Education is to bring about the best in a child….the definitions make education a thing but it’s not. It is a sublime & intangible thing in our lives.My teachers have made me what I am today.I have at length described my first teacher,my mother who shaped my destiny. Then the teachers in Rani Bhawan where there were two,whose names I don’t know. One was strong & well built & the other was a softy,thin,delicate & never scolded…these two ladies were my formal first teachers. I mostly had a stainless steel dabba with a ring which had ‘policha ladoo’. I remember the taste & very little of what I learnt there.
In ‘English medium school’…. that was the name of my school…I had to walk to the main road.All the children from Gole colony were collected by Shewale kaku who dropped us to school.Total of 4-5 children held on her hands. Sometimes my father would drop us by car & the lanes were so narrow,we would be pleading to drop us off at the corner but he insisted on dropping us at the gate .Very few had cars & it was very embarrassing.
The peshwa wada or jalka wada was next to the municipality on the main road. One had to turn off opposite ‘Chitra Mandir’ theater.( From childhood I have been surrounded by theaters!) It was a typical structure a wada converted into school,because teachers did not have money only the aim to teach English. Nashik Education Society had the prestigious boys school ,Pethe high school in the Ravivar Karanja premises. When the school got donation by ‘Rangubai Junnare’ did it expanded & for the first time have a building of it’s own.At Dwarka Rangubai Junnare school already existed but English Medium school was merged into it.
Mrs Ghanekar & Mrs Kirloskar brought their dream into reality. Both have taught me,they were good at languages.In first std, I had D’Mello teacher who spoke fluent English. I stood first in my class . I have done very well with an encouraging teacher. I was ill at the time of gathering ,so I was given the part of ‘Rukmini’ & I had to stand with my hands on the hip. The students from higher classes had to perform in front of us. Yes, there was a ‘Vithal’ that I didn’t find even after leaving school.
In std second, Mrs Mulay was our class teacher & she did not like me at all. My rank went to sixth.Mrs D’Mello encouraged me to talk loudly when I was in a skit…’Ferry me across the water do boatman do..’ & in a drama where we wore Paper coats on top of our clothes.
Third std I had Mrs Kogekar who was an excellent teacher.She helped me to get over my fright of Maths then(which came back later.) She was overjoyed when I regained my first rank.Later I would know her again as my friend’s mother -in- law. Mr Kogekar, our Kogekar sir was HOD Chemistry dept. who didn’t teach us but was known as an expert in his field. I have lost both of them.
Fourth std, Mrs Ghanekar taught us Marathi. Mrs Thrity Bhadda- Patel was our craft teacher & Mrs Duggal-Khare was sports teacher. I remember taking part in elocution competition on 1 Aug …my father had written for me & I distinctly remember the word ‘spirit’ …I had only seen spirit in the clinic & for the world of me couldn’t follow what Tilak had to do with spirit! It was impossible to question my father so I learnt & talked,my throat dried but I completed my speech. I got third position & got comments for dropping my rank.
Fifth, we were promoted to The Sarda kanya mandir premises.The upper entire floor covered the English medium school. One class one division.So, fifth to tenth, one teacher’s room & one Principal’s cabin.Mrs Athavle was my class teacher. She taught us science,maths.Mrs Lata Kulkarni taught Geography. Mrs Kamala Sohoni History.( Prin. Sohoni was then Prin. in HPT college who retired by the time we went to college. There is ‘Sohoni Hall’ for which he had donated some amount) I stood fifth in class.
Sixth, Mrs Lata Kulkarni was class teacher. Renuka Kulkarni, her daughter also came in my class. She was my competitor till our tenth. I stood second in class. This was the year when I knew I liked languages & if there were only English, Marathi, Hindi life would be so easy,
Seventh, my mother brought in a home tutor & all of us studied regularly with Mr Chaudhary. After an year his services were discontinued. We decided we will study on our own. I stood first in my class. Shamboo normally stood second in his class because of a friend ,Punde,who was always first.
Eight, I had Mrs Saudikar who taught us Hindi …& I knew I liked it very much. After a couple of months she got a job in BYK college & quit.Ms Jayashree Iyer taught chemistry. Later Mrs Lukmani took over.Mrs Asha Kulkarni Biology & Mrs Vasudha Athavle Physics. I stood second in class.
Ninth, I again stood first & thought I had a grip. but then everybody started studying. I also had Mrs Naik, Mrs Gore, who were very good teachers. Mrs Gore taught Hindi & I wish I had recorded how she introduced a lesson, or at least had a photographic memory to recollect..her intro to ‘Lal angaro ki us muskaan me … was just superb. I envied that duster that day which wiped off those golden words.
Tenth, we collected at Anita Beri’s house where Mr Oswal taught us.I enjoyed his teaching & had planned to break the into 80s but I got only 79.57 %( interestingly shared by both my brothers but in 12th the picture was clear!) I stood fifth in my class. It was sufficient to get admission in the eleventh in HPT_RYK college without a hassle.
Eleventh & twelth classes went in a flash, Mr Gadgil in his tuition classes had me with Vandana Aurangabadkar sitting in the end as backbenchers. His most tiring students perhaps.Mrs Phatak,Mrs Deshmankar, Mr Vaman Jadhav taught Botany ( He was my colleague later.) Mr Acharya Zoology. Today known to be the authority in Biology in Nashik.Mr Pimple,Mr Kelkar, Mr Ugaonkar, Mr Khalkar,Mr Chinchore (Who appeared for MEd with me & was my colleague) taught Physics. Mr Shekhar Joshi taught us Log table.Mr Supekar engages us once.
The teachers have made a difference that is not easy to encapsulate in a day so let’s take a breather & continue in the next .. happy reading!
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