MADURAI: When P Purushodhama Kamatchi Nathan, one of the recipients of the Dr Radhakrishnan Award, visited the local police station to have a policeman sign on his conduct certificate as the rules of the award mandate, he was in for a surprise; the joy of receiving an award for being the best teacher in the State from the Chief Minister was about to be blessed by an event that would exemplify his achievement and justify his winning the award.
For M Kannan, Inspector of Police, Karimedu, it was just another day at work as he sat at the station when a Dr Radhakris-hnan awardee stepped in to have his conduct certificate signed. As a norm, teachers receiving the award have to obtain a signature from the local police station to certify that no criminal cases are registered against them. Kannan’s heart was overwhelmed and memories from when he was just a school-goer came rushing back; it did not take him over a second to recognise the man who was in front of him, his old school teacher, who he owed a large part of his success to and age had not dulled the memory of P Purushodhama Kamatchi Nathan, the headmaster of Mangayarkarasi Higher Secondary School (MHSS), Madurai, who met his student after 28 long years.
“It was the best signature I have ever penned in my entire tenure as Inspector of Police and will probably remain the best. I think that I have made my teacher proud and have been sharing this incident happily with every single one of my friends,” the inspector told Express. Crediting his teacher for his success, the inspector said that the State government has chosen a well deserved teacher who ‘elevated him’ for the Dr Radhakrishnan award. “Kind, lovable, strict against indiscipline,” are some of the adjectives Kannan uses to describe his teacher. “His teaching method would be so easy, that all students would understand and the way he taught students was extremely attractive,” he said.
The teacher said that students of his school are as good in academics as they are in activities like Silambam, Volleyball, Kabaddi and Judo. “I never believed that academics is the only thing which create qualified students. There are many other factors like sports and social activities which make the perfect student,” he said.Nathan added that he frequently conducts model parliamentary sessions with students “It is important to impart political knowledge to students,” he said. To inculcate reading habit among students, he started the practice of reading news during the morning-assembly.Nathan also stresses on improving the speaking skills of his students and his students have made him proud by winning awards in several speech contests . P Purushodhama Kamatchi Nathan will receive the Dr Radhakrishnan award from Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswamy on Tuesday.
Greetings from Chief Minister Palaniswami
On Teacher’s Day, the birthday of former President of India, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, my heartiest greetings and best wishes to the teachers for their dedication to build a knowledgeable society.