5. Model teachers in my life

 

Fortunately, I  remember most  of my teachers in my life  starting with   Sri.Krishna Kurup Aashaan who taught  me  elements  of the  Malayalam alphabet and basics  of numbers  to my  PhD  research guide Prof A K Mahalanabis. Let  me  briefly write on a  few  of them   here  and  end  up  with three  teachers  in TKM College  of Engg whom  I have  tried  my best  to emulate in my career.

Sri.Krishna Kurup  Aashaan  was  my first  teacher  in our ezhthu  kalari . At  that time, in our village   Kindergarten  or Angavanadis  were  non-existent. Children  were  introduced to formal learning   when they were   3 or 4  years  old  on Vijayadashami  day, an auspicious day  good for the start of formal learning. Writing  was  on loose  sand  spread  on the floor using  fingers and there  were  no books. Alphabets  were written on palm leaves  using a  sharp  iron object called  Naraayam.  By the time we  completed  our studies , we  used to carry 7 - 8  palm leaves on which  whatever is  to be learnt was  written. As I was a sick child , my  formal learning started a little  late . Further, along with a neighbor's  girl,  the  teacher  used  to teach us  either in her house  or my house . This  was  not because  we  were  rich, but the teacher  was a family friend and he  had a soft corner  for the sick child  of his dear friend. As far as teaching  is concerned, he was very strict and had  no hesitation in giving us  punishment  if we do not study as  per  his instructions. A standard  punishment was  pinching  on our thighs  along with the sand  in which we  were to write.  He was  very particular about the  Malayalam pronunciation and thanks  to him  we are  still  good  in writing error free  Malayalam  and speak  with  good diction.

Another  teacher I would  like  to remember  is one  who taught   us  in Class  7  who  was teaching  Mathematics. His  name  was T.R.Keshava Pillai  who was the class teacher  too. He used to collect  some few  paisa as  fine  from the students  who come  late  to the class or  do  some  small mischief. The class leader  used  to keep  the accounts.  In  the  Mathematics  class, he used  to give  some  money as incentive  for the first  ten  students   who solve the  problems  correctly and keep it on his table. If some one  keeps  the book with wrong  answers, he  will  be asked  to give  fine. I was  the  class leader  and, in some  classes, used to  get  10-15  paisa as incentive for doing the sums correctly. Till  then, I was  not very  good  in Mathematics but  in this class,   I started securing  nearly  100%  in most  of my  Mathematics examinations.

Yet  another memorable  teacher  in schools  was  our  headmaster  in the  high school Sri.A.P.Neelakanta Pillai  who was  also very strict  but  loving teacher who made  us learn  English in the  proper way with correct  grammar and introduced  us to  creative  writing and talking  confidently  in public in the weekly literary  hours. He encouraged  us to write  something  every week, a small  story, a poem or sing a song etc. He was  also a strict  disciplinarian   but loved  his students  like  his  own children.

However, college teaching   is different  from  teaching  in schools and as a teacher  in engineering  college, I had  to choose   my own  model  teacher. Fortunately, I could  identify two or three outstanding  teachers  in TKMCE  where  I studied  for  my first engineering degree. They are  Prof.S.Harharan, Sri.G.Madhusudhanan  Nair and Prof P O J  Lebba.

Prof.Hariharan   was  on deputation  from College  of Engineering Trivandrum and also  became  Principal  in TKMCE  for a  year  or so before  he completed  his deputation  and returned to CET. He was  teaching  us an elective  course, Power  Systems  Analysis  in the final year. He used  to tell us   what he  is teaching  very clearly  first, and then  write  most  of the  things  he is taking  on the black board  and repeat  the  whole thing a third time. His board  work was excellent and   by copying  what he writes  on the board, we  used  to have  an excellent  set of lecture  notes as good as any text  book.  His aim, obviously, was to make sure  that even the  weakest  student  in the  class  will understand the subject  by   his  teaching  method.   Even  though  some of the  bright students  must have  understood everything  by his first and second repetition itself, and got bored  while hearing it a third time, I did  not have  any hesitation  choosing him as  a model.  In my class, I did  not have  the patience  to repeat  it a  third time  but  I used to write  most  of the things  on the  board, particularly when  I was  teaching  mathematical subjects  like  Control Systems  in  later  years  of my teaching,

Another teacher was  Sri G.Madhusudhanan  Nair  whom  I mentioned earlier. GMN   is the father  of Sri M Jayachandran , famous  film music director. Recall  his  generosity shown  to me  to take  me to his house and asking  me to register  in the  professional  and executive  employment  exchange at  TVM. GMN was  our  Senior  Adviser  and he was   very  helpful  in solving many  financial problems too  by  recommending  advance from the  college  for the educational tour  etc which could be repaid  when  I get the  scholarship  towards the  end  of the financial year. His  method  of teaching  was totally  different  from that  of  Prof  Hariharan.   Madhu Sir, as he was  popularly known,  used  to come to the  class   humming a simple  Malayalam film song. First, he will explain  the topic beautifully  during which we  were only  to listen to him and he did  not allow  us to write  anything down. He wants  100% rapt attention from all. After  describing everything for, say, 15 minutes , he  will  tell “ Now  write  down what you have understood” and then goes  out of the class. He used   to take  nasal  snuff,  he used  to  take a pinch of this  snuff, rub  his hands,  on shirt pockets and will  come back within a few  minutes. Once we have  completed our notes, he will  continue  the  lecture further. He was  teaching  us subjects  like Generation Switchgear and Protection. His  explanation on how an oil circuit  breaker  breaks the current  and quenches  the likely  arcs on breaking  a current still rings  in my ears. This  was  the  subject  I taught  to my junior  students at TKMCE  during  my first  year  of teaching. In fact, I was called for interview  in  Regional  Engineering  College  Calicut  based  on my registration in the employment exchange  under  his residential  address  in TVM. Most  of the  questions asked  to me at the  interview  in CREC was  also  on this subject and as  I could  answer these very well, I was  ranked  higher  than another  candidate with  a post graduate  degree in engineering . Thus, Madhu Sir  had  a very important  role  in  deciding  my life  time  career as well.

Prof  P O J  Lebba  or  our  Lebba Sir had  returned  to our college  after  his M Tech from  IIT Bombay when we were in the final  year and was teaching  us  Induction  Motors. Even though his  classes  were   nothing extra ordinary,  some  of the topics he  discussed  in the class  were very useful  for our personality development. He used  to discuss  contents  of  several  Dale Carnegie  books  on ‘ How to Deal  with  People’. People  who  know  him will  appreciate how  good he is in dealing with  people.  As Principal   of  TKMCE, he could manage  members  of any visiting expert  committee and get   courses  approved with relative ease. The  number  of additional  courses  added during the period he was  Principal of TKMCE  stands  testimony  for this.  Even though  his classes  may not have  helped  us  in enhancing our knowledge in Electrical  Engineering much, his classes  have  definitely  helped  us becoming better human beings  and face  difficult  situations in our career. Even  at  the  late  age of eighties, he comes  for our alumni get togethers  wherever  it is held  and blesses   us with a humorous  talk  for  at least  ten minutes.