ambi tells me after supper: "your Sarada Bai Teacher is no more." she passed away yesterday, aged 83. ambi got the news only today from a relative in our home town.
a wave of pleasant memories overwhelmed me. she was my teacher in upper primary school...more than 45 years back. she was such a great teacher that one never forgot anything she taught in the class--just being in the class was enough; there was no need to open the textbook afterwards. she was always smiling. she had a way of shaking her head from side to side very slowly when she spoke. the 'jimikki' on her ears would be shivering excitedly all the time...
she was always pleasant. we had in our class some of the naughtiest boys in town--my friend Heeran Sudheendran for one... yet, Sarada Bai Teacher had never been heard raising her voice in the class--we had such love and affection for her that we will not do anything to cause her a worry.
i saw her five years ago, after having had no opportunity to see her since leaving school--she having shifted home to another town. she recognised me instantaneously through my thick-bearded camouflage. ambi, who was with me, was pleasantly surprised by teacher's joy at seeing a favourite old student...and her memory--she was speaking of pleasant incidents of those days in school...even many little things i had forgotten...i am sure she lived life the way it should be lived--spreading light and being there in very many beating hearts.
*****
4 comments:
Isn't it lovely to have such happy memories of teachers, long after having completed one's studies?
I have but a few of such lovely incidents to reminisce about. I have a lot more of the other experiences! lol!
There was, however, a lady by the name of Mrs Coelho, who taught me History in Grade 6. Like your teacher, I never had to refer to text books after Mrs C explained the political intricacies of the aristocracy during the Maratha reign. She made it sound like one nail gripping, unputdownable mystery novel!
The greatest compliment I ever received from one of my students was when he told me that I made History sound like it happened just yesterday. I made it sound relevant, he said! (He was one of the 'naughty' ones!)
Hats off to the 'Sarada Bai Teachers' of this world! May their tribe increase!
Sam
Oh! Forgot to mention. Like the new pic, Mr V! About time too!!! :)
may their tribe increase, sam! i know your passion for teaching and only that passion and a loving nature can make great teachers. i have had the good fortune of having several good teachers when in school.
Kammath Sir inspired me to love books. he spoke impeccable English with a fine accent in class and after school hours could be seen in a library near our school. we students used to call him Vasco da Gama--he was tall, fair and grey-eyed--and we all admired him because he was a great teacher too. i felt like emulating him and joined the library...he would take a look at the books i chose to take home and smile. once he remarked in the class about my being a good reader... you can imagine what it would do one, being spoken of highly by your teacher before the full class, whih included girls. he set me rolling actually.
and the new picture...i should have looked into the page, instead of out of the page. it is wrong page composition to place a picture looking left on the left side of the page...
Page composition!!! Gosh! Mr V, that sounds mighty high brow!!! lol! All you have to do is flip the image horizontally to have you facing the page!
Have posted comments on the previous two posts as well.
Sam
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