World-Class Teachers

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Today is Srikrishna Janmashtami here (Birthday of Srikrishna).

He is of course the Teacher Supreme.

You may ask me why.

First, he taught a Class of One (unlike the two that S Chandrasekhar did...they got their Prizes much before he did!).

Then again, when the student is not convinced with Theory, he gives a Demo, after which the student is stupefied...like when the Lissajous Figures suddenly come up on the screen of the Oscilloscope.

Again, at the end of 2.5 hours of Lec-Dem, he asks his student:

"Have you followed what all I have said? All doubts cleared?" (...otherwise I shall repeat the whole lesson).

Finally, he says that what all he has said was only for the immediate purpose of pushing his student into the Exam Hall...for, although the student, seeing the vast syllabus, is frightened, and asks for a Supple, he would have started writing the exam fretfully as soon as he starts tackling the first question.

To put it precisely, Krishna said at the end that although Arjun went into Severe Depression on seeing the assembled rival armies, his instinctive valor would have got the better of him as soon as the first conch is blown...like the proverbial war-horse.

When I was about 6, I was gifted a delightfully illustrated Children's Bhagavatam. I still recall the picture where the kids Krishna, Balaram and Sudama (Kuchela) sit down quietly in front of their teacher, Sandeepani:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandipani

When I was about 8, one morning I was very restless and making lot of mischief. My Father, who was doing his Puja, called me to his side and asked me to bring a note book and pen. Squatting on the floor, he kept his rosary aside, took the pen and drew a matrix (maybe 5 X 7) and wrote down all the inflections of the word 'eat' in all tenses and voices.

And asked me to mug them up, thinking I would take half an hour.

But as he was writing them down, I was getting amazed at his felicity, and got so focused that I closed the note book after two minutes and repeated the Table flawlessly.

My love for English never looked back...Father was a great teacher.

When my son was in the Central School at KGP Campus, I used to hear of one Kabi Sir. He was a teacher of Math and was prone to temper and tantrums and scolding and beating his students. But my son, as well as every student of the School, used to love him and talk of him adoringly. I asked my son why so. He replied that any student who sits in Kabi Sir's Class when the Sir gets into his teaching mood, will never forget his lesson...no need to go home and read...

I was so impressed by this story that I was looking for an opportunity to meet him. And made an exception and went to the Teacher-Parent Meeting. And as my son's name was called and his script was taken up, I entered the room and spontaneously embraced Kabi Sir...he was in tears...

Similarly there was a Jha Sir whom my son used to love. He was teaching Biology (an unteachable subject). In particular, he was said to be superb in teaching Genetics of which I know nothing. But I was curious and made a point of meeting him and expressing my regard with a packet of sweets (my son came Zonal First in Biology and started his career in Bio-Informatics).

Since our mother tongue is so very different than Hindi, my son asked me to engage a home tutor for him. And wanted to be taught by a famous Mishra Sir. When I approached him he said he was sorry that he had stopped going forth to students' homes but would send his son, Mishrajee Junior.

I said ok...someone is better than none.

But when he started teaching my son in our Guest Room, I found myself lingering outside...he had such a lovely teaching voice that I envied him...and of course my son did well enough in Hindi.

And there was this tabla teacher of my son of whom I wrote in the blog:

http://gpsastry.blogspot.com/2009/10/tight-rope-walk.html

So, here is Three Cheers to World ClassTeachers!

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