Happy Teachers’ Day

Its Teacher’s Day today, and I am getting nostalgic.
Though after coming to the corporate world, these days lose its meaning. But at school time, they had a special place for me.I studied in a no. of schools, and had the experience of meeting varied kinda teachers.
Teachers were Gods when I was a kid.Their word carried more weightage than even parents at that time.I was a favorite student in the initial yrs., more so as I was the regular topper(pardon my ugly boasting, “yeh situation ke liye zaroori tha“).I was made the leader in many activities done at my class level.The best I remmber was a play in which I was made to play a Husband, and made to say a lot of silly things as per the script written by a teacher. Then there was one Hefty M’am who had this uncanny obsession to exercising. After giving us some silly assignment in the lecture, she used to finish off the leftover exercises of the day in the class itself by moving her hands and feet in horrendous motions, more so making ppl like me scared, imagining she is getting ready to hit someone hard.That fear motivated me at least to concentrate very heavily on the assignment given, and I think many classmates also had the similar fears.

Lady teachers are always famous with boys, and I think the vice versa for the gals too.So, a new school, new bunch of teachers, but my fav. was a young and bubbly Vidhi M’am. She was pretty young and that’s the reason I heard abt her a lot when I used to move among senior boys.There was this Music M’am also who was pretty soft spoken but used to get her say through her tears.I had seen her cry on more than one occassion, but in the end that did what she was asking from the senior students, who were turning deaf ears to her earlier.

This was the stage when I was entering this world of adoloscence, and so things were becoming more clearer day by day. I particularly hated this Physics Sir,who was a bachelor at that time.He was always after the gals, and always used to be lenient to them, whether it comes to anything.His moves were also grossly abhorred by lot of us guys.”Saale mere maal par haath“, was the common refrain amongst us.

Then there was this Biology M’am who was a little biased towards guys, though not in the way the former Sir was. I think she cared for us like her child(though the girls of my class wud beg to differ). I still remmber an incident where me and one guy were least interested in the class, and were exchanging jokes, when the M’am caught us. I was really scared, but was surprised to see her smile and say, “What joke are you sharing, Anshul.Let us know also”. I just said sorry and was let off. The unpredictable happenned when in the same lecture, one girl was caught sniggling(thought she had taken this teacher pretty lightly). Lo and behold, the same teacher who had laughed on my act got really angry and made this gal stand outside the class, with her hand raised. We boys were really delighted at this(think my misogynist seeds were sown at this level), but this took us to the situation of drawing battle lines in the class.None of the gals talked to me for 2 weeks, and it was really hard.How come its my fault if a gal gets punished for the same offence and not me.

Then there was this Hindi Sir who used to make good use of his hand on our soft faces, and address us with some decently chosen but pure hindi-clad expletives. It was really difficult to hold one’s laugh when he’s having a field day.But he was a real good person at heart, and more so a good teacher too.

I particularly hated teachers who were not good to me, though they mayb hvg right reasons for tht.There was this History M’am who looked really tough and always carried a strict demeanour.Once she caught me asking some questions from a senior in an exam.She escalated the whole issue, and I was really angry on her doing this.Incidentally, she was my class teacher also.Though my parents rarely used to go to Parent-Teacher meets(u know their kid being always on top), but God knows what happnd that time when my father decided to go that very time.I was cursing my luck, and was pretty sure that bugger M’am wud definitely raise the cheating issue with my Dad.I think at that age, I wud not have prayed so much to God what I did in those few hrs. when my father was off to school.I was getting ready for a got hands-down on his coming back home.But when my father came back all happy, “meri nazar main us teacher ki izzat bahut bad gayi“.She acted as an insiration to dudes like me to cheat more(though factually I never cheated after that).

