FROM teacher with love, TO teacher with love!

Today being Teacher's Day, we asked a few faculty members from schools and colleges about THEIR favourite teachers and how they played a special role in their choice of career!

We all have that one teacher whose name brings back a lot of memories; someone who touched our lives and someone who we remember and thank every Teacher's Day regardless of the fact that s/he may not be around anymore.

But what about teacher's teachers?

We rounded up a few faculty members from schools and colleges to share stories of who influenced not only their lives but their choice of career. Here's what they had to say!

Dr (Sr) Anila Verghese, Principal, Sophia College, Mumbai

One teacher who holds a special place in my heart is Mrs Griselda Dias, head of the History Department at Sophia College back when I was studying. She enthused other students with love for history. She had the ability to make history come alive in class and she did it beautifully. It was she who motivated me with the love for the subject, which I planned to carry forward to my students. Something I'll always remember about her is her affection and personal interest in her students. She would prepare a special meal for the final year students every year and I got to go to her place as well. She shared a special bond with each one of us.

Chandan Chatterjee, Director, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune

It's very difficult to choose one teacher as there were so many great teachers at IIM Bangalore (J D Singh, Prasanna Chandra, Indira Rajaraman and the list goes on and on). But my favourite teacher of all time has been Prof. Vatsala Nagarajan. She sparked off the desire to apply myself and learn more, perhaps for the first time in a subject called Accounting & Finance that I was a bit apprehensive about. I still remember visiting her at her residence in Bangalore many years later and it was great to see that she could recall most of our batch mates. "Performance in class is inversely proportional to future success in life," she once told us and that has stayed with me all my life.

Dr Maya Joshi, Associate Professor, Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi

Several teachers were favourites and especially those who gave me the space to grow, taught me to think for myself and encouraged reverence. Some also inadvertently taught me a lesson in what not to do. Many of them inculcated a spirit of enquiry and encouraged a questioning mind and that is something I'll remember them for. They played an important role in my life and taught me to follow my heart.

Ruby Pavri, Professor, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai

I've come across some really inspiring teachers in my life like Ms. Khubi Writer, my elocution teacher in school, Dr Edwina Pio, my junior college Psychology teacher who introduced me to the subject, Fr Terrence Quadros, he was in charge of the social service league and it's great to still have him around in college. They all inspired me in many different ways with their enthusiasm, creativity, passion and by their strong sense of values of doing things right. I'll always remember the talks given by Fr Terrence, especially the one he gave on our first day in college. His words had a huge impact on my life. Also, in college during a poster-making workshop, he looked at my poster, gave me a pat and said "You've got potential". That again struck me and instilled a great deal of confidence. I really thank him for that.

Godhuli Beteille, Professor, St. Gregorios High School, Mumbai

There were many but to name one, it would be Ms Vijayalakshmi Das, my English teacher in school. She taught me till the tenth standard. I still recall the way she dressed up and her unique style of teaching. She was a very simple yet stylish lady. Even though she was soft-spoken, she just knew the perfect way to control the class. Now when I think about it, she did have some kind of an influence in the way I teach today. I remember being sent to her house to learn the dreaded Clause Analysis but there was something about the way she taught, she got me instantly interested and I used to just go there to look and listen to her speak!