Teachers = Heroes
I would like to dedicate this post to all the teachers i ever had in my life who molded me into who i am today!!
1) Bindhuchechi:
My very first teacher. I never called her bindhuteacher, she was a chechi to all of us kiddies. I can vaguely recollect, my experiences with her. Her house was our daycare, and we the students included about twenty kids from the neighbourhood. We sat around the mango tree in her frontyard and sang songs, told stories, played and ofcourse not to forget had afternoon naps. Once in a while her grandma used to peek in and listen to us and sometimes shares her stories and songs. After joining LKG i never got to see bindhuchechi again. I was told that she got married. My fondest memory in her class is writing on my slate with the chalk (or kallupencil) and erasing what i wrote with a special kind of plant leaf (forgot its name).
2) Jaseentha sister:
A middle aged nun who always wore peach colored saris. Her hair was covered with a veil so all of us students were so curious to see how long her hair was. She was my english, social science and moral science teacher and was also the principal of our school. Back in those days she was the main villain in my nightmares. A noisy class turns into pin drop silence when she passes by, and every student in school at one point or other becomes the victim of her "chooral prayogam" (cane punishment). I studied till fourth grade in that school under her guidance and honestly have never got the nerves to even look straight into her face. But still she was one of the very few teachers who laid the best foundations for my education. While visiting India i dropped by the school and was so surprised when she recognized me, and gave very precious words of encouragement.
3) Jessy miss:
She opened the world of books and literature to me. She always encouraged us to read more and to always look at the world with a curious mind. I heard the first quotes of Shakespeare and Wordsworth from her. Since she lived in mumbai for long time, she spoke malayalam with an accent. We had debate sessions in her class, which were quite thought provoking. No matter where the topic of discussion started it always ended with a fight among the girls and the boys. Of cource the guys outnumbered us poor girls and thus we had to stay extra tough. Jessy miss mediated all our debates, so there were no blood spills or cracked heads.
4) Ancy miss:
When i first met her, she seemed like a horrifying figure. Slowly over the years, she became not just my favorite teacher but also a mentor and a good friend. She was our classteacher for over four years. All of us shared our worries and frustrations with her. When we got to tenth grade, she had much more worries than our parents. She stayed back, before and after school, and even during weekends to make sure that we were on top of the game. Even while working my math problems at home, i used to call her to clear my doubts. Inspite of the fact that she had two little kids, she always found time for us. When i visited her last time, i realized we the students went in different directions after graduating from the school, but she had stayed still the same...I always remember the joy on her face, when i went to visit her with one of my friends, she introduced us to all of the new teacher "Dee kando, ente pillera ivarokke" (See, these are my children)
5) Nisha miss:
'Malayalam is our mother' that was her motto and she instilled the same dictum in us too. "Angane bhoothathintte kayyil ninnum aatholamma thantte kunjine rakshichu.." "Bhoothapattu" was one of the poems that we had to study in 8th grade, and our classmates did a skit on the story. She was the calm and serene teacher who, never spanked any students. Even our batch, the so called 'pokkiri batch' was always attentive in her class. She taught by incorporating stories into her teaching. Kunchan nambiar and thennali raman stories were my favorite.
6) Fr. Mathew:
He wore a black rimmed glass and always carried a cane with him. Being the principal of a new school, he always wanted to made sure that we all pass tenth with 'flying colors'. And we did, all 19 students of our class, passes our CBSE board exams with distinction. He inculcated a huge amount of pressure on us those days by saying that we were the ones who are bound to set the future of this school. When i first got my board exam results, the first person i called was Fr. Mathew, because i know if it wasnt for his tough love, we probably would never had worked so hard. We were so proud that we set a high reputation for the school.
7) Ms. Wendy:
I was an eleventh grader, who was lost in a big world of endless halways and countless students.
"Hi sweetheart, do u need any help"
Me: (blushing) "umm yea i am looking for Rm.124"
Ms. W: "Goodness, thats my class dear...you are just in time..go have a seat, i'll be right with there"
I sat in the front row in her class, and she always made sure to get a connection with me. After class, she tried to get to know all students. She took extra care for me, when she got to know that i was new to this country. I can never forget her, she is one of the reasons why i survived highschool inspite the new environment.
