Wednesday, September 5, 2012

A TRIBUTE TO MY TEACHERS

Teaching and medical practice are the noblest of all professions: One shapes lives and the other saves lives

Ayyappan Nair Sir was my first teacher. Even after 70 years his ever- smiling face and the interesting way of teaching are vivid in my memory.

In high school, I was scoring single digit marks in mathematics. Then came a new mathematics teacher: Sivaraman Nair Sir; I was in the 9th standard. A fascinating teacher, he demystified mathematics learning:  (1) 0 to 9 reveal endless combinations of magic and beauty, so love numbers; (2) relax and problem-solving becomes easy; (3) understand the problem; (4) proceed step by step. My scores in mathematics since then were between 90 and 100.When I started teaching MA students, I could enable them to appreciate and understand Research Methodology, which is considered a hard subject, thanks to the methods of Sivaraman Nair Sir.

English grammar was a nightmare in our school days. Ramaswami Iyer Sir, a retired teacher from government service, joined our school while I was in the 8th standard. He told on the first day itself to practise: "I do, you do , we do, they do, he does , she does and it does". Master these and you master a part of grammar said Iyer Sir. One of his learning games was "I know that you know that we know that they know that he knows that she knows that it knows". Each student had to repeat these with varying speed. It was great fun and Iyer Sir made learning English grammar and composition sweet and simple.

Years later, Dr.Palan (Malaysia- based management consultant and trainer) in his book "Learning is Fun" complimented me and our teacher late Dr.M.T.Paul for making learning a fun , while Palan was a student. It is a great tribute from a former student which I accept with humility. In turn, I pay my tributes to my revered teachers.

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