I dedicate this blog to my school teachers. Those who taught me from KG till grade 10.
From my KG days, I remember Flora teacher, Lumen teacher and Sophie teacher. I was scared of Flora teacher and Lumen teacher. Flora teacher used to teach me when I was in Jr KG and she always used to complain that I never smiled. Lumen teacher taught me when I was in Sr KG. She had once challenged me to pass a test in which I ended up scoring the highest. Whenever I saw her I used to become so silent. One day I saw her at a shopping mall. I started running and hid somewhere. My parents often used her name to make me do things. If you don't eat this, we're calling Lumen teacher, if you don't sleep now we're calling Lumen teacher, etc. Sophie teacher was the sweetest. She was everyone's favourite.
I don't remember many incidents from my primary school. But I remember the 4 best teachers- Kamini Srivastava, Rashmi Sethi, Meenakshi Hariharan(who was our Head Mistress) and Deepika Motiwale.
I remember all the teachers and incidents from 5th grade onwards-
Milind sir
I hate Mathematics as a subject. So I hardly had much interaction with the other mathematics teacher. But Milind sir is so cool that you sometimes forget that he's a Math teacher! When I was injured and couldn't walk properly, he carried my bag, came with me in the lift, held my hand and dropped me till the gate of the school where my parents were standing. Just the way a father would do for his daughter. I always respected him but since that day my respect for him increased. When I could not attend school due to illness, he had even called me up to ask about my health. I had even seen him give first aid to a boy who fell and injured himself during a sports event. Most of the students used to mimic some of his habits before he entered the class- how he wrote on the board, how he spoke, etc. Some students used to trouble him a lot, still, whenever they were absent he was concerned and asked their friends about them. I'm still in touch with him.
Pragati ma'am
She was my Science teacher. She used to teach Chemistry and took a few lectures for Biology for 9th and 10th grade students at NHSS. Her teaching was so good, I still remember all the concepts clearly. No matter how many times we asked her stupid questions, she always encouraged our curiosity and answered them all. I'm not in touch with her but if I find a way to contact her I'll definitely do that.
Manisha ma'am
Manisha ma'am was my Marathi teacher at NHSS from 5th to 10th grade. I always felt as if I'm talking to a friend whenever I spoke with her. She knew my wildest ideas and always believed in me. She rarely lost her temper that's why all the students loved her a lot. We're connected via Facebook.
Ushavati ma'am
She taught Science at NHSS for a very short period of time but she earned the respect of all the students. She was probably the only PhD teacher at that time(apart from the Principal & Director). She was known to be strict but her intelligence is something that everybody still appreciates. I'm still in touch with her via LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Rashmi ma'am
I'd say she was like my mother at NHSS when I was in 6th grade. She treated all the students as if we were her own children. She was new to the school when she was given the duty of being the class teacher for 6th B, my class. She taught Social Studies and always encouraged the students to show their creativity. Under her guidance, our class had conducted so many beautiful themes for the assembly- be it the Janmashtami theme or the Human Rights one. She left the school after a year when she was pregnant. We all were happy for her but we were sad that one of our favourite teachers was leaving. She is the sweetest person I know and I'm glad I'm still connected with her.
Vijayalakshmi ma'am
Our beloved Viji ma'am. She taught social studies to us from 8th to 10th grade. She always tried her best to make History interesting- which is probably the most boring subject ever (as we all used to say). She tried her best that nobody slept during the lectures by interacting with us and sometimes telling us stories. Not much to say about her because that's how she was- she personified simplicity. I couldn't find her on social media so I'm currently not in touch with her.
UPDATE: She texted me after reading this! Now we're in touch once again.
Dinesh sir
His artwork always left everyone at school awestruck. Making banners for events, posters for competitions, rangoli for decoration, he used to do it all and whatever he did, he always put his heart and soul into it. He made all the students believe that they're Picasso! Even those who couldn't draw or paint took great interest. Now only if we look at those drawings that we used to make, we'll understand how bad our "masterpieces" actually were. He pretended to be strict, but we all knew he is very lenient. I still remember how we never took his warnings seriously. At NHSS, whenever someone said Art or Art Room, the name that came to our mind first was Dinesh sir's. Above all, he made us believe in ourselves and that matters the most. I'm still in touch with him via Facebook.
Bhadang sir
He's actually my father's teacher. In their school, they used to address their teachers by their last name. I had the privilege of meeting Bhadang sir once in person and spoke with him on the phone once. The day we met was when he'd casually visited us to meet my father and he had taught me some Math lessons that day. I was not expecting him to do that but I actually enjoyed those lessons. My parents never thought I'd enjoy doing Math! That's how great his teaching is. That day I did not feel like the lessons should end. We're connected via Facebook but I'd love to meet him in person again.
Priya ma'am
Words aren't enough to describe how amazing she was. The way she taught, the way she spoke, the way she always supported everyone no matter how bad their grades were. She was honest, unbiased, friendly, in short, all the positive words you can ever find in the dictionary.
She taught us Geography and Economics at NHSS for a year when we were in 10th grade. She made sure we never stressed about board examinations.
Unfortunately, she lost the battle against cancer and left for her heavenly abode soon after we passed our 10th grade. The last conversation I had with her was on What'sApp discussing about how I was doing in 11th grade when I told her that I was missing her. Now I miss her even more. All her students miss her. But I'm sure she's sending us blessings from heaven.
I'm in college now so I am not including any stories from college because right now I'm still making memories with the faculty here. You can expect a blog dedicated to them when I graduate.
On a different note, as many people say experience is the best teacher, our parents are our first teachers, we should definitely acknowledge all these teachers as well, including the internet which has become our favourite teacher now ;)
I wish all these teachers, who've shaped me into what I am today, a very happy teachers' day...
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