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Teachers are role models who make an indelible impression on their students. The teacher-student relationship is perhaps the most important of the three sacred relationships. The other two are the parent-child and doctor-patient relationships. Unfortunately, with rapid commercialization and the degeneration of traditional values, these relationships are becoming major casualties. Still, the best credentials people hold are the values they inherit from their parents, teachers, and healthcare providers.
Before I begin sharing some of the cherished moments from my school, college, and university days, I take this opportunity to salute all my teachers for making me what I am today.
I still vividly remember my first day at Government Model Middle School, Model Town, Ludhiana. I was given a written test on the English and Punjabi alphabets. The teacher administering my test was Mrs. Isher Kaur, a wonderful middle-aged language teacher who was the epitome of elegance and grace. She not only awarded me full marks but also appreciated my handwriting. I had an intuition that I was going to love this temple of learning.
Our school headmistress, Mrs. Jaswant Kaur Khaira, was not only a strict disciplinarian but also a superb administrator. Married to Comrade Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, she regularly inspected all the classrooms.
Since it was the only English-medium school, with no convent or other Christian English-medium schools in our area, it attracted the best talent. Our class was divided into two sections. Students who opted for Punjabi as a second language were placed in Section A, while those who chose Hindi went to Section B. Some teachers taught both sections.
From third or fourth grade onward, my class teacher was Mrs. Surinder Kaur Pahwa, one of the best teachers the school had. She taught us Social Studies, Geography, and History. Her teaching style was awesome, and she had a fantastic talent for storytelling. It was she who instilled in us the habit of maintaining our homework notebooks well. She introduced healthy competition among her students in preparing practical notebooks in which we copied maps, marked different climate or agricultural zones, and colored them. She would check our work and compliment good efforts with remarks such as “good,” “very good,” and “excellent.”
She closely monitored the progress of every student. I still remember that when we were in seventh grade, almost our entire section failed mathematics in the house tests. She became very upset. Concerned, she sat with us and asked why we were not doing well in math.
Ultimately, she requested another teacher, Mr. Ram Singh, to hold an extra class for us after school. Ram Singh was an excellent teacher, and in the final examination, all the students passed the math paper with good marks.
After Mrs. Isher Kaur was transferred, Mrs. Inder Kaur became our Punjabi teacher. She was also a very competent teacher. Then we had Mr. Narinder Singh, our drawing teacher. He was a colorful personality and would sing when he was in the mood. For the first few years at school, Ms. Sandaljit Kaur was our physical education teacher. She was later replaced by Mr. Darshan Singh, NDS. He was tough and made sure that no one violated any rules or engaged in any acts of indiscipline.
It was Ms. Sandaljit Kaur who introduced us to sports.
Other teachers I remember include Mrs. Harinder Kaur, Mrs. Surinder Kaur Rai, Mrs. Nepal, Mrs. Sanjogta, Ms. Surinder Bala Midha, who taught math, and her sister, Ms. Indu Bala Midha, who was my Zoology teacher at SCD Government College. Others included Ms. Darshana Sandhu, who taught Punjabi; Mr. Bansi Lal; Mr. Narinder Singh, our drawing teacher; Mr. Ram Singh, who taught math; and Mrs. S.P.K. Grewal, the headmistress. Ms. Darshana Sandhu later rose to become DPI Schools.
Gurdishpal Singh, Sukhjit Singh Raju, Balraj Singh Sahota, Sarabjit Singh Sidhu, Jyotinder Singh Sandhu, Gurnek Singh, Sukhpal Singh of Engine Shed, Kanwarjit Singh, Kamaljit Singh, Jaspal Singh Girgla, Gurdeep Singh “Kuchu,” Paramjit Singh Bedi, Manjit Singh Sidhu, Jaskaran Kaur, Mandeep Kaur Gill, Parvinder Kaur Juneja, Satinder Kaur Dua, Sukhwinder Kaur, Jagjit Kaur, Parveen Kaur, and Harinder Kaur Baweja were in my section until we took the Middle Standard examination, which was conducted at the time by the District Education Office.
Our contemporaries in the Hindi section included Rajinder Singh Bhatia, who topped the district in the Middle examination in Ludhiana in 1968; Ravi Kumar Gupta; Rakesh Mehta; Surinder Dhall; Anil Khosla; Bhushan Kumar; Parminder Singh “Bittu”; Parveen Sabharwal; Shiv Om Prashar; Rajbans Kaur; Permeet Kaur Kalra; and Kanwaljit Kaur Kohli.
As we graduated from middle school to high school, we had another excellent group of teachers. At Government Model High School, Cemetery Road, Civil Lines, my class teacher was Mrs. Sohal, a fine, sober lady who taught us English. We were fortunate to have Mr. Hazur Sharan Bedi as our math teacher. A very tough man and strict disciplinarian, he made learning numbers, theorems, and algebra seem simple.
