During my childhood days, I dreaded nothing more than the subject of mathematics. It was 1955. I was barely 10 and studying in Class 7 of a school in a remote village called Bodhan, which came under Nizamabad district. Communication equipment and even electricity were scarcely present in those days. But there was free flow of air in the thatched classrooms. When the sun came down, kerosene-lit lamps were widely seen and present in almost every household.
We stayed 15 kilometres away from Bodhan, in a smaller village, Yedapally, where my dad worked as an engineer in the BDO (block development office). I had to shuttle between picturesque Yedapally to Bodhan in APSRTC buses. Once during a routine journey from Bodhan to Yedapally after the school was over, I fought my way inside the bus which was packed to capacity and successfully secured a seat. The passengers who were standing were jostling for space. Suddenly my eyes caught sight of Raghupathy Rao sir, my mathematics teacher who was among the horde of standing passengers.
Since I used to perform poorly in maths, I certainly wasn’t a favourite student of his. Yet my respect for him as a teacher was immense. I put my sling bag on my seat and with the alacrity of a monkey, hastened forward towards my teacher. In a gesture of utmost respect, I pleaded with him to occupy my seat as I was only 20-25 minutes away from my destination.
After he was seated comfortably, my math teacher patted my head and said he was travelling to Nizamabad, which was approximately two and a half hours away. I was paralysed with happiness and felt I had done a great service. Next Monday, when Raghupathy sir came to the class, he went on explaining how to solve a sum. Abruptly he stopped after the final instruction and called out my name. He gave a piece of chalk to me and asked me to work out the answer on the board. The whole class held their peace to witness my consternation. But for the first time I solved a problem really well and never did I look back again.
From that time on, I fared well securing satisfactory marks in maths. And I believe it was the blessings of my teacher, rather than my hard work, that worked wonders. But in the modern era, students set aside values such as paying respect to teachers. We now have great-sounding degrees, but as far as knowledge is concerned, the picture is dismal.
ZI Khan
Email: zikhan6086@gmail.com