Teachers

Thatha, Avva, Devaki Teacher, Indra teacher, Nagalakshmi teacher, Rukmini teacher, Muthu Krishnan Sir, Srinivasan Sir, Mari Teacher - my teachers in Ramakrishna School, Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu.

How can I call my grand parents as my teachers? Why not? I was with my parents only till the age of 3 from birth. Then I was sent along with my elder sister to my grand parents home at Sivaganga.

Let me give a brief profile of each one of my teachers.

Thatha ....

My grand father was the founder, patron and President of Ramakrishna School. He was a great admirer of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda and Sharada Devi. He used to close his eyes and say "now I am in Dakshineswar - I am with Ramakrishna - worshipping Kali - worshipping Him " - though he lived 96 years, he never went physically to Kolkatta. He would do manaseeka darsanam of people and deities that he wanted to visit. There was a lesson in it for all of us. One can aspire but never despair - find fulfillment in simpler ways in stead of sweating over things which are beyond financial and physical reach! The farthest he travelled was to Mumbai. But his real world crossed all oceans, forests and mountains. He was a master of geography, history, philosophy, English and Sanskrit. He liked Tamil to a limited extent only. His appreciation of Tamil would be limited to Alwar Pasuram and Thirupavai only.

He had a disciplined life-style, but with a little weakness for Thayirvadai! His day would start around 5 am - he will be sitting on his cot with the mosquitoe net covering him on all four sides - he would start calling each one of us - his 5 grand children who lived with him under his roof - one by one - starting with my name - as I used to respond immediately, without any delay! We would brush - do not imagine tooth brush and paste - brushing means cleaning the mouth with Karippodi ( powder made at home using paddy husk with some medicinal herbs and salt -roasted and powdered to a fine state, which looks black and hence the name "Karu/i podi") using our index finger as the brush. A quick wash of the face with plain water would make us feel fresh. We would assemble near his cot. He will say one line of a shlokam which we would repeat twice. This would go on for at least 30 minutes. The shlokam for each day would be something that is connected to the God of the day. For example, on Monday it will be all on Lord Shiva. On Wednesday, it is Krishna, Thursday would be Dakshinamoorthy and Friday will have all Devi Shlokams. The routine will have some sort of mix and match - adding Geeta chapters during summer vacations.

We would see him doing his Sandhya Vandanam in the morning around 6.30 am. He will go with a small basket to our garden and collect Mayil Kondrai flowers. This flower blooms in the bush which does not require too much water. One single bush / plant used to give a good quantity of flowers every day. The image of the flower is at the top of this post ( donot know how to put it next to this :-(

He would do abhishekam to the Santhana Lingam - which is passed on to him from his father - who received it from his father - reciting Rudram, Namaka, Chamakam etc. - One big vessel of Mahanaivedyam (cooked rice) will be offered as Naivedyam, ending the pooja with Deepa Aradhana. Abhisheka water would be sprinkled on us and we would think that we will study well if that water falls on our head. All we knew then was that we should study well - how, why, what for - no thoughts like that - study well - that is it! Be all and end all of our goal would be studying well. Retrospectively I feel that it was not a bad idea - after all, what anyone can get without studies that too, in a middle class family? Yes, our studies liberated all of us - Study did not necessarily mean school studies - we will find all sorts of books all over our house -it is up to us to pick anything and read. I remember reading a book called Black Tulips by Alexander Dumas - it had been a non-detailed prose for study as part of undergraduate syllabus for my aunt in Rajah's College. She had done her bachelors in Mathematics. This book attracted my attention from the huge collection of books the house held in its various rooms. I do not know whether it was the size of the book or the title attracted me. I remember reading and rereading it till I had tears in my eyes for Cornelius! As I was in a Tamil Medium school, having English as one of the subjects and not as medium of study, I had to spend a good number of days reading it page by page. But I did complete it and found it interesting and absorbing - I read it fully though I never understood every word of it. That was the atmosphere he created for us children - to be enthusiastic about reading.

I think we learnt some basic Mathematics and some Tamil and very little English from I to V standard. Some bit of Science - like how rain comes, thunder, lightning etc. - something on plants, Sun, Moon etc. Tamil was taught through stories and poems. I am yet to see another grandfather giving dictation to make his grandchildren learn English. Nothing was "for the exam"or "for the syllabus "or "for the school portion". He will just think of some words and make us write. I could never spell LEAVES correctly. Every day I will write it as LEAFS. He will not give the correct spelling, but make me find out for myself and correct it in my own time. He was a great teacher with lots of patience - his method was to make us curious and involved. He will just show the direction and it is up to us to pick up!

We had a small patch of garden where his room was in the middle of it. One look from his window will make him understand that the garden needs attention. He will announce a scheme! Verudan Aimbadhu!! Bring 50 weeds with their roots in tact for a reward of one full mithai - the sweet lemon/orange hard candy! More 50s would get us more candies... I will go feverishly plucking / pulling the weeds with all my strength ( I was just 7 / 8 or maximum 10 then) to earn those candies. Some cousins would leave at 10 or 20 and say "what is there in that silly candy? I do not care for it"and run away... I will not give up. It was tough - pulling the weed from the ground with its roots in tact ( that is the sure way to remove it permenently) from the dry parched ground - yes, hardwork is hard while performing, but the result is always sweet! Yes, Thatha, I have learnt this lesson from you - how do you think I was successful as a Bank officer, as an entrepreneur managing 100 people under me? Without your lesson on Verudan Ayimbadhu, I might have given up on hard work and not had strength to fight it out wherever necessary! Thank you! The lemon and orange candies are sweeter even now! I can feel it in my tongue even now! Thank you Thatha! I am lucky to have you in my life, at the right age, as my grand father. You are my first Guru!

He made me read Ramakrishna's sayings again and again - in the guise of reading for HIM - not for me - I did not know it then - I thought I am reading it for him, as he wants to read them, but has poor eye-sight! I know now that he knew all that by heart and he made me read them for my own sake!

He walked with me to temple every evening narrating his experience as Secretary of the Co-operative Fund that they were running in our little town! He told me how power corrupts! He used to quote Telugu Padhyalu to teach morals! He used to write pages and pages every day. He has hand-written all shlokas, padhyam, life-history of Sankaracharya - such things - so many times - for each one of his children and grandchildren. He will paste small little pictures at the end of each shloka - he will use cooked rice as gum! I have seen him write (without using spectacles) till the age of 75 + He used to read till the age of 85+ He spoke to me till he turned 90+... I moved away to Secunderabad as Trainee officer with Syndicate Bank when I was 22 and he was 90+... the last sentence that he spoke to me was "wish you all success".... I will succeed in my endeavours with your blessings Thatha! Your last sentence is a reminder for me never to give up... to keep going........

Avva....