english classes

English in school and college: I think there's something about this subject, either one gets captivated by the text or the teacher!


i was never interested in english litterature and never studied for english exams till i completed my senior secondary. not that the subject was easy, but because i thought english litterature had no such importance at that time. i always wondered why did we memorize poetry, read and were asked to remember certain portions of prose.

english as a subject in school:
mrs veena bakshi was my english teacher in class VII. she was strict, had short hair, drove a two wheeler, and wore high heels to work. the good things i remember about her are: she was nice to the students, explained well, and punished little. we used to read from radiant reader.

the english teacher in VIII was equally good. she too was approachable, did not punish, explained everything, except for the word Panorama-title of the book!

mr mann was by far the best english teacher of st thomas' college. he made studying english fun. i liked him maybe because of his warm smile, or younger age. i remember he took the entire class to his farm house and we all had a nice picnic. we wondered why he did not teach in his school where his father was the owner and the principal. we concluded that perhaps his dad would not pay him there. his sister was the college captain and the best athlete i have ever seen during school days.

we had english plays and elocution contests in school. i thought the latter was more for testing the student's memory rather than testing the student on whether or not the verbal throw ups [and the diction] in a packed hall was understood and appreciated by all.


i liked the sweet and charming madhulika when we were in class IX. i loved her for he oratory skills - man, she recited the 85 lines within close to 10 minutes! i wondered if alfred noyes would have read his masterpiece with same facial expression and drama as madhu's!


next year she delivered another long piece and flawlessly finished reciting lochinvar! that poem made some sense. in both the poems she read, i had visualized her to be Bess and the 'bride' ready to be wed to someone else. and ofcourse, i was the nameless highway man and the brave lochinvar. whatever happened to that highway man after bess died i am still not sue, nor that i care. but lochinvar was the hero, running away with the bride. his love.


few lines from the famous and the favourite lochinvar... ...
So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall,Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all:


‘I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied;
Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide
And now am I come, with this lost love of mine,
To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. ...


The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up,
He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup,
She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,
With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye. ...


One touch to her hand and one word in her ear,
When they reached the hall-door, and the charger stood near;
So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,
So light to the saddle before her he sprung!‘
She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur;
They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,’ quoth young Lochinvar.


if i were an attentive student during my school days, especially during the poetry classes, I would have been able to make sense of words mentioned in the two poetry - moor; rapier hilt; simple sentence like 'his black-eyed daughter'; stirrups; Cannobie Lee; fret; fume, and others...


i remember, when mr mann was explaining us the poem, the line in the highwayman, 'He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin...' reminded me of clint eastwood dressed as cowboy in the good, the bad, and the ugly! too-ooo ooo, too-too-too!

While that daring lochinvar found and took away her love, this lochinvar is yet to think of finding one :-)

english as a subject in college:
GT was our new lecturer. the attendance of the class swelled when she started teaching us. not just because she was a good teacher, but she was the most beautiful one in the entire college. as i said earlier, there's something about this subject, either one gets captivated by the text or the teacher! i was not an exception, so english suddenly became a favourite subject. the english medium background gave some advantage, and asking questions to her was more easier. i also received some hostile stares from my peers, i wondered if it was a 'stay away from our babe' signal.

GT was smart, as all girls are, when coaching did not help her control the students, she started asking questions to all 'dada' and silent admirers. i was happy to observe the dwindling strength of the class.

crush apart, i started liking the subject, was more attentive, and read more than required for the next class. in addition to my IInd year classes, i started attending final year and classes for students of master degree as well - excuse on asking was - just for the love of the subject [and a silent, you!].


one day i was early in college and met our local bathsheba everdene [that's what we had named GT], and asked her what did she study to be a teacher. it was so nice to hear her talk, i wasn't actually interested in becoming a teacher, but was just interested in chatting with her. unfortunately, some late comers also arrived on time that day. because of them, i am not a teacher today-and also the ultimate, bathsheba's oak! saalay!

then there was one ms joshi, or topknot as we used to call her. a good dab of visible sindoor and her stern face left us no in no doubt that she means business. she taught poetry. that class was also interesting, not because she was beautiful, but she explained beautifully. i still remember a quote she shared with the class when we had settled down after wishing her, "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions!" how true.

of all the english teachers, the best was dr agarwal. we all have heard some people just marry their profession, he was one of those. and this was evident with the interest with which he used to teach. if today i remember 10-20 lines of ode to nightingale, it's because of him. he just didn't explain the meaning of each stanza, but each word, the origin of that word [if it was latin...], and every minute details.

to cement our understanding, he also brought some pictures that he had took while traveling to some museum in london. the pictures were about the poet/poem/symbols etc. that is when i started respecting the teaching clan, some of them from the clan i mean.


after witnessing dr agarwal's effective lectures, i concluded that most teachers who bashed me and others in school [maths and science in particular] were not bad people, it was just that because they did not know how to explain the same concepts in different ways to the lowest level of students , they gave up, got frustrated, and let out their frustrations by punishing us. teachers should never give up on students, because then the students give up hope in the subject, and also on education. i am glad i had dr agarwal, ms joshi, and GT as teachers.

i think with the interest in the subject, the influence of the teachers, and support from a close friend who was a litt pro, i did well in my IIyr exam and scored the highest marks in the college.