Something Saturday : To all the teachers who made an impact in my life - Happy Teacher's Day

This Teacher's Day I am back at school. And thinking back about all the teachers who have taught me so far seemed like a swell idea!

Teachers through my life can be classified as - good, interesting, monotonous, scary, lovable or downright weird. And I guess this is the case for almost all of us. Every teacher has had the unique mannerism, the funny accent, the look, the voice. From a teacher who used to say 'got it' that sounded like 'adee' at the end of every sentence, to one that used the article 'the' ahead of every word in a sentence. Then there was one who used to say Sec A, Sec B, Secant C to a bunch of imbecile adolescents. And then a favorite English teacher who warned us on day 1 that 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and so if any one of us were to annoy her, she'd come down on us like a ton of bricks! Needless to say that this lady was by and far the only one who could control a bunch of unruly 100 adolescents! Then again, the history teacher who used to teach history like a story and we used to dupe her into making her explain a lesson she's already covered twice over. I bet she knew we were duping her, but sweet lady that she was, she'd go on with the story. And then the math teacher who'd go to any extent to ensure we understood the profound subject, and the geography teacher in class 4 who actually brought samples of pulses to show us in class while teaching 'what grains grow where'. Then the art teacher who was good enough to give Hussain a run for his money, but enjoyed teaching uninterested art amateurs instead. And then one teacher all of us loved as kids and actually competed to be 'her favorites'. And she always had 60 favorite children in the class.

Then we had the profs in grad school, who we remember more for the way they taught and conducted class, more than anything else. From one who used to say 'Actooly u see, it is up to vhee to decide what you wants to write', to one who used to say ' substitute 3 from 7 to get 4'. Then one who upon being told that her writing method prevented us from being able to see anything on the board, responded that we would see better if we kept quiet. Then there was the one prof who after having had ' Happy Birthday to you' sung to her every day of the term gave up on us and ended up listening to the song and accepting the wishes everyday!

I could go on and on recollecting memories of every one of my teachers. But more than the memories, these are the people who are responsible for shaping my interests. Be it my profs at B school who introduced me to Economics or Marketing or my profs in high school who spurred an interest in the Benzene ring that sent me off to be a chem engineer! Or even my superiors at work who taught me everything from people management to technology to crisis management. I have only all of them to thank for making me who I am today. So, to all the teachers who made an impact in my life - Happy Teacher's Day.