55. LEISURELY LEARNING

55. LEISURELY LEARNING

Do walls and desks make a class room?
Here, a class in Vishwabharati, Shantiniketan!
I have studied like this!

OVER the years, we all studied much, and forgot much more! We may say, after Chesterton, that what remains after all that we studied and forgot is education or true learning!

Academic knowledge- a waste?

If we ponder, we would be struck by how much we remember that we did not study as part of our formal education. Unless we are a professional like a physician or a lawyer or an accountant, we do not have need or occasion to remember what we studied, especially as part of some compulsory requirement. Most of us who have been pen-pushers in some bureaucratic jungle had no use at all for all or any of our college-acquired academic  notions or potions. In fact, display of such knowledge could invite the wrath or repugnance of our bosses. They would think that we were trying to show off, and that would surely reflect in the way they wrote on us in the annual performance assessment, called in India "confidential report". The system was a cooker of lies, half-truths and prejudices but we lived with it. So we had to be careful not to display our learning! This was especially so when we, graduates and post-graduates directly recruited as probationary officers, had to work under seniors who had long service but were short on college education and academic taste or interest. It was enough for them if we mastered the officialese. So, in course of time we forgot what little remained of our wisdom acquired in the college for which our parents had paid through their nose! Truly did the Peter Principle say: In every hierarchy, the employee tends to rise to  his own level of incompetence.

 In other words, the hierarchy tends to make you incompetent, so that you would fit into the system. Unless you fall in line, you can't survive. A less charitable way of saying it would be : you can't teach old dogs new tricks!

Rather the old dogs taught us something. I am not joking but would relate two incidents. When we were on probation, my colleague V.Nayar had written a note. His boss saw it and made him rewrite it 7 times, so that not a single unusual word would be present in it!. Once during probation,I had written something. My supervisor called me and said we South Indians were fond of writing too much to show our knowledge of English,and got into trouble! He asked me to touch his palms. He was a Punjabi, but his palm was smooth! He told me: Jee, yahi tho cheez hai! Jo neeche se aata hai, upar bhejo and jo upar se vapas aata hai ,neeche bhejo! Aap kahe ko jyada fiqr karte ho? Office aapke dimag se nahi chalnewala hai. Upar tho koi baitha hai, hukum dene wala! Usko apne kaam karne do aur aap aaram se rahiyo! Main tho pachees saal yahi karte raha, ab dekho, mera life smooth hai, mere paam jaisa! [ Mister, listen.  What comes from your subordinates, send up; and what comes back, send down!  Why do you trouble yourself ? Do you think the office needs your intelligence?  Someone is sitting up, giving orders. Let him do his work, and you relax. I have done this for twenty five years, and see, my life is as smooth as my palm!] Over the years, I found it to be sensible advice.

Management theories and real life bankruptcy

We have heard of so many theories, new practices: Management by Results, MBO,  Quality Circles, Kaizen, 6 Sigma, Core Competence etc. Have you seen a corporation which adopted such things and succeeded for long? They adore management books, but corporations survive in spite of them! When GM failed and filed for bankruptcy,  it was not Harvard or Wharton or Kellogg and their fancy theories that helped it but Federal funding! GM failed because its cars were not bought!  How could management theory change it?Management schools are mental institutions on the reverse: they turn the heads of normal , sane people! A great thinker like Peter Drucker is original, and not a product of any business school. He educated us, not taught us theories or formulae.

Remembering poems

I happen to remember poems both from my school days and later. But I have not been a teacher or academic. Whenever I interact with school children, I ask them to recite the poems they studied. Almost all of them say : 'uncle, that portion was done in the last year or last semester. The test is over, and we don't remember'. Once I was asking a relative's daughters, and they also said the same. My relative intervened and remarked that I might be an exception that I remembered so many poems; how many of my old class mates did the same? 

May be there is something here. But  these children remember so many film songs which they do not study formally! Even three- four year olds listen to some Ads on the TV and repeat them nicely!

This is a paradox. What we study laboriously we forget; what we listen to almost casually sticks to us. But this also contains a secret or a clue. We remember songs which we do not formally learn because of the music, mainly. We remember something which we like, for which there is no compulsion. Sometimes, the words too are attractive.

