An Inspiring Teacher

This is an article that appeared in the Golden Jubilee Souvenir of my Alma mater Loyola School Trivandrum, Kerala sometime back * .

*In case you are not able to read from the photo scroll down for plain text of the same. 

It was after 5 years that I was going to meet Mrs Aleykutty Joseph, the teacher who had inspired me the most. She had made known to a lot of my friends, her desire to meet me, but due to some reason or other I couldn’t visit her. She welcomed me with her trademark stare, the fifteen year old in me awoke and my knees went weak. To tell you the truth my first reaction on seeing her was to run away. Her eyes melted and she said ”You were one of those students who called me mother. What took you so long to come and meet me my child?”. I went numb in my heart and didn’t know what to say. After the initial hiccup, we started to talk. She enquired about me, my family, and my work. We talked about our old days in Loyola and how our life had changed since then. I suddenly realised that whatever things happened in my life or around me in this world all these years didn’t matter to me at that moment. During the course of the conversation, I was the same old devoted pupil listening attentively to what my Teacher was saying. At that instant, I felt that she had always been close to my heart and the same was with her as well. To my misfortune, I found out that I was still very much scared and tongue tied in front of her, even though ten years had gone by since I had passed out of the class of which she was in charge of. Some things never change; it was worth seeing the look of astonishment in the faces of her grandchildren when I mentioned this. When it was time for me to leave she hugged me, I touched her feet and bid adieu.

As I was walking down the stairs I was very much overwhelmed and my eyes welled up with tears. I couldn’t explain what was happening to me then. That set on a train of thoughts in me. What made Mrs Aleykutty so special? What was it that made her leave an indelible mark in my life as well as in that of many others? First and foremost would be her dedication to what she was doing. To her, the 42 students of her class were her very own, no matter what. Her main aim was to see to it that every one of her students succeeded. For her there was no X or Y- all were the same. In her we saw a doting mother. It was not just about scoring marks, she also wanted us to evolve into well rounded individuals who were successful in all aspects of life. I believe that at some point or the other, every one of her students had received advice from Mrs Aleykutty on improving themselves, and how to be on the right track without losing focus of their ultimate goals.

If we guys start taking things too lightly, or didn’t take our work seriously, she would get very angry. It was this anger that each and every one of us feared the most. Without a doubt, most of you might me nodding in agreement. I remember once, when during a free period, all of us were creating a ruckus and wandering about in the corridor. We were waiting for our class leader to come back and announce it as a games period. Someone spotted Mrs Aleykutty at the end of the corridor, all hell broke loose and all of us scampered back to our respective benches and desks. It was evident from the look on her face that she wasn’t amused at all. She asked us if she were a Tiger or a Lion for all of us to react the way we just did, we didn’t have an answer to that and our class leader had a huge smile in his face. His joy, of course, was short lived because Mrs Aleykutty had given him a earful for not informing her about the free period.

Mrs Aleykutty had always been a strict disciplinarian and a hard taskmaster, which explains my apprehension I had felt at the beginning of our meeting. She had always appeared to me as a strong willed character, who at the same time was very loving and caring as well. She was a no-nonsense person and was always in control of all of us whenever she was in charge. That was exactly the reason why she commanded the respect and awe of a bunch of fifteen year olds who wouldn’t heed to anything at that time. In spite of all this, every single one of her students knew that behind this tough exterior, she was a concerned mother to all the 42 students in our class. In fact only later on in life did most of us realise the pains she took to make us all succeed.

She imbibed in us a strong value system and the importance of being humble. I remember once she said to me that you need to be a good human being first and the rest will follow. It was not as if she was just preaching but rather she showed it to us through her everyday life. But she was also, in all respect, tough as nails. Her strong work ethics and hardworking nature had touched us all. Whatever situation you put her into she always was on top of and in total control of it. That has been something that I have learnt from her and tried to emulate.

As we move forward in our journey of life, it is teachers like this, who inspire you to go the extra mile. The training that one receives in childhood is that which moulds and defines what that individual will turn out to be. I was fortunate enough to be under the tutelage of many teachers in Loyola who worked tirelessly day in day out to ensure that all of us came out in flying colours .I have also realised that being a teacher is not an easy task, it is one of the most toughest professions in the world .Though I have mentioned only Mrs Aleykutty in this article I take this opportunity to remember with gratitude all my teachers in Loyola who have played a vital role in the development of countless number of students like me . I would like to sign off by quoting Nikos Kazantzakis “Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own” 

The writer who belongs to the SSLC batch of 2001 is currently working for British Telecom (BT), Mumbai

Another article that appeared in the school magazine during my final year

P.S: If you liked this article check out my other posts in similar lines Mitochondria; English lessons, We are the underdogs, Challenge, The lunch break