guru poornima

I got a mail from a friend sending me some good material on the auspicious day of Guru Poornima today. While I was reading the same, my thoughts went to my teachers in school and college and my parents, who have made an indelible impression on me, so much so that I recall them even today very vividly.

There were quite a few good teachers in my school in abhiramapuram where I studied till 3rd std. The teachers were very much into dance/music/skits that I wonder if the school was a forerunner of the likes of Padma seshadri brand of schools. I still remember the songs/plays and skits which we used to participate in. I distinctly remember I was down with fever while acting as a burmese girl in a play but nothing would make me miss it. I also recall the dance where we represented each state and the map of India was drawn on the stage. I was in the southern tip, kanyakumari. The dance was over and the curtain fell, but I was blissfully still standing outside the curtain.I still recall the utter confusion in my mind, and my teacher rushing in and happily leading me out!

The teachers had resorted to playway method of teaching as we have come to know now .We enjoyed going to school then. Thank you teachers.

Then we shifted to suburb of Tambaram and were put in the only school available which was a christian school. They were into academics with only christmas day giving way to some standard and repetitive kind of entertainment. It was academics and games which ruled the roost. I remember my geography teacher in 8th std. She gave us a test and said we can refer to our books/notebooks. We thought she had gone out of her mind. We franctically referred the books even when we were sure of the answers and most of us could not finish the paper. It was a very strong message she was giving us that day, that there is always a catch when something appears very easy.Thank you teacher.

Games classes were fun, when we used to run to the grounds next to the school. Badminton and net ball and kho kho were the games usually earmarked for us.I particularly enjoyed net ball. We had a very good physical education teacher and for the first time for the school , she managed to take us for the district schools competitions. I can still feel the adrenaline rush when the ball is dribbled and passed and then everything gets blanked out while we are running and screaming till we get the goal or miss the goal. World is blotted out except for you and the ball.Thanks teacher for helping me get that high!

Our science teacher used to also double up playing the piano. She introduced love for pure science in me and also rudimentary English music. She used to be my idol and I would follow her around wherever she is in the school. She was always poised and dignified. She will come extremely well prepared for classes and there was no casualness about her. Thank you teacher for helping me imbibe those values.

Pre university college was almost an extention of school. I was crazy about physics lecturer and in the confusion I thought I am passionate about physics and opted for physics major for my graduation. It was only in my masters course I fell out of physics completely as I felt cheated that mathematics had completely taken over physics and I could not comprehend its invasion into the pure physics domain. I did not find any teacher inspiring enough and perhaps that wasw the problem. I am teacher driven, not subject driven, you see,

Thus ended my love affair with physics. I have never stepped into that domain again. It was only recently that I bought a wooden top ('pambaram') in a channapatna wooden dolls/toy shop near Mysore. You spin it and leave it on the floor, after a few rotations, it turns on its head as it were and finishes the remaining rotations. Truly astounding. I was asked 'what is the physics of it". I had to say, absolutely no idea, physics and me parted ways long long ago.

Outside of formal education system, it is truly my parents who have been my gurus. Appa had taken the trouble to talk to me and tell me all about the values he holds dear and the difficulties which one has to overcome if one needs to hold ones head high. Amma has taught me that there is nothing which is difficult to learn/do/master, provided one put our mind to it. More than what they have told us explicitly, it is the way they have led their lives by what they believe in, without duplicity, without hypocrisy,with lots of love and respect for each other. When I was younger, I had to pause and think for a minute to know the correct course of action, when in a dilemma. I would think would amma or appa have done it this way. Now it is more involuntary, their belief systems are a part of my dna now and I am mighty proud of it.

So dear amma and appa, my real and true teachers, salutations to you both on this auspicious day.

Taking us for a ride

My maid wanted to know if we can take a bus to the US. I said no, it is quite far. She was not convinced. I said there are no roads as huge expanse of water is in between not to mention mountains. She wanted to know if they have not thought of building bridges across the ocean.

That is when I realised her worldview is Bangalore- chennai- velankanni.

I fished out an atlas and showed the world map. She saw the pacific ocean and then a bit of comprehension creeped in.But what stuck in her mind is not the distance, but the huge ocean, where someone has not built a bridge still!