Some English literary figures.
From: Wikipedia

Good teachers recite poetry!
 In our school days, the teachers of English and Tamil recited the poems , did not merely read them ! The Tamil pundits would recite them in the fixed meter, set to a specific tune. And the words would often be rhyming. Consider these lines:

கானகத்தே  காரிருளில் காதலியைக் கைவிட்டுப்
போனதுவும் வேந்தற்குப்  போதுமோ தான்  -என்று
சாற்றினான் அந்தவுரை தார்வேந்தன் தன் செவியில்
ஏற்றினான் வந்தான் எதிர்

These are from the long Tamil poem Nala Venba. We know the story of how Raja Nala is made to leave his kingdom, and separate from his wife, Damayanti.. Here, someone is asking the king in disguise whether it was proper for the king to have abandoned his loving wife in the forest at dead of night and gone away! This was in my 7th or 8th standard- 1953/54 but I still remember because I heard my teacher recite this in the set tune! 

The English teachers could not sing to musical tunes, but they would recite without seeing the book, and the rhymes would come out:

I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes a little town
And half a hundred bridges.

It is not a question of remembering; I wonder how any one can forget this if he had heard it recited as a poem? Sound is important in poetry, and we must hear and recite the poems aloud! Mixed with music, it is really like honey on ice cream!

Children under stress

I can't blame the children now. The burden of syllabus is heavy; the distractions are many; the pressure of the test is severe; the teachers are so incompetent. The children read too much, and learn too little! 

How can the teacher induce love for poetry or song if he himself did not enjoy it? If he taught it merely as a duty? And how can children enjoy poetry, song or dance if they did not have all the time in the world to indulge in them as they pleased?

plpnetwork.com

We struggled and enjoyed!

In our day, we simply had all the time we liked! In the Pre-University Class, we had a textbook of English essays; we had a selection of poetry; we had two non-detailed texts: Tom Sawyer and a biography of Albert Schweitzer!  We had a similar syllabus in Tamil. Then we had Maths,(or Biology) Physics, Chemistry, World History and Logic! All this to be studied in ten months. Above all, we had just switched from Tamil medium to pure English medium! So, for the first time in our lives, we studied for the exam! And did we struggle!

But things changed at graduation. We still had language as an important component , in spite of our major

 subject. The English paper consisted of Prose selection with essays by all the leading English essayists: E.V.Lucas, Robert Lynd, A.G.Gardiner (Alpha of the Plough), G.K.Chesterton, R.L.Stevenson,Max Beerbohm, Arthur Quiller Couch, J.B.Priestley, and others. In poetry we had a selection of longer poems from Milton, Goldsmith, Keats, Coleridge, Robert Browning,Francis Thompson, James Elroy Flecker, etc. Shakespeare was honoured with two selections: Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing. For non-detailed study, we had Hardy's Trumpet Major and a book of biographical essays by Arthur Quiller Couch: Roll Call of Honour. Yet this was only one subject. We had a like portion in Tamil, besides our Major subject with its two ancillaries! And there was a minor subject too: a humanities subject for science students and science subject for humanities students. The idea was that a graduate should be rounded, and not be an example of the Two Cultures by C.P.Snow!

www.rhonnold,com

But we had three full years to study all this! For our higher studies, only the major subjects mattered. So most boys concentrated  on them. But those who had a liking for literature could really thrive! Our college library was well stocked. I liked Hardy and so read all his books- except Jude The Obscure which was not issued to the students on the orders of the Principal. There was no question of reading much poetry then, for in the absence of annotated editions, it was difficult to follow. There were many books on Shakespeare, like that by A.C.Bradley.  There was real pressure only in the last year and for two years we did have pleasure from our prose and poetry. Today, the major subjects we studied are irrelevant- having been overturned by new developments, or simply ignored by the authorities: which Finance Minister bothers about the Canons of Taxation, or  Banking by Sayers or Central Banking by M.H.Dekock?  Which Prime Minister of India knows the meaning of Cabinet Government or Separation of Powers or Checks and Balances? But there has not been another Shakespeare or Milton, Wordsworth or Goldsmith! They did not teach us language- they taught us the secrets of life, which are eternally relevant! This is the beauty of literature: it is part of life. 

We could enjoy this because we learned at leisure! We had all the time to read or be idle, dream and imagine! 

Our future did not depend upon getting 96.7 %! We enjoyed what we liked! We were exposed to the cream of English writers! Compared to this, Tamil literature lacked variety and was plainly boring. As Shakespeare said in Taming of the Shrew:

Glad that you thus continue your resolve

To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy.

Only, good master, while we do admire

This virtue and this moral discipline,

Let’s be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray,

Or so devote to Aristotle’s checks

As Ovid be an outcast quite abjured.

Balk logic with acquaintance that you have,

And practice rhetoric in your common talk;

Music and poesy use to quicken you;

The mathematics and the metaphysics—

Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you.

No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en.

In brief, sir, study what you most affect.

In fine, we should study what we enjoy!

No profit grows where no pleasure is taken
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.


