PALAKKAD: A century is a milestone few live to see. For P Krishnanunni Nair, however, nearing 100 has not meant stepping away from the life he has known for decades. Even at this age, the retired headmaster remains connected with students, spending time at the tuition centre he founded and sharing the knowledge and experience gathered through more than seven decades of teaching.
On Sunday morning, students continued to approach Krishnanunni -- a resident of Thrithala in Palakkad district -- with their doubts even as he sat in the office room of the tuition centre. And he remained eager to talk about education, language, teaching and the changing world around them.
He retired as the headmaster of AUP School, Malamakkavu, in 1982. Soon, he started the Masters Tuition Centre in Thrithala.
“Education shaped my life, and English has been an important part of that journey. I cannot imagine a day without meeting children and coming to the tuition centre,” said Krishnanunni, known affectionately as ‘Valiya Mash’.
Born on March 15, 1927, Krishnanunni Nair’s teaching career began in 1949, when Malamakkavu Variyath Raghava Varier took the initiative to start a higher elementary school offering Classes VI to VIII at Malamakkavu.
“I joined the school as its headmaster and continued in that position until my retirement. I taught English and Hindi,” he recalled. More than seven decades later, his enthusiasm for learning and teaching remains undiminished.
His family and students, both past and present, had gathered on February 27 to celebrate his ‘shatabdi’, according to the Malayalam calendar. If anything, the years have added to his experience but taken little away from his curiosity.
‘When I look back at my life, I feel satisfied’
His secret, he said, is not complicated. He wakes up before 5 am, takes a morning walk around the Thrithala Maha Shiva Temple and follows a disciplined routine. A lifelong vegetarian, he eats sparingly and gives importance to proper sleep, he said.
“When I look back at my life, I feel satisfied and peaceful. Teaching and interacting with children taught me how to live a simple and peaceful life,” Krishnanunni said.
Until recently, he would reach the tuition centre by around 7.30 am and remain involved in its daily affairs. He stopped giving regular classes only this academic year. But he still keeps a close watch on the institution.
His children -- Vijayakrishnan and Sheela, both retired teachers, and Madhusoodanan -- have taken over the teaching responsibilities. Their spouses too are involved in running the centre.
“We have more than 350 students from Classes VIII to X,” he said. He has six children -- Geetha (late), Mohanakrishnan (Mumbai), Vijayakrishnan, Unnikrishnan (Mumbai), Sheela and Madhusoodanan.
For Krishnanunni, however, the real measure of his teaching career is not the number of students who passed through his classrooms, but the lives they went on to build.
That becomes clear when 24-year-old Nhangattiri resident Muhammed Fasal walks into the centre. A former student, Fasal has travelled from Umm Al Hassam in Bahrain to meet the teacher who introduced him to the English language.
“I studied here in the 2021-22 batch. It was Krishnanunni Mash who taught me the basics of English. The confidence I gained has helped me earn a living in Bahrain,” said Fasal, visibly pleased to meet his old teacher.
Such encounters are what continue to make teaching meaningful for the centenarian. As much as he is a teacher, Krishnanunni remains a student for life.