she was young, pretty, warm and my first crush in junior school. and probably for many others too. in the morning assembly at school when we were all 'thanking god for his glory', a few of us sneaked in little thanks too for our biology teacher "mrs flory" :-) there are many other teachers from those days at st xaviers that come to mind. some for their gentle beauty, others for their strict discipline - and almost all for the strong foundations they laid in our lives - both in the subjects they taught, and as future adults. that some of us have steadfastly resisted that latter tag is of course another story :-) and then there were the padres, they of much gravitas and the "pink" and "grey" cards- how much we feared an "invitation" to their offices! they did create some great institutions of learning, the jesuits.
i have already talked about my mother and father before. what i may not have mentioned is what they taught me together - how strong and beautiful a relationship based on a mutual love and respect could be. how much they loved each other :-) and what a powerful positive example they set for us. the iit days are a blur of extra-curricular activities and studiously avoiding the chemical engineering department :-) but how can one forget prof amar of the chemical engg design class fame - quirky, infamously strict, and actually successful at making us learn! my fondest memories are of course of the teachers and classes outside the "department" - i especially remember prof vn arora and his class in english classics. read, discussed, and enjoyed many authors i may have never touched otherwise - thomas hardy and his "jude the obscure" being point in case. it was a "brave new world" that prof arora led us into. the good prof looked, loved, and felt like ernest hemingway - not a boring moment in that class! he later got passionate about something else - vipassana meditation - just an alien word for me those days, and whose beauty and wealth i understood only decades later :-) berkeley was a discovery in so many ways - including the joy with which some serious pedagogy can be delivered. there is an entire generation of american professors who has retired or is about to do so - and they represented the best of what the teaching profession has to offer. outstanding scholarship, terrific teaching, and a genuine caring and concern for their students. it was a privilege to be taught or mentored by some of them. I remember prof george akerlof, a nobel prize winner in economics - how simple he made the most demanding concepts look. what i remember even more is the friendliness and openness he and his wife janet yellen - another celebrated professor in economics - would greet shobhana and i some mornings at a cafe we all used to frequent. then there was prof daniel mcfadden another nobel prize winner in economics who upon winning the nobel prize announced his delight that he finally he had some money to invest on his farm! unforgettable characters, wonderful human beings, fundamentally humble, and so gentle and approachable. they taught me what true greatness was. as did my later mentors maresi and dean joe cerny teach me what it meant to care for your students. berkeley was also where i discovered the immense spiritual heritage that is the inheritance of all of us and re-discovered my indian roots. walked with kirtana into a yoga class "to deal with all that phd stress" and was never able to leave :-) i remember the first year when my teacher sent me home with book after book, till it was a veritable leaning tower of pisa and in desperation i actually picked up a book to read. bad move! its been fifteen years and i am still devouring the books :-) what a joy it was, in the arid world of academics, to discover the liberating clarity of a ramana maharishi, the joyous humour of papa ramdas, the love immersed hari kathas of sant keshavadas, the immense compassion of thich naht hahn, the earthy honesty of achan chah or the searing fire of a nisargadatta maharaj! these saints verily gave my meandering life a new meaning and joy and the debt i owe my yoga teacher - hari charan, he of jamaican origins and a great spiritual thirst - is incalculable too. and here at amrita we learn daily from the most mischievous and endearing of the teachers we have had - our students! almost anything i do well, i have met someone here who does it far better! and yet how much love and respect they have given us - far in excess of what we have deserved. some of the messages they left on teachers day yesterday were so touching, in some sense heart breaking - because they reminded me of the beauty of these simplest of gestures that i have never shown to my own teachers. there are some things i need to do this year, and their vital importance i have learnt only from these young loving teachers of ours :-) this weeks poetry is a double header again - the yin and yang of what teachers mean to students! lovely poems :-)
When You Thought I Wasn't Looking When you thought I wasn't looking, you displayed my first report, and I wanted to do another. When you thought I wasn't looking, you fed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals. When you thought I wasn't looking, you gave me a sticker, and I knew that things were special things. When you thought I wasn't looking, you put your arm around me, and I felt loved. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt--but that it's all right to cry. When you thought I wasn't looking, you smiled, and it made me want to look that pretty too. When you thought I wasn't looking, you cared, and I wanted to be everything I could be. When you thought I wasn't looking--I looked...and wanted to say thanks for all those things you did when you thought I wasn't looking. - Mary Rita Schilke Korzan Where do all the teachers go? Where do all the teachers go When its four o'clock? Do they live in houses And do they wash their socks? Do they wear pajamas? And do they watch TV? And do they pick their noses The same as you and me? Do they live with other people Have they mums and dads? And were they ever children And were they ever bad? Did they ever, never spell right Did they ever make mistakes? Were they punished in the corner If they pinched the chocolate flakes? Did they ever lose their hymn books Did they ever leave their greens? Did they ever scribble on the desktop Did they wear old dirty jeans? I'll follow one back home today I'll find out what they do Then I'll put it in a poem That they can read to you. - Peter Dixon
the teachers and their students! perhaps it is true that all our lives we live both roles. when i look at myself, i marvel at the distance i have yet to cover to be good at either! this road may be long but the spirit is strong and the love and blessings of so many are the winds behind our sails. you've been warned before, yet you asked for more, so welcome to yet another edition of those monday "morning" mails!
much love,
d&s |
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