Bad state of literature teaching today

It is one thing to read a subject to qualify for the examination but that does not necessarily lead to enjoyment. Poetry today is dissected, like they dissect a dead frog  or cockroach in the biology class.They are made to master theories, not the poets! 

If  you psychoanalysed Milton, what will remain of his Paradise Lost? That is what academies do now!
from: www.slideshare.net.

We may not remember much if there is no test at the end- the stress caused here, within limits, is in a way good- Eustress, (Hans Selye), not distress! But the final mark alone cannot be made the arbiter! But that is what actually happens,and students under stress even commit suicide! No academic system has yet found a method to assess students without causing acute distress! No one looks at a candidate without first looking at his mark sheet. What brutal and foolish tyranny! 

Literature is especially suited for leisurely learning.We continue to discover new meanings in old tales or poems,as we move under the arches of the years! The Brook might have been a simple poem while at school, but later we would discover its metaphorical significance and philosophical meaning! Tess might have been the story of how the President of the immortals played with the life of an innocent village girl, but later we would discover how it was the critique of an age and its mores! Dickens did not write stories merely ; he was doing through his stories what Marx was attempting through his economic and political writings; and Dickens succeeded more than Marx because he touched people's hearts and conscience! He was fulfilling the old epic function of telling a story to straighten society! Thus there is no limit to the way we can enjoy the Classics. If we want to enjoy any aspect of literature, it is enough if we read that literature, and not comments about that. Especially the comments by modern academics should be totally ignored. What does it matter what Harold Bloom thinks about Walt Whitman or Oliver Goldsmith?  We can read and try to figure out for ourselves. Yet, Bloom is better than some others. Some old authorities are very helpful, though. If you like an author, read him, not about him. Something  like Norton Anthology is very helpful with annotations. No British edition comes near it.

Look beyond the school and university for true learning

The secret of true learning is learning at leisure, at our own individual pace!  And enjoying what we read! We should be able to laugh and play! As E.M.Forster asked: "Can a man be perfect if he never laughs and plays?"The present academic system coaches candidates for examinations, and does not truly teach anyone anything! True learning today lies outside the academies- the colleges and universities! If we can find a like minded friend or a mentor, it is a blessing. Hang the universities, but hang on to the great literature!  

Under the greenwood tree- 1936.Waltonsongs.org.

53. SALUTATIONS TO GREAT TEACHERS

53. SALUTATIONS TO GREAT TEACHERS

Dutch schoolmaster and children-1662

TEACHERS influence us in more ways than we care to reckon or remember. We come across teachers at various levels- among them some highly learned professors and very proficient lecturers in college. More than the formal teaching, it is their manner, method and certain other oddities that influence us in the long run. More than the lecturers and professors at the college level, it is the teachers at the school level who influence us most. And they have the tougher job of laying the foundation. By their actions and attitude, skills and approach, they can instill in us love of a subject, remove the fear, and generally ignite the spark. Or, just the contrary: they can make us hate a subject for life!

I have been fortunate that I  had all good teachers at school and each one of them influenced me in some way or the other. I have continued to remember them and feel eternally grateful. They toiled at a time when their pay was low, they had little by way of pension or other retirement benefits, they expected little from us but gave us their best. Prof.V.Tyagarajan, my economics professor at college used to say that teaching was "the noblest of professions, but the sorriest of trades". Here I recollect them and the memories associated with each of them.

Kaveri Gounder : He is the first teacher I remember- teacher in the first standard. He is the one who named me as at present in the school register! When my grandfather took me to school for admission, he just mentioned the name used in the family circles: Nanjundu. Kaveri Gounder remarked what kind of name it was and then changed it. How can I forget him? I still remember his face, with a single Namam on his forehead and a black cap on his head!

[Those who have read Hard Times by Dickens would remember a scene: Thomas Gradgrind, owner of the school visits the school and then:

"Girl number twenty" , said Mr Gradgrind, " I don't know that girl. Who is that girl?"
"Sissy Jupe, sir", explained number twenty, blushing, standing up, and curtseying.
"Sissy is not a name", said Mr. Gradgrind. "Don't call yourself Sissy. Call yourself Cecilia". ]

Dakshinamurthi Chettiar: Teacher in the third standard.Very nice man, with gentle words and a smile on his face. His son Guna also studied with me and so I used to visit him often. I was in touch with him for many years, into the 70s.

It may appear strange, but the last time I met him, unexpectedly, was at the Dakshinamurti sannadhi in the Kapaleeswara Temple at Mylapore in the early 70s!

