A tribute to my teachers - Part 1

Last night as I strolled back to my home from office after another of those tiring days, suddenly black and white thoughts flashed through my mind, my yesteryear, my school days and once again I was engulfed by nostalgia. I remembered my school, my good old friends and yes, my teachers. Then and there I decided that, although I do not have touch with any of them, I would show my gratitude, my respect towards them through the only medium I love so much, my blog.

Mr Manas Ghosh:
My school mates would recall, he was our history teacher - a man known for his simplicity and cool attitude. And he had profound knowledge in the subject he taught. One incident which I would like to recall here. It was class 8 and I had bought a new Hindi grammar book and taken it to school the first day. Those days, the book was not available everywhere and so, there was a crises. And as it occurred, we had one of those 'Games periods' when we all went out to chill ourselves out and when we returned, everything was there as before, only my book was missing. After so many years, I would not go into who did it or why, but as a fact, I never got my book back. I remember this gentleman, Mr Ghosh was our class teacher then and when I told him that "My dad would be very angry and would not buy me another copy", he looked at me for few seconds, but did not say anything. The next day, he called me up and handed me a photocopy of the book and said, "Study well." It dawned on me that he had taken the pain to get the whole book photocopied on his own and he did think of me and what trouble I would have to go through.
Hat's off to him! Today, I know, he is no longer associated with our school. In fact, I may not have the opportunity to meet him again in person, but I shall remember the incident forever. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much!

Mr Debabrata Chowdhury:
I have never seen a more popular teacher than him. He taught us art and craft. And being a graduate from the esteemed Government Art College, Kolkata he was and is a master at it. Whatever little I learned regarding painting was from him ( and from another person about whom I shall write later). I remember an incident (again from class 8). There was an all India Arts competition being held in Delhi and I was one of the lucky 6 selected to represent our school. But there was a huge discomfort at home, primarily because I had never travelled out before and that too without my parents, with only one teacher to accompany and 5 other young chaps. And yes, I was the youngest of the lot. As I told him about it, he asked me my address and wrote it down. The next day, he gave a surprise visit to my home and conveyed to my parents his wish. Ultimately mom and dad were convinced and let me go. The trip was a really enjoyable, although we failed to make a mark at the competition. After that, there have been numerous occasions when he guided me and helped me crack various competitions with ease. My only regret is, probably he had wished me to go to the Arts college, but as destiny would have it, I opted 'Engineering'! But, sir, I shall remember you.

Mrs Soma Majumdar:
She was our English teacher and I knew her right from class 1, till 12. And forever, she would scold us in the same way, "Shame on you!" A motherly figure for me. I remember having been a victim of partiality in school on numerous occasions. This was in class 2. Once during a history test, I had forgotten to take my "Class test" copy. Instead I wrote the test on a loose sheet provided by one of my friends. I wrote the test very well, only to find out that although I had actually secured a 23.5 out of 25, it had got reduced to 13.5 only because I had not taken the copy. These days, I laugh about it. But, then, in class 2, I had cried my hearts out. Soma ma'am was my class teacher then and when she got to know the reason, she promised me,"Don't cry. I would talk to her." Eventually the marks had to be increased, although I was not exactly the blue-eyed boy of the 'concerned' teacher. As you would understand, poking nose in others' affairs is not taken very kindly anywhere. But she did it for me. And ma'am, I am still grateful for that. And I am also grateful for another of those famous names that you gifted me later, when I was in class 12, "The Volcano".