8) Dr. Bott:
"You came into my class as stupid freshmens, now i am sending you'll to the world as expert chemists". There are endless adjectives to describe him, he is the most enthusiastic professor i ever had and he makes every single person in his class enthusiastic to learn, when he talks. He has a distintive character and he himself says that he looks like 'harry potter from the future'. He always insists that students show college spirit and thus makes all of us 550 students wear red and white, the college colors. Thus its quite a magnificiant site to see a whole class room filled with red rage. He makes chemistry fun, for everyone.
9) Dr. Morgan: There is a rumor that all girls on campus take Dr. Morgan's class because he is charming. For this same reason, all the guys have a hate club against dr.morgan, i guess couldnt resist the jealousy. I am a person who can never stand math, but he models his class as such, so that even a math dummie like me will find it interesting. There are only a handfull of professors who show great amount of care in teaching and he is one of them. He is well reputed for his well-dressing and technology freakness on campus.
10) Dr. Bean :
Benzenes, aldehydes, ketones, anhydrides, alcohols, amides, esters and carboxylic acids have become our best buddies throught the course of the year. Organic Chemistry is one of the hardest classes in undergraduate college but, inspite the fact that it consumes 90% of my time..i loveeeeee it. Bean is the most organized teacher i ever had. I really dont know her on a personal level, i wish i did though. Its not an easy task to get to know a professor when you are in a class of 300 students. Even though she dont even know me very well, and i know her only through her lectures...i still consider her as one of the influential teachers i had..and this year being an organic student in her class will definitely be an unforgettable mark in my college life. I made a lot of good friends through this class, half of whom have dropped the course by now...but there is still a few of us who have been going through the same pain with organic mechanisms and synthesis.
Just to conclude, what i have learned is, teachers are definitely our heroes..but we dont realize their power immediately..their power becomes evident through the course of our life...like they say...matha pitha guru daivam!!
PS: This month is going to mercilessily sink me...back to back tests and the wicked finals are whats instored for me this month. I hope i will make it through!!!!!!!!!!
1) Bindhuchechi:
My very first teacher. I never called her bindhuteacher, she was a chechi to all of us kiddies. I can vaguely recollect, my experiences with her. Her house was our daycare, and we the students included about twenty kids from the neighbourhood. We sat around the mango tree in her frontyard and sang songs, told stories, played and ofcourse not to forget had afternoon naps. Once in a while her grandma used to peek in and listen to us and sometimes shares her stories and songs. After joining LKG i never got to see bindhuchechi again. I was told that she got married. My fondest memory in her class is writing on my slate with the chalk (or kallupencil) and erasing what i wrote with a special kind of plant leaf (forgot its name).
2) Jaseentha sister:
A middle aged nun who always wore peach colored saris. Her hair was covered with a veil so all of us students were so curious to see how long her hair was. She was my english, social science and moral science teacher and was also the principal of our school. Back in those days she was the main villain in my nightmares. A noisy class turns into pin drop silence when she passes by, and every student in school at one point or other becomes the victim of her "chooral prayogam" (cane punishment). I studied till fourth grade in that school under her guidance and honestly have never got the nerves to even look straight into her face. But still she was one of the very few teachers who laid the best foundations for my education. While visiting India i dropped by the school and was so surprised when she recognized me, and gave very precious words of encouragement.
3) Jessy miss:
She opened the world of books and literature to me. She always encouraged us to read more and to always look at the world with a curious mind. I heard the first quotes of Shakespeare and Wordsworth from her. Since she lived in mumbai for long time, she spoke malayalam with an accent. We had debate sessions in her class, which were quite thought provoking. No matter where the topic of discussion started it always ended with a fight among the girls and the boys. Of cource the guys outnumbered us poor girls and thus we had to stay extra tough. Jessy miss mediated all our debates, so there were no blood spills or cracked heads.
