fourth standard, I had improved quite a lot with my writing speed. All thanks to Miss. Mahadevan and her loud and stern shouts.

Fermina Rodrigues (5th to 7th Standard, Bhatikar Model High School)

Fermina Teacher was my favourite teacher during my school days. And, I will be brave enough to write, that it was vice-versa too! She used to often fondly call me “Zantye” ( after Harish Zantye, a famous Goan Industrialists ).

I still remember, during my early days in Bhatikar School, in 5th standard, she had given the class to write an essay on “My School”. Incidently, she made me read my essay aloud to the whole class, as she always did, the next day. And as I read the essay, she praised some of the sentences which I had put. She even praised me for some of the points which I had mentioned in the essay, and which other’s couldn’t think of.

I used to wait eagerly for Fermina teacher’s essay homeworks. And when she would give one, I would rub my palms, and tried my best with the essays. She always made me read my essays to the class, and this instilled in me a confidence that I had a flair for writing.

Today, writing is my hobby, and I write quite a lot, and enjoy it too. But I feel I should owe this hobby to Fermina Teacher, for sowing the seeds of this wonderful hobby in me.

Saritha Carvalho (8th to 10th Standanrd, Bhatikar Model High School)

Saritha Teacher was another favourite, during my senior days in Bhatikar School. She taught French and English. She had a motherly care for her students. If anyone of us tried to cheat her, then she caught hold of us very easily. But she would never raise her voice. She would say with a calm voice, and touching her hair, “I have grey hair!!”

And I owe the neat handwriting that I have today, to her. I had a miserable handwriting during those days, which even my cousins and relatives would notice. Saritha Teacher took charge of improving my handwriting. She used to refuse to correct my book. Make me write it again, with a better writing. She advised me, “Straight or forward-slanted handwriting is always a good sign. Back-slanted handwriting is not a good writing” (I had a back-slant).

I worked a lot on my handwriting, practiced writing in forward slants. Initially, I had problems, and my handwriting worsened because of the change in the slant. But over a period of time, and with Saritha Teacher’s guidance, by the time I was in 10th standard, I had pretty descent handwriting. And when I would submit my book to Saritha Teacher, she would admire and say, “Handwriting is good!” That is a reward I still cash!

S. P. S. Kakodkar (First, Second and Third year, BSc, Chowgule College)

Kakodkar Sir was always an inspiration. He was an exceptional teacher no doubt, but along with that, he was a tremendous motivator. He always encouraged his students to approach life positively. I remember once, when I was apprehensive about a particular experiment for my chemistry practical, he motivated me by saying, “Eliminate the word ‘Fear’ from your dictionary”. Those words became the driving force for me to face the practical exams without fear.

Even now, when I fear during certain stages of my life, those words echo in my mind – “Eliminate the word ‘Fear’ from your dictionary”.

Animesh Adhikari (All semesters of MSc in Information Technology, Chowgule College)

Adhikari Sir, has been a mentor throughout MSc (I.T.). He was simple, down-to-earth, and spoke a little. His fluency in his subject, and the way he assessed our assignments really prepared us for what was to come in the real life. His knowledge and love for the subject always inspired me.

A few words of wisdom, which he passed on to me, just before passing out of my MSc were, “Your real learning starts at your workplace. Here we get you acquainted and expose you to different technologies and opportunities.”

And those words of wisdom stood vindicated in my mind, as I started my career in the software industry, I got to know that learning in college was far different then what we learn in the industry. And as he said, real learning does start at workplace.

******

This space is just not enough for those cherished moments I had with my teachers. I could mention only some teachers here, but I remember each and every one of them, as each of them has a contribution to the individual that I am today. This writing was just a way to remember them and in my own way, convey a –

THANK YOU