Another change of school, a big city, and loads of teachers, the last few yrs. at school though.They are generally the most interesting ones. There was this Principal, whom we called “Mamu” who I feel is the member of the “Holy Grail” of Hitler.He is the most ruthless teacher I have ever come across in life.N wht to say, I was most scared of him all through my last yrs at school(though I was wht u call a “accha bacccha“).Mamu was the dreaded creature on the campus. I think evrybody, including teachers, were scared like hell with him.And most of the ppl also held one or the other grudge against him.But he was a moody fellow, and when in good mood, he can pardon u for nething.Though he had this high ego, and this cruel personality, but he was a true teacher in every sense.He could teach you anything under the sun. There were many a times when he had taught us diff. subjects in another teacher’s absence.He taught us English, and I feel he really turned my interest in the subject through his style of teaching.There are no. of hilarious incidents that went with him though. He was the one who wud try to go deep into his subject. So, he used to teach us the Shakespearen plays, and somehow got this cassette of the play enacted somewhere in Europe. One fine day, he comes up with a television, a VCR in the class, to show us the play. We were really delighted, and it so happenned that there was one hot kissing scene happening in one act.We knew he was in good mood, so the naughty guys of my class requested him to replay the act as they are now getting interest in the play. He was happy like anything, “Oh, u wanna see it again”. N then we were made to see that hot scene again.Imagine a princi showing the students what they yearn for in those days.

Then there was this Physics Sir, who I think was a recent college passout.But he was unarguably the most stylish teacher on campus.He had either a huge wardrobe, or had some connection with the local Dhobi.He cud always be found wearing new clothes evryday, and had this unique way of teaching, animated and using some unheard and unknown words like “In-toto”.I was a good mimic, and so entertained the class with his acts.

There was one Chachu or Vice princi, who had a reallll soft corner for gals, and esp for some gals. Gals also understand these things and enjoyed the attention bestowed on them. I cud still remmber the scene when one of his heartthrobs was busy talking to her BF in the parking lot, the look on his face said it all, and that was the reason he always had some grudge or another with her BF.

Neway, this History M’am or Shruti M’am perhaps was a pretty interesting and close to us. She was pretty and had this special relationship with boys. We really respected her. She had bought a Kinetic Honda, and it was always one of us who had to take it off the parking lot, and clear the way when she drives out of school. One interesting incident happnd with her when she was teaching abt the Judicial courts in India. She was telling abt the categories, and one category was “Petty Court”. It sounded sthg else for us boys, and many of us started laughing. She did stop the lecture and scolded us saying “I know guys, where your imagination is taking you. So, hold on to it”.

Then there was this Hindi Sir, who had his linkages to the bygone era. He was a Hindi teacher on paper, but always used to speak English.He was a simple fella, old one, and at times it was difficult for him to handle Senior guys. Most of the boys in my class had their lunch in his lectures.He was scared like hell with our Princi(”Mamu“).One fine day he asked the class to do our own work as he was not in the mood to teach. We were having a good time sitting at the back and gossipping, when suddenly we heard this Hindi Sir blurting out passages from the study book. Many of us thought that he has got some fit and is made to remmber the torture he sufferred pre-Independence, but the real reason was made clear when we saw the Mamu looking creature walk past our class.

There was this Maths teacher who had this highly accented English,(perfect for today’s call center).He like Chachu loved Senior gals. Some gals resisted this attitude also. One of his dialogues was pretty famous in the school. One nice looking gal once gave him a Rose, and he came back with a perfect one liner for her. “Roses should not give Roses”. This line was put into the Hall of Fame of our school records, and might be used by amateur male teachers even now.Once the battlelines were drawn btw the boys and gals in the class, and the matter reached our “Tharki Chachu“.As the BF of his fav. gal student was involved, Chachu saw an opportunity in this, and took out his full frustation on most of us.All the boys in our class were tagged as “Eve Teasers”.This infuriated a lot of us, and some hot blooded once were on the verge of hitting back at gals, not understanding the hidden game of Chachu.Me and one guy decided to use sarcasm to hit back, and so at any pretext within the class, we use to refer any incident as “Eve Teasing”.Incidentally, we were heard by this Maths teacher, and pointed out. I was really surprised at the efficiency of his doggy ears. Though i admire him for putting an end to this situation by bringing sanity in the class. He had this ability to settle things.
The teacher’s day celebrations were mostly restricted to the school, and they lost its meaning once I entered college. The teachers at college had another stories attached to them, but I dont think i ever held my college teachers in the same esteem as I did for my school ones.

But all in all, I really cherished and respected most of my teachers.They have played a very crucial role in whatever I am today, and I think that hold true for most of us. So, on this b’ful day, I bow my head to all of them.

To all my teachers,
Happy Teacher’s Day

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