Nagomi : Teacher in the fourth class. I remember her and her husband who was also a teacher in a different school for a reason. I used to visit their house and do odd services. It was her husband who told me about his salary- which was just about 10 or 12 rupees,out of which they paid a rent of 2 rupees for the house they were occupying!  And this teacher made me cry once! K.M.Munshi as Agriculture Minister had started the Vana Mahotsav movement in 1950. My uncle who was in the Revenue dept brought some nice brochures and picture cards. I took them to show  to the teacher, but she liked them and kept them all! How to ask her to return them? 

I came home crying!

Chipko movement to save our trees-1973.
A genuine nonviolent movement to save the trees in the hills.
Source: http://farm8.statcflickr.com./

Nataraja Iyer : He was not exactly  my teacher, but more than one! When I entered 5th standard and went to his branch of the school, he saw that I was taller than most boys ( or brighter?) and thought that I should be studying in the higher class- ie join the high school for standard 6- I Form. So, he took me to a teacher for special coaching to sit for the entrance test for high school!

But it was not a special favour done to me. He was by nature helpful to all. He would go out of the way to help people. He would be walking barefoot and would be found in any part of the town at odd hours. He was particularly helpful to the rural folk. They would not know the date of birth of their children. There was no system of formal birth certificates then.They would only remember it by association with some other event as 'when that plane fell' etc. In such cases, Nataraja Iyer would 'divine' (or invent?- figure out or fix) the dates and get them admitted in school! It didn't hurt anyone!

My mother had a belief: if we saw him in the morning, that day would be lucky for us! 

It was he who brought the Newspaper home on the day SSLC results were announced! It was he who had taken me to join the high school six years earlier; now it was he who brought the result of the SSLC exam- called "School final" those days! See the hand of Providence here!

 With two sons and two daughters, he was poor in his pocket, but very rich in spirits. Years later, when I heard the lines of Shailendra's poem:

" Maana apni jeb se fakir hai, 
phir bhi yaro dil ke  hum ameer hai" 
( I may be poor in my pocket, but I am still rich at heart)
 I remembered this great man. It takes great heart to help people, not riches. Like the sandal wood block that spreads fragrance around when rubbed  on the stone, this good man went round spreading love and goodwill , helping people with his person, even though without a purse!

Balasubramania Iyer : He was a one-man institution. It was his mission to coach boys for the entrance examination to the high school.His house would be overflowing with boys and girls. His two daughters already thought they were the Headmistresses, and would be monitoring us, with a stick in hand. The man was very good and kind and would drill us! 

He had two sons besides the girls. The elder, Subramaniam-called Mani- was in our class. We used to joke: the son was full Subramaniam, but the father was a 'Balan'- ie a boy!

Sadashiva  Udayar: The Headmaster of the High School. A very great man. He was very strict and was much feared.It was said that he always carried a cane in his coat sleeves! But I had three occasions to know him personally, and receive his kindness.

One was before I entered high school. There was an organisation- Guild of Service- in our place. One Mrs Leila Paul- wife of the dist.magistrate C.J.R.Paul - was the President. Udayar was also an office bearer. My grandmother was somehow connected with it. Once they went to Salem for some function, and as was the custom in those days, took me along. After the function, I did not like the lunch they served , and so did not eat. Udayar had noticed me. He came to me and asked why I had not eaten. I told him that I did not like the taste of the food! [We were not used to taking food outside home then!] He took me to the hotel next door and at that time, only some sweet  -jangiri- was available. He got me that!

But he also taught me a lesson. Those days, I would collect empty cigarette cartons and make some toys out of them- out of six or eight,, I would make so called bird cage! So, in that meeting too I had found some empty cartons and kept them in my shirt pocket. Udayar noticed them, and simply told me that they were not good. They were thrown away by someone as not wanted. Why should I pick them up - was I a beggar? So, he took out the cartons and threw them aside! What an effective lesson at that age!

A group photo was taken on the occasion, and I was also standing at one end. But the photographer whitened the place I was standing! Udayar was sitting in the middle. We had the photo hung on the wall for many years.

My next encounter was at the entrance test to high school. We boys sat under the huge tamarind tree and wrote the test. After a week, the results were announced. The meeting was again under the tree. We were then accompanied by parents. Udayar came to announce the results himself. The test was in Tamil and Maths. He first read the names of boys who passed both subjects. My name was not there! Then he explained that all boys could not do well in all subjects.Some were good in maths, and some in languages. So he said he had selected boys who were good in either. He then read the names of boys who had passed in Maths and who were selected. My name was not there in that list either! Finally he read the names of boys who had passed in Tamil and who were selected. And I made it to the list! To this day I feel grateful to this great man!

