Remembering My Teachers

5th of September is celebrated as Teacher’s Day in India. It is the birth anniversary of the eminent scholar, philosopher, educationist and statesman, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, who served as the second President of India.

On this occasion, I am reminded of my favourite teachers who made the subjects they taught easy and interesting.

Renu Aunty, a lady in white, who introduced me to Bangla alphabets and Atashi Aunty who taught English. Their formative training opened the gateway to informal learning –  reading outside workbooks and lessons.

Mrs. Martin who made math fun in middle school and Mrs. Mehta, who encouraged writing in Hindi.

In high school, the plain and simple Ms. Jayanti Das, who never laughed, made a difficult and dreary language like Sanskrit top scoring. Credit goes to our Domestic Science teacher, Ms. Bharati Banerjee later Das, an ace mountaineer, who quite naturally encouraged us to take up extra curricular activities – a world beyond classroom studies.

In college,  Mrs. Haseeja and Mrs. Subramanian made complex and abstract papers like political thoughts and theories captivating.

It is said that one learns till one’s last breath. What is not included in the academic syllabus is taught by life itself. The lessons are hard but the wisdom gained is lifelong.

I am still learning. It’s fun and gives a purpose to life. Knowledge is oceanic. Knowledge is power. As much as we empower ourselves life becomes that much easier and worth living.