We also had Mr. Gopal Dass and Mr. Varinder as science teachers, as well as Mrs. S. Sood as our Hygiene and Physiology teacher. Mrs. Khaira also taught classes for the medical section. Ms. Darshana Sandhu, who taught Punjabi, probably moved from the middle school to the high school with us. We also had Ms. Shobha Kalra as our Social Studies teacher.
Of course, we had Mr. Grewal, who oversaw physical training and sports. He was very popular with members of our school’s boys’ and girls’ hockey teams.
It was an excellent team that produced results. In the Matriculation examination, conducted for the first time by the Punjab School Education Board, which had been established after the reorganization of Punjab on November 1, 1966, our school was in the limelight. Rajinder Singh Bhatia, who had topped the Middle Standard examination in Ludhiana two years earlier, secured the top position in the state. Twenty-six students appeared on the state merit list. I ranked second in the school and 111th on the state merit list. All 26 students on the merit list received national or state merit scholarships. This record remains intact.
Some of my classmates were fortunate to gain admission to the prestigious Government College, Ludhiana, for the Pre-University class. That year, 1970, the college was celebrating its diamond jubilee. My teachers included Prof. H.R. Dhir, who taught Physics; Prof. Ajit Singh, who taught Chemistry; Mr. D.S. Mann, who taught Botany; Ms. Indu Bala Midha, who taught Zoology; and Mr. L.S. Malhotra, who taught English. Capt. (Retd.) Parminder Singh taught the optional Punjabi course.
Subsequently, in Pre-Medical and B.Sc., my teachers changed. I remained a student of Prof. G.B.S. Salaria, a great Chemistry teacher. He held a D.Sc. and was a keen sportsman who played soccer with the college team. My other teachers included Prof. A.K. Sikri, Prof. Mohinder Singh, and Prof. M.S. Khurana, all from Chemistry; Prof. Piara Singh, who taught Physics; Prof. C.G. Kumbkarni, who taught Zoology; and Dr. Chadha, who taught Botany.
Dr. Chadha’s son, Mr. Vikram Chadha, completed his postgraduate degree in Economics and joined Guru Nanak Dev University, where he rose to become Professor and Head of the Department of Economics. Vikram, like his father, was a good tennis player.
Although I failed to gain admission to medical college, many of my classmates succeeded in entering medical colleges, including Jagtar Singh Chhina, Surinder Singla, Prem Nath, Satish Kumar, Pavittar Singh, Bhupinder Singh Kuckreja, and Ravinder Seth. I moved on to journalism and was among the first group of students admitted to the newly established Department of Journalism at Punjabi University, Patiala.
We were fortunate that the great journalist Kuldip Nayar agreed to head the department as a visiting professor. He would come every weekend and spend a full day with us. At the time, Mr. Kuldip Nayar headed the Indian Express News Service as its editor.
We also had the U.S.-educated Ms. Asha Sharma as our de facto main teacher. A very sober and knowledgeable woman, she knew how to command the respect of students, regardless of their academic seniority. Some of my classmates were also simultaneously registered for doctorate and M.Phil. courses.
For Reporting, Mr. Sher Singh Gupta, who represented The Tribune in Patiala at the time, taught our classes. He was a thorough and upright professional and a great teacher indeed. Later, one of India’s best printing technology experts, Prof. L.R. Nagpal, joined the department. We also had Suba Singh, press secretary to Punjab Chief Minister Giani Zail Singh, and Mr. Diljeet Singh Pannuan as members of the guest faculty.
After completing my Bachelor of Journalism in Patiala, I returned to SCD Government College, Ludhiana, for my master’s degree in English Literature. By then, I had already started working as a journalist, first for the daily Ajit of Jalandhar and later for The Tribune’s sports section and the Morning Echo, a tabloid of The Hindustan Times.
My good fortune in having the best teachers continued during my master’s studies in English. It was an honor to be a student of great teachers such as Prof. R.N. Matta, Dr. S.S. Narula, Professor Kalia, Prof. P.K. Sood, Prof. K.S. Abhilashi, Prof. Kulwant Singh Gill, Mrs. Grewal, Prof. Rakesh, and Prof. Kartar Singh.
Since my appetite for learning was still not satisfied, I moved to Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, to pursue a master’s degree in Journalism after completing my master’s degree in English. Prof. Hazara Singh was a perfectionist. He taught us technical writing and scientific temperament. A tough taskmaster, he was very methodical, distributing notes and giving students individual attention to help them understand the basics of a subject that, until then, had been unfamiliar to most of us. We also had Professor A.J. Singh, who taught Economics; Mr. K.N. Mohla, who taught Photography; Prof. A.N. Shukla; Dr. Amarjit Singh, who taught English; and Amarjit Singh, who taught Agronomy.
Besides all these teachers, who were great men and women of letters, I was also a student of everyone who guided me, taught me, and helped me grow professionally without being part of any formal classes.
Above all, my parents have been the greatest influence on my life, as they taught me values at home.
Once again, I salute all my teachers. I owe it all to you.
I wrote this piece in 2021. I am reproducing it because my respect for my teachers has grown enormously since then.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.