 We now know about right brain and left brain and that people could be good in different subjects.We now also have theories of Multiple Intelligences. But for a Headmaster to realise this 65 years ago and act on that was nothing short of extraordinary! What a great teacher he was! See how we still blindly force the children  to excel in all subjects!

My next contact with him was when the Sanskrit pandit complained about my mischief. Those days such things would be viewed seriously. Somehow, he  let me off! I always bow to the memory of this great Sadashiva Udayar!

V.S.Srinivasa Sastri- one of our great teachers, much misunderstood in his time. He differed from Gandhi and today, he is more right than Gandhi!

Kreeda Rama Raju: Teacher Extraordinary. He was our Class Teacher in I and II Forms. He taught us English and took pains to teach grammar through special classes on Sundays. He also taught us morals. He would speak for about half an hour and then dictate an essay. I still remember one essay he dictated on 'Love'. He explained that the respect we felt for parents,elders and teachers,(resulting in obedience) affection we  had for our siblings (resulting in attachment), devotion we felt for God (resulting in fear and sraddha), the kindness we showed the poor people and beggars (resulting in charity), and the kindness shown to animals- were all manifestations of the idea of 'Love'! He said the Love that God bore for us was called Grace [அருள்  in Tamil] and that it was for no particular reason! What a great lesson for 10-12 yearolds! 

The grammar book our teachers swore by- as it appeared then!

This great teacher was night-blind and could read even during the day only by keeping the paper very close to his eyes. So, he would ask some of us to assist him in evaluating the answer books. He would tell us the answer, and we would check and tick the sheets!

He was slow to anger. The surest thing to provoke him was when someone said he "forgot" to do the assignment or homework. He would then catch the boy by his cheek and ask him: You dog, did you forget to eat? Did you forget to sleep? Did you forget to play? Did you forget to roam the streets? You dog, only this you forgot? [ "ஏன் நாயி, சாப்பிட மறந்தியா? தூங்க மறந்தியா?  நாயி,  கோலியாட மறந்தியா, நாயி ஊர் சுத்த மறந்தியா? நாயி இது மட்டும் எப்படி மறந்துபோச்சு?"] He would utter 'dog' at least half a dozen times!  He would never use any other word to scold. But he was so kind overall!

 I used to call on him for many years, even after finishing college. One year, I found his residence altered and he had shifted, I could not trace him then. When I think of 'Guru'. I remember Kreeda Rama Raju as the Vidya guru.

Thirumalaiswamy Naidu : Very nice teacher. He had a peculiar gait while walking, and a particular way of holding one side of the dhoti when he walked. He taught us social studies and in that guise told us lot of general things. Once I asked him about the letters GMC found as logo in some buses and trucks. He told us about the General Motors Corporation. He explained about the internal-combustion engine and how it differed from the steam locomotive. He told us about automobiles and he taught us the correct pronunciation of the word "Chevrolet". All due to one query!

Chevrolet Spark car now sold in India!

He gave us lot of extra-curricular things to do. Once he asked a potter to bring some clay globes, and made us stencil the world map from the Atlas and cut out the outline and fix it to the globe, showing how the world was like a globe! He then made us colour it! He lived near our house and I continued to see him long. My early interest in cars was kindled by this teacher.

R.S.Krishnamurthi Iyer (RSK): Maths teacher- hence much feared, and no one would  go near him!  He would catch students by the ear and would give them a slap if he found them inattentive! After school hours, he would be on his rounds on his bicycle. If he found any boy in any odd place, or found any playing after sun set, he would promptly inform the parents. Once he found a friend Umamaheswaran practising pole vault just a week before the examinations. He went to his house and informed his parents and said that it was risky to play such games before the examination. What would happen if there was an injury? True enough, this fellow  fell down the next day and injured his elbow. It happened to be the left one, so he could write the exam with the right hand! They were our family friends and this event was discussed for many days thereafter. The funny thing was, there were elders who said that it was the tongue of RSK which resulted in this!

D.Timotheus : Very jovial teacher. Would tell us lot of things not connected with the lessons- including how to make jam out of Jambu fruit, when it was available in plenty in season! He had a bicycle with gears which was a star attraction. He practised homeopathy outside school hours. It was said that he was a Komutti Chettiar converted to Christianity. He would often tell us jokes in Telugu! He would make fun of some Hindu deities, but since he generally joked, no one would take him seriously!

