What would become of us if we had no teachers to guide us? We would be almost apes in terms of knowledge. Education is not everything, but it polishes us and makes us civilized and intellectual.
To celebrate these individuals who have shaped us, India observes Teacher’s day on September 5. The day marks the birthday of the country’s former President, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was born on this day in 1888.
On this occasion, we came across a thread in Quora in which people shared their best teacher-student moments. Below are 5 of our top picks.
Memories of Senthil sir
“In my upper kindergarten, my maths teacher one day asked everyone “what do you want to become? “ Everyone came up with some answers. When it was my turn, I literally had no answer to it. I plainly said, ”I don’t know” which made everyone laugh and left the teacher in shock. She tried her best to get some answers out of me but I didn’t say anything. She asked me to meet me in the staff room during lunch break. There she asked me to have a goal. She gave me examples but nothing helped. Here I introduce the teacher who is a nightmare for students by the looks and used carry a huge stick in his hand. So this man was listening to all the talk between my mam and me. Later he found me roaming in school and called me. With great fear, I approached him. Astonishingly, he was very gentle in reality. He talked about what mam told me in the staff room. He understood me very well and said, “It’s okay, you don’t have to answer it for the purpose of pleasing somebody. You shall find it out as you grow. Don’t get stressed. Go on and play.” Soon we became great friends and used to share chocolates as well. He was a father figure to me. Thank you for being there Senthil sir!” – a response by Quora user, Prashanti Raghunandan.
Topping physics paper
“When I was in 11th standard, one day our physics teacher told us he is going to make the toughest paper and the one who is able to score even 30+ marks out of 40 would surprise him. He further added that only his son was able to score 35+ in his paper. And the one line which he said, “not even a single girl has scored 30+ marks” in his test paper made me take it up as a challenge to prove that girls too can score good marks in physics. Fortunately, with my hard work, I scored 37.5 marks out of 40. The moment he announced I am the first girl to score that many marks in his paper in his career felt like I have achieved everything in my life. I know this is not a big achievement but after this moment I studied physics with more interest and my sir helped us to visualize the problem and made our concepts strong. Unfortunately, he got transferred to a different class and a new teacher started teaching us. But few students in my class still followed his way of teaching. I really miss those days. I would love to go back to the same class and learn physics from sir.” – Madhu, B.TECH CSE from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University For Women.
Surprise Birthday Party
“It was 11th grade when we had planned to surprise our physics teacher on his birthday. We made all the arrangements the previous day. It was a residential school so getting access to the outside world is usually difficult. We managed to jump out of the school or hostel compound and get cake and some other things essential for his birthday. The next day before morning assembly we all wished him. He was a bit shocked and asked, “How do you know it’s my birthday?” We had no answer to that question though! After morning assembly he stepped into our class. All the students stood up from seats and sang “Happy Birthday Song”. He was hiding his joy and said “Thank you so much”. We never saw him that happy in the classroom, ever! Here is a photo of him on that day (The date’s wrong). He was reading the greeting which was made by my friend. His name is Reddappa Kumar G, PGT Physics. Currently, he is Vice Principal at JNV Shimoga.” – Uday T, Bengaluru
Love for chemistry
“Back in the year 2014, I was in my class 11th. The chemistry class was going on. It was taken by one of the best chemistry teachers in our school. He was a passionate teacher and used to share some facts from around the world at the end of the class. That day, he was talking about an article he read which deals with the way the government of some country ( I could not recall it ) poached rhinoceroses to procure their‘ horn for medicinal use. He told that a team of scientists injects poison in the horn, making it useless for further medicinal use. I am usually an introvert but that day I somehow stood up and politely asked him,“ Sir, if the injected poison is so lethal, it may also prove fatal for the rhinos if they injure each other using their horns in a battle.” I do not know if my question was logically sound or not but my teacher liked my ability to think out of the box and produce a counter-argument. I was afraid that he might scold me but instead, he appreciated me. After this incident, he started considering me one of his favorite students and always motivated me to study. Soon chemistry became my favorite subject. In all the competitive exams I have appeared so far, I scored highest in chemistry. I was lucky to have a teacher like him.” – Priyanshu Singh, B.Tech Information Technology, National Institute of Technology, Raipur (2021).
A lesson to learn
“I ran into my school teacher 25 years after school. Since she was receiving a low salary, I sympathized with her. Yet what she replied made me speechless. She said: “Money is not everything. You have met me 25 years after I taught you. I don’t even remember you. Yet you could not pass me without greeting me and offering your respects. Tomorrow you may become a celebrity still you cannot pass me without greeting me. That is the respect I have earned from my students. My teaching is my investment which will continue to earn interest so long as I live. That means a lot more to me than a heavy pay packet.” – Vincent Van Ross.
Don’t we all owe so much to our teachers? What was your best teacher-student moment? Do share it with us.