It's been quite a while since I wrote something about a person. So, I thought, why not make this post special and write not just about no less than three amazing people. These are people who made a difference in my life...spending time with them has shaped my mind in many ways. Today, by writing about them, I get to express what each of them taught me...
To be able to teach well is an incomparable gift. Exceptional teachers facilitate the expansion of their students consciousnesses. They makes their pupils integrate all kinds of knowledge into a wholesome constellation of thoughts about the world. By example, they demonstrate ethics and principles that last their students for entire lifetimes. I'm blessed to have had many such teachers in my life and today, I want to tell you about three individuals who shine most brightly in that group. In a way, this is also a sequel to the last post on Xavier's because all three of them have been professors who taught me during my undergraduate studies...interestingly, they are all Xavierites themselves! :)
***
M
A single-minded dedication to one's work and striving for consistently high standards is what I learnt from M. I studied all three of the papers she taught and what never ceased to amaze me was the sheer enthusiasm and passion with which she taught papers which are often clubbed in the more technical and dry sections of psychology. I can't speak for everyone else but that passion rubbed off on me...not just for those papers, but in general for any work that I undertake. Above all the theories, formulae and testing nuances that she imparted, what she taught me was to do my best to grasp all kinds of knowledge and form relations between them. If there was ever a stickler for quality as well as quantity, it was M. Without really over-emphasising it, she managed to make us try and write lengthy answers to her questions, with as many different points as possible. There were only one or two people who could develop the physical skill of writing those enormous answers in a given span of time, but what almost everyone learnt was the content of those answers, regardless of whether or they were written completely on the answer sheet. When I look back on those days now, when college is over and those examinations seem so inconsequential in the scheme of things, I realise that getting that answer down pat was not the most important thing...the goal was the absorb all the knowledge that it required. That knowledge and its resultant perspective are what will last me a lifetime...not a few marks in some old exam!
M was someone who immersed herself in her studies with the intensity of an eagle swooping on its prey. She had several enormous tomes of psychology at her fingertips, her extempore citations gliding between those voluminous works with ease that belied the long hours she spent covering them. As students we got the benefit of having a living database who dictated a bunch of wonderfully compiled notes and spared us the trouble of poring over those books (which were in limited supply). Nevertheless, M never ceased exhorting the value of exhaustive reference work and pushed us to explore as much as we could, whether in books or on the Internet. Today, if people tell me that I have a tendency to want to go deeper and deeper into a given domain, I attribute a large part of it to her.
***
G
G challenged every stereotype, irrationality and dogma in my mind. I will never be able to thank her enough for the perspective she gave me over my second year in Xavier's, in which she taught a paper on gender studies. For the first time in my life, I found myself questioning everything that goes into establishing masculinity and femininity in an individual. Most importantly, I transcended the barrier of man and woman to reach the level of a Person. With a ruthless intensity she dissolved the schemas of gender stereotypes in her students, on a dazzling array of topics such as colours, emotions, displays of affection, menstrual cycles, career opportunities and education, sports, responsibilities etc. She knew just which topics to pick on, which givens to challenge and which fallacies to wring and hang up for drying. Religion, communalism, parenting standards and socialization were attacked with a surgical precision which suddenly showed me how much harm we do our children by forcing them into gendered compartments when indeed androgyny is the standard that we need to aspire to. Masculinity and femininity are required in all people, regardless of there sexual characteristics. She showed us why this was so and how to strive to instill androgyny in ourselves as well as the future generations we will rear.
Counselling was another discipline which G taught with an infectious passion. For the first time, I found myself floundering as I tried to make an empathic response to her statement, while she simulated a client. I realised in that moment, the difference between theory and application and began my attempts to bridge that gap at once! She showed us by example and in several heated discussions on all kinds of issues, how to go beyond textbook definitions and actually respond to human actions, which is the first step in becoming a good counsellor. G was all about being able to actually do what the books said. She wanted to see us develop the skills to create an empathic and genuine atmosphere in a relationship, to be able to zero in on the root of another's distress and then devise a way to help him/her confront and resolve it. Despite the fact that this was beyond the scope of her paper, she took the time to show us glimpses of how it is done and those of us who are considered good counsellors today, owe her quite a bit of the credit.
There's another small thing about G that deserves mentions...her impeccable sense of style and personal grooming. I've yet to come across someone who is so tastefully attired. Whether her outfit was Indian or Western, there is never a thread out of place. Her jewellery and clothes are picked to be understated but extremely elegant. I know that there was more than one girl in my class to took tips from her clothing habits and the way she carried herself...perfectly poised and radiating professionalism!
***
R
"And remember, Santa doesn't necessarily wear a red suit!" These were R's parting words for me, when we last had a small chat over the phone, just yesterday. To be quite frank, they capture her essence perfectly.
Cheerful, (genuinely) optimistic beyond belief, someone who always manages to get time for everything she cares about (and believe me, that is no small bunch of things!), perfectly organised and marvellously in tune with her inner child. That's only a small part of the complex human phenomenon that is R.
In class, she would begin by sketching a detailed outline of the chapter on the blackboard. Once that was in place, it was really simple for a student figure out the exact sequence in which information was to be understood. That, and the fact that she has the most superb blackboard handwriting that I have ever seen...honestly, I put it only second to blackboard calligraphy (which I have yet to see).
At the end of several lectures, she read out something inspirational...a poem, something from a Chicken Soup book, a funny but meaningful anecdote etc. It was always chosen to emerge seamlessly from the academic topic we had been discussing, but by the time it was over we had absorbed some learning for life. There was so much of her spirit infused in those stories...they just stayed with you!
"Bright", is another word that describes her. She was never one for the sober look...a trademark ponytail, colourful t-shirts and jeans, trendy kurtis and a loud and unreserved laugh made her stand out wherever she went. Remarks about her appearance being more like a student than a teacher were as good as water on a ducks back because she is a person who thrives on her individuality and free-spiritedness. Whilst more than one astonished head may turn when she walks by, her bearing overflows with unflinching ease and self-confidence. She's all about being comfortable in your own skin, and that is something that I think everyone should strive for!
One of the nicest experiences I've had as a student was brought about by her, near the Christmas holidays. On such days she would wear a Santa hat on her head the whole day, just revelling in the happiness that it gave her. She also made it a point to infuse the Christmas spirit into her classes on that day, in whichever way possible. On one of these days, she had arranged for all her students to pick chits out of a box. Each chit had the name of another student from the class. Each person's task was to get a gift for the person who's name was on the chit, without ever letting that person know who had got his/her name. The gifts were all supposed to be very inexpensive but as meaningful as could be managed within that stipulated amount. In the next class, we all put the gifts we had bought in a single place from where she handed out the presents to each person in her class. I will never forget how good it felt to overhear the recipient of my gift telling someone else how touched she was by the little present that I had bought for her. It made me feel wonderful and I knew that R was entirely responsible for it.
Yes, Santa does not necessarily appear in a red suit. Santa comes in myriad forms, but makes a consistent appearance in R, whenever Christmas comes and oddly even otherwise! :)
****************
So that was my tribute to three exceptional people who've influenced my life in goodness knows how many ways. I hope in some way this post reminds you of great teachers in your life...and in case it does not, then I hope that you get to know people like them very soon!
God Bless and Ho Ho Ho!
No comments:
Post a Comment