Ageing with grace, teaching with passion

Hazrat Aisha (RA), the first lady teacher in the history of Islam, studied under the guidance of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for about nine years. For quite some time after the Prophet (pbuh) passed away, Hazrat Aisha (RA) continued to sleep in her own apartment by the side of the grave. One night she had a dream in which she saw Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the very next day she shifted to the adjoining apartment which became the hub of learning. This was how, as a lady and a teacher in those days, she contributed towards education.

No doubt, there are people in our times too who really contribute positively towards the society and play their role efficiently, even more than required but nothing goes in vain. Maybe the administration does not take note of them but we as students know the worth of every teacher.

There are teachers with the best qualifications, gold medals, and high merit ranks but sometimes they fail to make us understand even a simple concept. Simultaneously, there are teachers who besides performing their own duty well, prove to be great ideals and such teachers not only make us academically better but even make us morally upright.

For example, I know a teacher who by her sincere efforts is frequently remembered by all her students across India even today. Yes, she is none other than Prof. (Dr) Navidita Mukerjee—a dedicated and commendable teacher who was like a friend, a philosopher, a fountainhead of knowledge, a living ideal and the potential guide to provide directive for the growth and development of students of today as worthy citizens of tomorrow. Generally regarded as the builder of a nation, teachers are the backbone of the educational system, the maker of mankind and the architect of the society. And Prof. Mukerjee had been blessed with all that.

Love-fully known amongst us those days in the department of English as Mukerjee Ma’am, Prof. Mukerjee was soft by heart and had a friendly nature and a generous lifestyle. Being blessed with a Professor like her at university level was marvelous. And I had been bestowed with such a great teacher for the first time whose stimulating and eyebrow-raising lectures will last forever. She was, nevertheless, from every angle different from others but she would unlike all others teach literature on board and explain things graphically.

Except Dr Mukerjee Ma’am, all Professors would assemble in the department every day either to have a cup of tea together or to chalk out something special .She was suffering from joint pain due to which she’d not go upstairs to the department. Our HOD Sir, Dr Neeraj Agnihotri, would praise her much whenever he would come to inspect our class.

And when after months we happened to see her in the department, upstairs—she would smile at all of us and say that a meeting was going on. Madam had a natural inclination towards quotations. Everyday she would write an outstanding quotation on the board in the department that we would hurriedly note down on paper.

In semester 3^rd, she taught us Thomas Hardy’s novels like Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge and Far from the Madding Crowd. But all she taught was engrossing. She would weigh her words and then shape them out into sentences tactfully. I recall, one day she showed us so remarkably, in a graphic manner, how William Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy were just opposite in their writings.

Her spell-bound lectures would grip us from the start till end. She was friendly with every student in the department. Every word or sentence she spoke during delivering a lecture would act as a quotation for us; and we wouldn’t delay to jot it down. She’d dress her thoughts, attractively; and truly we all would save them gingerly for our future! She’d treat all her students equally and that’s why she was my preferred Professor in the department of English at Govt. Hamidia Arts & Commerce PG College, Bhopal.

Prof. Mukerjee had a strong desire to recite the English translation of the Holy Qur’an irrespective of being a Hindu. Whenever she’d teach us any poem in the classroom I’d either quote Allama Iqbal’s (RA) verse or would correlate Qur’anic verses with the context. She’d wonder and say that the same thing is in Bhagavad-Gita and Vedas. She had told me to bring an English translation of the Holy Qur’an from Kashmir but my misfortune, years have gone by, and the promise is still to be kept.

Madam is absolutely a timeless inspiration. Ringing up a student is a far different matter back home where university Professors don’t even talk, formally, to their students. Maintaining the teacher-student gap is good but it should not be so much that the students suffer and do not learn anything from their torch-bearers at all. But its not so with the Professors outside Kashmir. A teacher must be a friend and a true inspiration not a snooze fest. With him or her one should really enjoy studies. This is what I’ve realized while watching spending my student days with her.

Apparently, with Mukerjee Ma’am life would seem loveliest. One would desire to walk, at all times, more miles, zealously, when she’d take the class. Everyday she’d make us carry something new with us. “So, let’s call it day’’, I recollect, the line she’d seal her everyday thought-provoking lecture in musical voice.

In the last semester, she taught us Indian Literature. I imagine, a month before our exams had begun she taught us Tagore’s poems from Gitanjali. How superbly she taught those ten poems been prescribed in our syllabi! To me, Mukerjee Ma’am is a true beacon of love, enduring educator and a legacy of learning.

I can’t forget the day when she had brought for us stationery pouches as we had to leave for Kashmir. How terrible, she wept that day and brought us to tears too! Whenever others Professors would speak high of me in her presence, she’d often say that ‘Manzoor is a receptive and mature student’.

She was so friendly that during exam days, she’d come to me and ask about my attempt and preparation. And when sometimes she was busy with something in the department, she’d call me up at my room and ask me about my attempt. She had given my batch so much that she’ll be missed for a pretty long time.

She was like a gripping book that requires not a single year but years together to be furled and read out. Ah, my misfortune, I couldn’t flip over head and ears! But I’m certain; I have only half the book to be flipped out now. Wish her a long life, happiness and prosperity. Will remember her, all my life.

Manzoor Akash is a regular GK columnist, author and educationist