VIRUDHUNAGAR: High-pitched squeals and babbles of children fill the corridors of the panchayat elementary school near Vembakottai at 8.05 am on Monday as a woman in her late thirties scurries behind her six-year-old daughter, with a tiny yellow backpack on her shoulder.
“We’re late again paapa, walk fast or else Nadiammal ma’am will punish you,” the mother rambles on as the student playfully hops along until she reaches the threshold of her classroom handled by none other than Nadiammal, the headmistress, herself. She wears a warm smile and nods her head before guiding the child to her seat.
The 52-year-old R Nadiammal is a lovable presence in the elementary school in Alamelumangaipuram for everyone who knows of her. A recipient of the Dr Radhakrishnan Award in 2013-14, Nadiammal has proven her mettle as a teacher and a genuine human being.
Under her initiative, the panchayat elementary school in Alamelumangaipuram was awarded the best primary school in Virudhunagar by the Tamil Nadu government. There are 71 students, from classes 1 to 5, studying at the school today.
Despite living miles away from the school, 35-year-old Sakthi does not view the distance her child, Rekha, travels for her education – to be an issue because she wants her daughter to be tutored by the best teacher she knows. Like Rekha, around 15 students from Ammayarpatti now study at the school.
It was never an overnight achievement for Nadiammal and her fellow staff – to build the school up to its potential. Under the vivacious headmistress, the school underwent many a sea change, but never all at once. Over the past 22 years of heading this primary school, Nadiammal invested and reinvested in initiatives that she could rightfully call her own. Sometimes she took suggestions from parents and staff. She has also borne extra expenses to tend to children from poor families. “My colleague Radhakrishna is one of the most supportive colleagues, backbone to my initiative ,” she adds.
Today, the children of the primary school are part of extra-curricular activities, including Silambam, Chess, and Yoga. “I feel elated to see that my daughter could get such good exposure at a very young age. If it were not for the wonderful teachers of this school, and Nadiammal, of course, I would’ve found a school elsewhere for my daughter. All my grievances and concerns about my child are addressed by the teacher without any delay,” she says, as she recalls that some of the students from the school had won various prizes in the Silambam competition held in the region.
Since June 2022, the trainers have been teaching Silambam to the students three days a week. Chess and yoga were also being taught once a week even before the pandemic began. “The students have completed stage 1 of Silambam and stage 2 is all set to begin shortly. They are all well-versed in almost 50 yoga asanas so far,” Nadiammal says with a proud smile.
Seasoned by her passion for the profession and compassion towards the children, Nadiammal says she started her career as a teacher during her teenage years when she was in Class 10. “I was always inspired by my own teachers from school and that is when I began tutoring not more than 10 students at my house. I would conduct sports competitions for them, which later imbibed in me a dream of becoming a teacher. After all, could I be any happier than teaching and manifesting my ideas for a bigger group on the receiving end?” she says.
Though I began my career as a teacher in Thanjavur in 1988, it was the school in Alamelumangaipuram that zested me up for the better, she says. Nadiammal, who stays some 20 km away from the school, reveals how it was never her plan to stay at the school for these many years. Initially, I received a job at another government school, which was not more than four km from my residence in Sivakasi.
However, the affection of the villagers brought me back here. Their constant belief and trust in me drove me to invest a little bit more in the school and the kids than I would have naturally. They asked me to stay. I did and it was the best decision ever,” says Nadiammal, who says her retirement plan is to open a playschool where she can continue to experience the bliss of being around kids. I want to teach children the traditional games that are on the verge of being forgotten, she says with excitement.
Meanwhile, S Saraswathi (56), a resident of Alamelumangaipuram, is already worried that her grandson couldn’t complete his primary education under Nadiammal. “The teacher would retire in few more years and my grandson could hardly complete one year of his education under her guidance,” she says.