Happy Teacher’s day everyone

The Teaching profession holds a highly respected position in contemporary society, as it did in the ancient civilizations. For sure, the ones in the noble teaching profession (the passionate ones I mean) demand complete admiration & respect. These are the ones who have given us an academic view, fostered an unfettered interest for a subject, inspired us to be someone whom we ourselves didn’t believe. In my view, these incredible folks that teach at schools & universities are not the only teachers around. We can find teachers everywhere, once we have the necessary willingness to learn. Right from our birth we bump into different kinds of “teachers”, few at home, few at school and others in general society at large. As I go back along the memory lanes of my younger self, I reflect on these wonderful individuals who taught me so many incredible things in life, that has shaped me into this one “lucky” person:

1. My paternal Grandmother: Without a shadow of doubt, the single most important person shaping my life was my paternal grandmother. Right from the time I gained some sense, she had constantly drilled into me the idea of education and knowledge is wealth. She always kept iterating that Education is the single most important thing in life, a magic wand that would completely transform your life for good. This “pursuit of knowledge” fire that she kindled while I was a kid still burns until today. Although uneducated herself, she had tremendous belief in the power of knowledge & drilled this “mantra” to all the kids that she could lay her hands on (figuratively speaking). Apart from this, she was also a role model for discipline, hard work, love for family and would love to impart these highly relevant life skills to everyone. This is to my first and greatest teacher of my life, I am what I am all because of you!
2. Family Members: My mother has worked very hard throughout her life. Once when I was in a conflict between work and urgent personal matter, she had the right advise for me “Your company will find someone to get your work done, don’t worry about the company. Take care of yourself first”. I have lived by this ever since. One of my aunt, who lives in Mumbai, used to come visit us in Mangalore once a year or so had this advise when she and her family had to leave and we were all very sad about their departure “There is arrival and there is departure, this is what life is, don’t fret about it”.
3. Our 8^th Standard Maths teacher: During the primary school, although I was a very studious kid doing good in most of the subjects, Maths was one of the subjects I disliked. And then I met Brother Roy, our 8^th standard Maths teacher, who showed how a teacher could possibly make a student fall in love with a subject that you almost hated. He had a unique style of teaching mathematics & I remember how the entire class would love to attend his class. In just a matter of one year, he built such an amazing foundation and tremendous love for mathematics that really set me sail over the rest of my life. Engineering is based on Mathematics. So, probably I owe my engineering degree to this wonderful teacher. Thank you, Brother Roy, for being one of the most amazing teachers that I was lucky to be studying under.
4. High School Drawing Teacher: If someone asked me what the most wonderful years of my life were, without any hesitation I would say my high school years. We had this thorough gentleman named George Sir who imparted drawing class for the entire high school. Kids would simply love the way he would teach us draw the different styles. I can still draw most of the styles he taught us. He would keep us entertained during the class with his jokes and share few life thoughts. I vividly remember him telling us one day in classroom: “8^th, 9^th and 10^th standard, these 3 years of high school are the golden years of your life, take a moment to appreciate it”. At the time, we didn’t give it much of a thought, but now as we reflect on the different chapters of our life, he was so right. Thanks a lot George sir for generating an interest in drawing and teaching us gratitude and how to appreciate life.
5. High School Science teacher: Our science teacher in high school was the highly talented Mr.B.D.Pai, notoriously known for his anger. His style of teaching science was unique & fascinating. Interestingly, he had also taught my uncles, so his experience in the science subject was undebatable. I can never forget his left-handed slap on my right cheek during a heated questionnaire session in class one day. He had put some chemical equation on the board and asked who could solve it, he started questioning one by one. With more and more pupils failing to answer, his anger grew that much. By the time, he came to me, his anger probably reached its peak, and when even I didn’t answer, he vented it out on me. He cursed me in Konkani (our mother tongue) and shouted that the only way for us to rise in life was to study. That slap, although having temporary physical effect on my cheek, imparted a long-lasting lesson: Always come prepared in life. Thank you Mr.B.D.Pai for your amazing teachings.
6. High School headmaster: According to me, on top of the subject matter expertise, two traits distinguish a “good” teacher from the “best”: Passion and Compassion. Brother Charles, our high school headmaster epitomized this. He passionately taught us Social studies, with history and geography soon becoming my interesting subjects. He was very compassionate soul who adored me, completely believed in me, pushed me to go beyond my limits.  Brother Charles gave his whole and soul into making the high school the best that it could ever be. I remember him taking me and 3 other students to a district level quiz competition, for better exposure. He would also sponsor good lunch, probably out of his own pocket. He gifted me books when he found out how fascinated I was with books. He ushered in new way of learning. As an example: He would divide the class in 4 teams, send us into the open playground. Each team had to make a map of India on the ground and highlight the geographies, for ex: Sand in desert area, leaves in forest area, etc. The team captain would then need to explain the geography to rest of the class, this was phenomenal experience. Thanks a lot, Brother Charles for your unique way of teaching and driving purpose into students’ life.
7. “Teacher” Colleagues at work: As I stepped into the professional world, I got quite intimidated. I joined D-Link as a freshman, and here I probably learnt so much technical and non-technical skills in a span of 2.5 years that would lay solid foundation for my professional life. The first golden advice I remember is from Aravindan, the General Manager at the time: “Don’t assume anything”. I have thoroughly used this advice to debug and resolve all kinds of weird problems then on. Bino, my friendly mentor who supported me during initial days reminded me “Don’t let your physical attributes define you”, sharing real life experiences, when he saw how inferior I felt due to my short stature. Amit Mandal, my manager at Kodiak networks, always advised “Don’t be a worrier, be a warrior”. Although I have been slow in taking in this advise completely, I have been trying hard to get there. Another colleague advised “Just read: You can pick anything, but just keep reading”. All these great teachings at work place were truly inspirational.
8. “Teacher” friends: One of my friends Devi Anand shared an interesting thought. His manager was not allowing him to take more leaves for his wedding, he just warned his boss “Sir, please remember that this is my 3^rd company, and it’s my first marriage, think about it”. His boss had no option but to agree to his demands. This taught me how to put your personal interest before professional one. During our residence in Shanghai, we met another wonderful teacher friend Sachin, always encouraging and inspiring us to become a better version of ourselves, giving gyaan (lessons) on finance and fitness, one of the quotes he uses from time to time is to “Be comfortable with the uncomfortable”. There are many more friends whom I am indebted to, for all the learnings over the years.

Please do go down the memory lane and enjoy the moment of gratitude for all those wonderful teachers in your lives. Wish everyone a very happy Teacher’s day.

P.S: In India, the teacher’s day is celebrated on Sept.5th, this marks the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice-President of India and India’s second President. Dr.Radhakrishnan was a philosopher, scholar and a politician and his dedicated work towards education made his birthday an important day in the history of India.