Ezhilnilavanaar:  எழில்நிலவனார் A very curious case. He was a Tamil teacher. He was a Brahmin, and his name was Ramachandran. He belonged to Chinnasalem, from which came one of our relatives. He was attracted to the Dravidian movement of E.V.Ramasamy Naicker. He renounced his Brahminical name and discarded his sacred thread and took the name 'Ezhil Nilavanaar' which means 'the beautiful moon' - indeed this could be considered to be a pure Tamil rendering of the name Rama-Chandran! He would talk openly against religion and about many things like birth control, abortion, etc in the class! I do not know how such things were permitted. But he was a decent person with clean habits. Years later, he became a follower of Satya Sai Baba and would conduct bhajans on Thursdays!

Atmanatham Pillai: Tamil pundit, from Tanjore. Devout Shaivite and scholar. His classes would be jovial. He would tell us many jokes about his district and its people.  He would relate how the prominent Shaivites of the place would gather occasionally with all pomp for a complete recital of Tiruvachakam, the masterpiece of Saint Manickavachaka. It would begin in earnest, but as it progressed some would feel hungry and impatient. Excellent arrangements would have been made for special cooking, and the aroma of the food would be wafting through the hall where the recital would go on. This would be too much for the hungry souls, and they would improvise a line or two and would recite them in an undertone. One sample was:

திருவாசகம் இங்கு ஒருகால் ஓதின்
வேகாச் சோறும் வெந்துவிடும் !
[If Tiruvachakam is recited here once, even the food which takes long to cook, would get cooked in no time!]

Tiruvachakam recital in progress in Chidambaram.
From: Dinamami.com.

Pillai would cut numerous jokes like this, but he was a serious scholar and when in mood would recite hundreds of lines from the Saivite scriptures. 

His only word to scold boys would be to call them "உலக்கை"  ie wooden rice pounder or pestle! It would amuse us no end, because of the way he would utter the word!

Sivaprakasam Mudaliar: Another great Saivite, humble teacher. We would visit his house occasionally to render any service we could. He would teach us Tevaram verses in the appropriate tune. 

Ganesam Pillai: Tamil teacher, very jovial and friendly with boys. His moral classes  under the tree would be full of songs, jokes and games. Those days there used to be tiny Tamil story books for boys, each costing about half an anna or one anna. If he found one with a boy, Pillai would make that boy stand up on a chair and read the story. In that way, many of us overcame our shyness in public and became proficient in reading. A word or phrase from a story would become a joke till the next class.

In one story, a girl is shown as hailing a boy, whose name she did not know as "O, You" - ஏய், இவனே  in Tamil! Till the next story was read, this poor boy who had read the story was called by every one- including Mr.Pillai- as  ஏய் இவனே!  It was all in the game!

Chinnaraju: He was also a Tamil Pundit, but he was reserved and did not mix with people. His classes would be strictly formal. He had a daughter who  was said to be a child prodigy who could recite all the verses of Tirukkural from memory. So she was a permanent fixture in all school functions. But she continued to be a child all through our school years, and this prodigy could not progress beyond what we heard year after year!

Krishnamurthi: He was our craft teacher- he taught us carpentry. We had a huge crafts hall, surprisingly for those years. Our major assignment was to make a round ruler out of a 1x1" square wooden  rod,15" long, using only the file and sand paper! But we did make nice ones! We were  not allowed to touch the sharper tools, except under the immediate supervision of the master, one at a time.

D.R.Manickam: Our drawing master. He taught us pencil drawing. We learned to draw a table,bench and stool. We also were taught to draw a couple of birds- the swan and the peacock, and also the elephant.

Line drawing of a swan. From Youtube.

Karl Arulmurthi: Our sports teacher. Our school had huge play grounds, with enough of equipment for the games of those days: football, volleyball, ball-badminton. hockey, tennicoit, etc, Kabaddi- then called 'Chadugudu' was also popular, especially among the rural boys. He was the only PT master so he could pay attention only to the top players in each category. Somehow, I had no interest in sports, but would assist the master on general errands during the sports hour.

PT exercises- Sainik School, Bijapur.

Ramanujam (Iyengar): He was there for only one year as our maths teacher, but he removed my fear of maths! He found out that I was weak in maths, and rather feared it. So he made me the 'monitor' in the class- every question he would ask me first! But he also explained: maths was a beautiful subject; they did not ask anything for which they did not give the clue! The question itself contained the answer, if we knew how to understand it! So, in the 9th standard, he set about making me shed my fear of maths! Alas, he was transferred the very next year!

But I had a lasting legacy from him. Once when I visited his house, I found him pruning the jasmine creeper, and quite a heap  was lying outside. I slowly cleared them. And brought some stems home and planted them. They took root and up to 1994  ie for more than 40 years ,when we disposed of our own house and shifted, it was with us!

