My 'Colorful Heroine'

A conversation with my daughter while teaching her Hindi, sparked this tribute to my teacher. She was finding it very hard to memorize a Hindi poem for the next day’s test. As is her wont, she will learn once and try repeating without looking at the book and cry her heart out if she missed a word or a line. That was when I was reminded of my Hindi teacher Ranganayaki.

Her name literally translated would mean ‘Colorful Heroine’. The ‘colorful heroine’ tag suits her as her classes were full of mirth and intrigue. She would tell joyful tales, and sometimes would keep a story in suspense until the next class. Not one class ended without a story. Some days just the mention of a word or phrase could lead to a great story which we would listen to in open-mouthed wonder.

Two teachers contributed to my interest in the arts. One was my father, a teacher by profession, who instilled in me the love for books, the other was my Hindi teacher Ranganayaki, who instilled in me the love for poetry. I took to reading poetry in English, Tamil and Hindi and enjoyed it immensely. As I developed an interest in the language, I enrolled for after school Hindi classes and even got a certificate equivalent to a degree in Hindi even before I graduated.

I guess the way she taught poetry was the sole reason I began to enjoy the language. The way she would explain a Rahim Doha (Couplet) can transport us to Akbar’s court where he was one of the nine gems. She would delve a bit into the history of that era and pick a story to tell. Even after all these years, the doha remains fresh in memory.

My teacher and me bonded very well. Her daughter was in the Tamil medium in my school and that didn’t deter us from doing combined studies or playing together. After I graduated, I went to meet her and she said that she was planning to get her daughter married. A few months after my meeting her, her husband, who was working in another city passed away. She soon fixed the wedding of her daughter. But on the day her daughter married, my teacher was hospitalized and she passed away. I wasn’t in town when this happened and I couldn’t meet my friend who had left with her husband. It took me a long time to come to terms with her death. Whenever I read a poem by someone, my thoughts would go out to her, wondering what story she would tell if she read the poem.

  

I have never given much thought about Teacher’s Day. Tributes pour in for teachers in millions over the social media. I read those that catch my eye while browsing Facebook, it never occurred to me to write about any teacher or wish any teacher in all these years. This year I decided to put my gratitude in writing as a tribute to my wonderful teacher. As Kabir aptly put it:

Kal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab,

Pal me pralay hoyegi, bahuri karega kab

Loosely translated, it means: What you plan to do tomorrow do it today, what u will do today, do it now. And this led me to type this down today instead of waiting for the next teacher’s day. Teachers like Ranganayaki would make learning a great pleasure, rather than just an aimless chore.