To Sir, with Love.

The role a teacher plays in life is one which can't be sufficiently explained in words. But what are bloggers for, if not to attempt to express the inexpressible, procure the non-procurable and measure the immeasurable? Here goes..

Anyone who hasn't had a teacher who changed their lives cannot empathize with this post. For now, let's forget that particular lot and focus on those who, like me, have become what they are, thanks to a teacher, at some point of time in their lives. The aforementioned Guru, who made such an impact on me, was DVN sir. He taught Maths, Physics and Chemistry. To the others, that is. To me, he taught far more than what anybody else has taught me-apart from parents- in life. The reason I learnt that much from him was probably because he didn't preach much. He simply practiced-and still does, I know. He commanded respect, never demanded it.

Beginning of 10th std, I was a girl who hardly cared to attend classes-bunked at every opportunity I got under some pretext or the other and a compulsory rebel. At the end of the year, I was quite something else. In school, rules were pretty strict. A mistake was a mistake, no matter what the reason. But with DVN, a mistake was ok. You had a second chance. He had asked us to get up at 5.00a.m everyday in 10th, and we had a student who lived opposite sir's house then, so Sir would come to class and say," Ivattu light on agirlilla, yaake?" The guy in question would come up with hilarious excuses, and laughter would eventually follow.But even after the laughs, the fact that Sir gets up at 5.00 a.m in the morning just like the rule given for us struck me, and stayed. His methods of teaching were different, and along with academics, he would speak about life in general, tell stories, keep us entertained, discipline us when required, everything so easily. Discipline is something he stressed on then, and after having a taste of how discipline changes you, I can't agree more. (Though I currently don't reach even 60% of the req discipline levels, that is not the matter of concern of this post). He made us keep a record of how we spent time, so we get a fair idea of how we were using our time. The best thing about him is the fact that he never, like never scolded anyone, he merely corrected our mistakes, and gave us time to change. Even during times when I'd screwed up, and screwed up big time, I remember pretty clearly that his reaction would be mild, and that would give me sufficient time to correct it, quite contrary to the reactions my teachers generally gave me. That was the reason. That was the difference. So here's a post dedicated, To Sir, with Love.