This variety of jasmine was called Ramabhaanam and it had long stem, with 6  or 7 petals. It would open up late in the evening. By early morning, small bees would be sucking the honey! I had found out a method to nurse and nourish them. We should prune the leaves  at the onset of winter and use the mature leaves as manure! We should crush them and bury near the root of the plant! The creeper would reach great heights, and could be made to branch off in different directions! So long as we had the creeper, we had enough fragrant flowers for the pujas at home! By the beginning of February , profuse new shoots would come! It was said that the fragrance would attract cobras, but only once did we see one!

M.Nagarajan: Very soft-spoken, gentle teacher of social studies and history. Would explain things slowly, patiently, asking each student whether he understood! Later, he left the profession, and joined the GCIM medical course. He qualified as a doctor and became a very popular physician in town!

D.K.Ramanathan Chettiar: Very colourful teacher of English! My love of language and literature is due to this man! He would take up the book to teach. He would get stuck at one sentence or even word. He would lay aside the book and explore in how many other ways that thought or idea could be expressed, and would write not less than 10 sentences! For a word too, he would give many equivalents, while saying that they were not really equivalents, but only approximations! He would quote from many authors! 

However, he did not care to clear the BT examination which was a requirement for regular teachers. So, he was discharged at the end of the academic year, and hired at the beginning of the next! I do not know how long this continued! What a foolish system we have of making a paper degree determine teaching competence! Pure bullshit!

He was from one of the richest local families and lived in a huge two storey  house. His son Ponnuswamy was my classmate. He had a room all by himself.So I would visit his house  to study with him. My job would be to compile an essay, taking material from two or three books available. We would then fair copy, study it and examine each other! The father would never interfere.

When TMB trucks were first introduced, he bought one and hired it but lost money on the project. I think in the family partition, he lost the house too. I was in touch with him for many years and used to visit him in his modest house later. I always felt for this good man.

The first Tata Mercedes Benz truck rolls out!

D.P.Mannappan : Very good  teacher of social studies. He covered History, Political science,civics, economics,geography. Though the medium was Tamil,he would often give the English words. He would make us read the newspaper and relate the important items in the class. He would tell us about important contemporary world events. We had a small portion covering economics but his way of teaching the subject made me like the subject and I chose it as my main subject in college.

K.V.Rajagopalan (KVR) : Hailed from Rasipuram- yes, the place of R.K.Narayan! Very nice teacher of English and Maths. He asked me to attend his tuition class for free, just for the fun of it. He corrected the way I was writing some English letters. For instance, 'T' I used to write as 'J' so that when I meant Tybalt (from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a portion of which- speech by Friar Lawrence- we had to study), it read like Jybalt! In such small measures, he made me seek correctness, if not perfection. He also strengthened my confidence in maths to such an extent, I got the maximum marks in it in SSLC! Somehow we liked him and he liked us! So we tried to be of some service to him. When his wife came after delivery with the child (called Murali) my cousin and I had cleaned up the house and decorated it in the traditional manner!

He had studied in Madras Christian College. He used to tell me about its great atmosphere, traditions, its great teachers. So I had made up my mind to study only there, if I joined college!   My uncle took me there and we should say, it was the best campus in Madras, with beautiful buildings and so much of greenery around! But my uncle felt that the atmosphere was too open and free- with coeducation! I do not know what he felt, but it appeared to be beyond our means then! So we settled for a smaller college, nearer home. More than me, KVR was disappointed!

A view of Madras Christian College, so dear to KVR! 60 years ago, it was so full of greenery!

It has always been my habit to keep all the books I studied or read. But KVR enquired of the subjects I studied for the PU class and took the English and Logic books! To him I could not refuse! The logic book was by one Capt.Asirvatham and it was so nice- I liked it immensely! It had such a flow of language, I had not read in any other book by an Indian author! I could not get a copy of that book again!

[It seems this book had a story or history behind it. I met its author Capt. Asirvatham later in St.Joseph's College, Trichy. I  asked him how he happened to write that beautiful book. He told me plainly how it was written! His philosophy teacher had been one Srinivasa Sarma. Through him, Asirvatham got to evaluate answer books of BA philosophy candidates for some years.(Logic was part of philosophy then) He found that some of the students had studied the subject so well, and from such authorities that he was stunned by the quality of the answers! So he took down their answers and when he got a chance, utilised them in his book! Well! Asirvatham was so open ! Some might remember that DR.Radhakrishnan was accused of having taken material from someone's thesis papers, for his book on Indian Philosophy and there was even a court case. It was eventually settled out of court!]

KVR is one of the major influences in my life. On the day of the Sputnik, we were in his house and he was explaining things! He inspired me in many ways. His very presence was inspiring! I am so grateful!

