Hailing from a village in Tamil Nadu, I did my elementary schooling in a government school that followed Tamil as the medium of instruction. The standard of teaching and the teachers were good. I was very happy there. Even today I remember my first standard teacher fondly.
Then, my family moved to Pondicherry as my father had got a job there. I was enrolled in Immaculate Heart of Mary’s Girls Higher Secondary School in Mission Street, Pondicherry for my 5th standard. Although the medium of instruction was Tamil, the teachers were very sophisticated and used English casually in conversations and while teaching. I felt like a ‘country mouse’. For a long time, I could not understand head or tail of the lessons. My speaking style and behaviour clearly gave away that I was from a village. This made my classmates avoid my company and they thought that it was below their dignity to even speak to me. I was an outcaste. In my previous school, I used to be an academically well-performing student, bagging the first or second rank. But in the new school, I struggled to obtain even pass marks. I lost my confidence. I was unhappy and dreaded going to school. I become a pale shadow of my former self.
However things began to change when I entered the 9th standard. Mrs.Lalitha, my English teacher was like a ray of hope in the darkness of my school life. She did not single me out or shower love on me, rather she treated all children alike. There was something unique about her. She had a magical way of making everyone feel special. Whenever I walked past her in the school corridors, she used to smile at me and say something kind. All of a sudden, English became the favourite subject for this ‘country mouse’. I strived hard to develop my English skills to make her feel proud of me and also as a gesture of gratitude towards her for having made me feel loved and special.
She never failed to show appreciation to students when it was due. The change in me was miraculous. The teacher herself told me that my English grammar became better than the others in my class. Once I wrote a leave letter by myself in an English Composition class. She complimented me for writing it without any mistake. She also told me that it was the first time anyone had tried writing something in English on their own in a Tamil medium school.
Basking in her appreciation, I wrote a short English poem about a ship in the high seas. It was about the emotions experienced by the ship, about its life and the hardships it had to endure in the oceans. She made me read it out to the class and showered me with praises. I was almost in tears of joy. All of a sudden, I became the most famous student in the same class that had once made me an outcaste. Now everyone wanted to be friends with me.
Because of her, I stopped studying anything by heart. I started to read and understand concepts and tried to reproduce them using my own words and sentences. She used to write ‘very good’ next to such type of answers in my exam papers. She continued to be my English teacher during my 10th Standard too. I passed with flying colours in SSLC and got her blessings after I received my marksheet. I left that school and joined an English Medium School, Thiruvalluvar Govt. Higher Secondary School, to pursue my 11th Standard. Such was the confidence I had developed.
From there my education was easy sailing. I was always among the top two right until M.Sc. The icing on the cake was when I was recruited as a PGT in St. Joseph of Cluny Girls Higher Secondary School, Lawspet for my fluency in English and my teaching capability. In those days, it was a dream to be a student of that school. The students used to be very fluent in English and everyone was in awe of them wherever they went. To be a teacher for those students was an ultimate victory for me. I taught higher secondary computer science for 6 years in that school before being recruited by the government on the basis of merit as a PST.
To this day, I teach with the same dedication my teacher displayed. Many of my students remind me of how I was when I met my favourite teacher for the first time. I try giving them what my teacher Mrs. Lalitha gave me - happiness, confidence and life. I owe her all the good things that have happened to me. She is the one responsible for who I am today. I thank the Almighty for having given me such a wonderful teacher when I most needed a miracle in my life.
Highlight:
When I see my students, many of them remind me of how I was before I met my favourite teacher - unhappy, lacking confidence and dreading to go school. I try giving them what my teacher gave me - happiness, confidence and life.