Grading My Teachers... with an Honour

Grading My Teachers... with an Honour

 

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 9:31am

   June is the month when academics results are out..But we need to know that there are certain  lessons which are never graded in our school results. They are taught to us by many people, many of them not even our formal teachers but leave  upon us a mark of their teachings so  strongly that they become a part of our attitude and habit. Some of these lessons are formal while some informal. Some teachers taught me formally while from some I learnt my self. It is time to grade my teachers and honour them... My list is not in the terms of preference, it is random.

    My Parsee Principal Bejan Desai was not only an excellent English teacher but a superb administrator as well. He was an eloquent public speaker and spoke on socio educational topics.When ever he was on a round in the campus there was a stunned silence. His presence marked  a respect. Our school auditorium was a large on e and accomodated 200 students  . During Exams Mr Desai some times used to be alone, supervising the hall and no body , not even the most skilled copy cat could dare to peep into his neighbor's paper to copy.... I admired his way of public speaking and  have borrowed some style of his. Last month I went to see him and got nostalgic when I saw my boarding school. Mr. Desai sat on a strong chair but appeared weak, he is 82 now. He could remember me faintly. 

   My other English teacher, my Paternal Aunt Hameeda Phupi repaired my grammer as she found that I possess a huge treasure of thoughts and  arguments, and I only need to work my language and vocabulary. It was only after I attended twenty sessions with her that I started to write my notes on face book , before that it was very hard upon me to draft one para. So I write articles and she also gets sawab for teaching me to write effectively. Moral of the story? Many a times even a little effort on some's skill can make you a permanent partner in a good thing. 

    Moulana Muqeem Faizi's Islamic circle were my kindergarden for learning Fiqh. Every sunday morning I used to attend his dars e Hadith and learnt very fast. He is among the few moulana who did his home work regulalry before he came for the Islamic sessions. He has a big role in reviving the movement of Qur'an and Sunnah among the youth of Mumbai. Among the best thing I learnt from him was how to elaborate a small topic into a vast source of information andmotivation. Once he delivered an Islamic talk on " Eyes"  A topic like that !  This was my reaction which I did not air but when he opened up before the camera it was a simply 'wow!". I learnt from that day that in Islamic talks you can elaborate on any topic provided you do your  home work properly.  A couple of years before, he underwent a cancer  operation  and he cannot roar in the same manner as he used to but his content remains as rich as before.

  I am a fitness freako and in my school days, whenever I went to my village I used to collect boys and teach them to race and excercise. There was one young boy of my age who took the lessons seriously. A year later, when I was in my village again, that boy had grown up like a giant! He did push ups in front of me and imagine how much ! 400 in one set! Then he did 250 push ups on fists ! And got up still fresh! I am proud of him that he out grew his trainer...That young boy in the village taught me an important lesson  that if you dedicate and focus on any skills you can master it in few days. Just one session and how  much I learnt from him!

  A regular reader here on my face book. That reader's English accent accent improved by a continous self effort. When I was told about it, it gave me a moral boost that there are always higher aveneus to go up and age  is never a barrier to reach the top nor seniority and fame should be a barrier from preventing yourself to learn .Whether you are under 15 or above 40 you are a student if you want to learn sincerely. 

 I was afraid to drive a car or a motorbike till a neighbor of mine took me to a beach on his motorcycle and asked me to ride it. He assured " Bang it man ! Dont fear, Ill not ask a rupee for you .. Many a times  some one's assurance helps you to learn faster and years later I applied the same on my son . He drove a car at the age of 13 !

 My teachers in the field of da'wah and Islamic public speaking, I am compiling a complete book on it....Insha Allah

   I dont want to stop here but I know that if  my notes get stretched beyong 500 words it can lead you to boredom so I leave it for you to complete my notes and make a list of your own teachers who taught you important lessons in your life that makes you what you are today and say "Jazakallahu Khairan" to them

AUTHOR : Nisaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks on socio-educational issues from Islamic perspective. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

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