Narayanaswamy Iyer: He was an old veteran, having  retired many years before. But he was considered a "tiger" in maths and English .And every Headmaster believed that his mere presence lent dignity to the school and spelt luck to students. So he was called every year to handle Maths and English for the SSLC students. In my time, he only taught us the Non-detailed text in English. The book was Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. What we studied was not the original, but an adaptation by one Tarakan. Iyer read the whole book in the class, line by line, word by word!  His tone, his explanations, his gestures etc made very great impression on us! [ We learned what 'victuals' meant from him, and the prounciation!] It was a sort of mono-acting- his voice/tone varying with the character. This story is narrated in the first person, and Iyer's reading made it so endearing!  Dickens became one of my favourite authors for life! Even now, the picture of the old Iyer, then past 70, reclining in his chair and reading the book comes before me often! Unforgettable experience.

Location where the events of  Great Expectations take place!

Seshadri Iyer : He taught English and other subjects in the lower forms. One had to be very attentive- he would hardly raise his voice! He would ask some of us to assist him in marking answer sheets. He  lived in a small house with a huge compound. On one corner of it was a peepal tree with a Ganesha vigraha underneath! On our way to school or return, we would invariably bow to it, but we would be afraid to enter the compound. They had no children, and it was said that he had undertaken many austerities  for the sake of a child. I think he adopted a boy later.He was a pious person, and would be a permanent fixture in all religious discourses, sitting in the front row and taking copious notes ! From this I got the idea that I should take notes of all important talks and lectures that I attended!

T.S.Somasundaram: We called him "Somu Vadhyar". He was our science teacher. He was very good. Though the medium of instruction was Tamil, he would often give the technical terms in English. It became very helpful when we entered college, where the medium was English. Besides, he would make us learn some important concepts in English by heart. One such sentence that I still remember: " High frequency alternating current in a wire sends out radio waves in the surrounding space"!

He was a strict teacher. Before beginning the class, he would ask questions on the previous day's work. Those who could not answer would be made to stand in a line, extend their hand and he would strike them on the palm, with a thin cane! He won't strike hard, but it won't be a feather touch either! But some hands would be shaking as he neared the boy; he would then look at the boy, smile and just say something like " rascal, study well", and move on! It was a belief among us that if we were once "blessed" by his cane, our luck would turn for the better!

V.R.Rajagopal Naidu: Headmaster in the last 2-3 years. Strict man, but he had special regard for the SSLC students. He ensured that the portions were completed in time and that we had enough exercises in revision. After December, he became concerned about our health. He arranged with some organisation to supply the SSLC boys and girls a glass of hot milk daily during school hours! He would come to the class and enquire of each one of us whether we had received milk, whether it was good and we liked it. Considering that most students came from poor and lower middle class,this was a great gesture! Well, a hundred good teachers may come and go, but a kind one like Rajagopal Naidu, who goes that extra mile unasked, would never go away from our hearts! 

Well, these are the teachers I remember and respect most. Some may feel like asking, 'if they are your teachers, so what? why should we bother about them?' True. What is Hecuba to us or we to Hecuba that we should weep for her! Yet, teachers of those days shared certain characteristics, like all professions do to this day, and it may remind others of their own teachers.

  I went to the North on employment ,and remained there for 30 odd years,  I lost touch with most of the teachers. The school had also become a govt school and the teachers transferred. I could not trace them. I had always felt this- I could not meet and honour them later, as I had wished! By writing this, I have at least unburdened myself now. All the names and events I have mentioned are true. If any of the relatives of the teachers or teachers happen to read this, they may at least know that there is someone who  has remembered them through all these years!

The school itself  has been relocated.. The old atmosphere is gone. The old culture is dead. Yet these teachers and the memories associated with them linger in the mind. 

I cannot do better than quote the lines of Oliver Goldsmith on the village schoolmaster [from The Deserted Village]:







The Village Schoolmaster


Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way,
With blossom'd furze unprofitably gay,
There, in his noisy mansion, skill'd to rule,
The village master taught his little school;
A man severe he was, and stern to view;
I knew him well and every truant knew;
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laugh'd, with counterfeited glee,
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd;
Yet he was kind; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault;
The village all declar'd how much he knew;
'Twas certain he could write, and cypher too;
Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,
And e'en the story ran that he could gauge.
In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thund'ring sound
Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around,
And still they gaz'd  and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.

But past is all his fame. The very spot
Where many a time he triumph'd, is forgot.

[Lines 193-218]

NOTE:

I have not been able to get photos of any of the above teachers. I

have tried to give pictures of things associated with them!