Teachers day post

 Spend three decades facing a classroom full of children and September 5th becomes a day about yourself. Roses, red pens, chocolates and students handwritten cards. You are happily tired saying "thank you" to all their happy teachers day wishes. You end up so busy being the standard-bearer that you rarely get to look back at the people who set the standard for you in the first place. Is that the ultimate professional hazard? 

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This morning, I tried remembering all my teachers. Which ever teacher came up  my mind, I consider them my favourite. 

Class 1 - I don't remember much.

 I was in KV in Trichy. I remember my grandmother taking me to the Main guard gate bus stop and putting me in a bus that goes to Kajamalai, 7 kms away. Yes, as a 5 year old, I travelled in a public bus, all alone. Infact I remember the driver and conductor of that bus who kept me safe, more than any of my teachers. 

Class 2- I never was in class 2. Double promoted to class 3, but that was not because they found out at that age, that I was too  bright  ;) but because of shifting school in the middle of the academic year.  Khooo chukchuk chukchuk....Trichy to Delhi. 

In class 3, I had a teacher called 

Guruleen Bhatiya or Gurupreeth Bhatiya. I don't remember, but she was lean, so could be Guruleen Bhatiya.  Vibrant, smiling, energetic, unforgettable in her bright salwar kameez and some days in a yellow saree. She was my English teacher. I liked her because she had a  beautiful smile and she always looked at me with it.

Classes 4 and 5 - there was an elderly teacher by name Lakshmi, who taught Hindi. She wore madisar to school. She was my sister's favorite teacher too. 

Class 6- Another Lakshmi teacher again, who taught SST in Kamakoti vidyalaya, Trichy. I was treated like a ball of living flesh and life was playing catch-catch with me. Being the eldest and may be the strongest too, I was able to withstand the climatic conditions of both places, while rest of my two sibblings couldn’t adjust. I was that homesick kid. 

 I remember this teacher because once the sketch pens my father bought for me from Delhi, were taken away by my classmates. That's why, in VM, we teachers ask kids not to bring fancy things to school. 

My parents left me with my grandmother, and as a perk got me a lot of fancy things from the Capital city. A green lipstick eraser was one of them. I used it more on my lips than on my note book to erase. The social studies teacher helped me get back my sketch pens. Those pens were an upscale product and not very popular in small towns, those days. When I was crying she sat bedside me. Just that day she was in a red saree, but I always remember her in that red saree. 

Classes 7 and 8 - A new Maths teacher Saroj gupte joined DTEA higher secondary school. Yes, back to Delhi again. We refused to accept her, but later started enjoying her classes. 

She transformed Geometry through sand drawings and outdoor lessons, played long-rope skipping with us at lunch, and ultimately laid the blueprint for what true teaching looks like.

Till date I am in touch with her through social media. She was stern in class but played with us like a classmate. The ecstasy a kid experiences  when a teacher joins to play with, is something I can't really explain. You need to be a child to understand that happiness.

Class 9 - was a difficult year, we were planning to come back from Delhi, to live in Madras. 

Class 10 - Dhanam and Veeramani teacher. Back to Trichy with grandmother while appa started practicing as a lawyer in Madras. Dhanam taught Biology and Veeramani was our Maths teacher. If we talk in class or forget to do home work,  we had to kneeldown inside the class. We had to go bring some sand from the play ground and spread it under our knees and listen. 

Dhanam miss would give me Neat +Good in my record note book. I had a good handwriting and my diagrams were neat. I could copy that exact - Neat +Good,   and I generously gave my friends that exact Neat +Good in their record note books. I soon got caught and lost all my Neat + Good. But 30 years of my teacher life, I gave a lot of kids that same Neat+Good. Nobody had a problem.

Classes 11 and 12 - we shifted to Madras. I was unhappy in this Tamizh speaking city, where people made fun of my Tamizh, but they pronounced Tamizh as Tamil. Valapalam, moonji Kaluvu, malai peyudhu were a few more phrases these proud Tamilians use.

Asha my class mate was a great support. She was like a teacher to me. 

I remember these teachers names, but not their faces. It's just Asha and few more girls. Very tough years.

At Kalakshetra everything was different. I had a wonderful time here. All teachers were kind, talented and inspiring. Inspite of the fact that I was a music student,  I used to visit the painting section. SrinivasaRajulu sir was kind and encouraged my art work. I used to sculpt  pillayar at his art studio for Ganesh chaturthi. 

 Dance teachers, I had no business with used to share stories of how kalakshetra was formed and about athai..

Some senior teachers cycled to the college. I used to help Maragadham teacher in making props for the dance programs. 

Seetharama Sharma sir, Balasaraswathi teacher, Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan sir,  Salem Chellam Iyengar sir,  Alandur Natrajan sir, Anandhi teacher and many many more wonderful humans. We were allowed to do different things, and time was in plenty. From 8 am to 4 pm..... we got to learn a lot of beautiful things, with no pressure thrown on us. 

So, what’s the big takeaway here? Knowing your stuff is great, but nobody ever fell in love with algebra just because the teacher had a Masters or a gold medal.  Kids are simple creatures.  If they don’t like you, they’re going to zone out and quietly plan their games period or check their lunch boxes while you explain the Pythagorean theorem. A good teacher needs to bring the good vibes and a little heart if she wants kids to actually stick around and listen. Being nice to kids is the secret to keeping a room full of miniature humans from staging a total mutiny!

Happy Teachers' Day to all the educators who comfort us, play with us, and teach us on the sand and under the trees.