4) Ancy miss:
When i first met her, she seemed like a horrifying figure. Slowly over the years, she became not just my favorite teacher but also a mentor and a good friend. She was our classteacher for over four years. All of us shared our worries and frustrations with her. When we got to tenth grade, she had much more worries than our parents. She stayed back, before and after school, and even during weekends to make sure that we were on top of the game. Even while working my math problems at home, i used to call her to clear my doubts. Inspite of the fact that she had two little kids, she always found time for us. When i visited her last time, i realized we the students went in different directions after graduating from the school, but she had stayed still the same...I always remember the joy on her face, when i went to visit her with one of my friends, she introduced us to all of the new teacher "Dee kando, ente pillera ivarokke" (See, these are my children)
5) Nisha miss:
'Malayalam is our mother' that was her motto and she instilled the same dictum in us too. "Angane bhoothathintte kayyil ninnum aatholamma thantte kunjine rakshichu.." "Bhoothapattu" was one of the poems that we had to study in 8th grade, and our classmates did a skit on the story. She was the calm and serene teacher who, never spanked any students. Even our batch, the so called 'pokkiri batch' was always attentive in her class. She taught by incorporating stories into her teaching. Kunchan nambiar and thennali raman stories were my favorite.
6) Fr. Mathew:
He wore a black rimmed glass and always carried a cane with him. Being the principal of a new school, he always wanted to made sure that we all pass tenth with 'flying colors'. And we did, all 19 students of our class, passes our CBSE board exams with distinction. He inculcated a huge amount of pressure on us those days by saying that we were the ones who are bound to set the future of this school. When i first got my board exam results, the first person i called was Fr. Mathew, because i know if it wasnt for his tough love, we probably would never had worked so hard. We were so proud that we set a high reputation for the school.
7) Ms. Wendy:
I was an eleventh grader, who was lost in a big world of endless halways and countless students.
"Hi sweetheart, do u need any help"
Me: (blushing) "umm yea i am looking for Rm.124"
Ms. W: "Goodness, thats my class dear...you are just in time..go have a seat, i'll be right with there"
I sat in the front row in her class, and she always made sure to get a connection with me. After class, she tried to get to know all students. She took extra care for me, when she got to know that i was new to this country. I can never forget her, she is one of the reasons why i survived highschool inspite the new environment.
8) Dr. Bott:
"You came into my class as stupid freshmens, now i am sending you'll to the world as expert chemists". There are endless adjectives to describe him, he is the most enthusiastic professor i ever had and he makes every single person in his class enthusiastic to learn, when he talks. He has a distintive character and he himself says that he looks like 'harry potter from the future'. He always insists that students show college spirit and thus makes all of us 550 students wear red and white, the college colors. Thus its quite a magnificiant site to see a whole class room filled with red rage. He makes chemistry fun, for everyone.
9) Dr. Morgan: There is a rumor that all girls on campus take Dr. Morgan's class because he is charming. For this same reason, all the guys have a hate club against dr.morgan, i guess couldnt resist the jealousy. I am a person who can never stand math, but he models his class as such, so that even a math dummie like me will find it interesting. There are only a handfull of professors who show great amount of care in teaching and he is one of them. He is well reputed for his well-dressing and technology freakness on campus.
10) Dr. Bean :
Benzenes, aldehydes, ketones, anhydrides, alcohols, amides, esters and carboxylic acids have become our best buddies throught the course of the year. Organic Chemistry is one of the hardest classes in undergraduate college but, inspite the fact that it consumes 90% of my time..i loveeeeee it. Bean is the most organized teacher i ever had. I really dont know her on a personal level, i wish i did though. Its not an easy task to get to know a professor when you are in a class of 300 students. Even though she dont even know me very well, and i know her only through her lectures...i still consider her as one of the influential teachers i had..and this year being an organic student in her class will definitely be an unforgettable mark in my college life. I made a lot of good friends through this class, half of whom have dropped the course by now...but there is still a few of us who have been going through the same pain with organic mechanisms and synthesis.
Just to conclude, what i have learned is, teachers are definitely our heroes..but we dont realize their power immediately..their power becomes evident through the course of our life...like they say...matha pitha guru daivam!!
PS: This month is going to mercilessily sink me...back to back tests and the wicked finals are whats instored for me this month. I hope i will make it through!!!!!!!!!!