Teachers I admire most
Sunday, 6 January 2008
Sifat Siddiquei
WHETHER it was the teeth-clattering winter or the roasting summer, I had to wake up at the unearthly 7am in the morning-----the second severest punishment according to me after the penalty of assassination! Lingering between the worlds of coma and awareness, I dragged myself towards lectures that worked as lullaby and the teachers as nannies. It was an arm's race to keep up lifting my eyelids that felt 5 kilos each! But just as soon as the bell for the 3rd period went, the door of my theatre of vivacity stood open ajar as it was the grand opening to the world of literature by our one and only Tahmina miss.
Miss Tahmina was our English literature teacher when I was a sixth grader. It was not the subject of literature that had lured me towards it, but it was her grandeur for it as she was our "The Tale of two Cities" Miss. Her arrival used to be the mega opening of a marvelous literary world---- a period full of pure delight, zeal and enthusiasm for every being present in there. Literature is a subject to be transformed into history after you pass your eighth grade. But it was her exuberance, her vitality and liveliness that used to make us fly into the world of Charles Dickens---dwell the eighteenth century life, flourish into those aristocratic devours, survive under the brutal contents of the French revolution, witness the slashing of the la-guilotine and bereave for the darling Carton. Her techniques of explaining were so apt and clear, so full of gestures and visuality that the switching of her expression from a romantic episode to a disheartening ploy, the diminishing of her thunderous laughing from a hilarious spectacle to a rising suspense all left us spell-bound, mesmerised and as children around the Santa Claus.
Through the euphony, Miss Tahmina used to drag us from one topic to another, highlighting every major event with sincerity. Since I am a born crammer, I often missed a topic or two on the night-before-exam. So, whenever I used to face difficulty remembering a concurrence during the examination, I used to take rides in my mind about the things she discussed ----like who staggered towards the burnt tree, who shoved off the pennies towards the girl and how did Mr. Evermonde die. In person, she is considerate, humble and endearing. I do not remember her ever passing a student without smiling at him or inspiring him for further progress on his tasks. Her very communicative nature in both outside and inside the class increased the standard of both understanding and co-operation among class individuals to a very high degree. The higher we scored, the more were we proud of her!
The teacher who have next put his depression inside me is our Prof. Faizul from Physics during my eighth grade. Do you know any person who just loves the laws of Newton or Einstein's theories? Why not when a certain person's contribution towards teaching these is so high! The first thing he did on entering the class was to make us all stand up and ask: "Is there any one left to wake up from hibernation?" Smiling and free, we all used to head-on for the lectures. He showed every possible way of solving a problem, thus analysing everybody's method. He always finished a diagram orally before making us work it out----increasing the understanding ability of what we did. Whether it was a pulley experiment or balancing of a meter-rule, he always preferred practicals for better precision of everything.
Prof. Faizul encouraged questioning, critics and upbringing of any alternate method that might be better than even his own. He had triggered this notion inside us that the study of physics is like the making of a work of art----hammer out the crevices using certain techniques, design the curves using others and create the history of building another pyramid!!!
Monsoon might influence the growth of ripeness, harmony might motivate the progress of humanity, but the ones who guide us for the establishment of a strong and powerful nation are our dear teachers. They help to build the spine of our tomorrow, teach to live life and let others live. They are my teachers who have directed me how to hold on things firmly; maximise my knowledge and thus minimise the world. They are the people whom I still cherish and honor most!
Sifat Siddiquei is an A level student at Maple Leaf International School, Dhaka
WHETHER it was the teeth-clattering winter or the roasting summer, I had to wake up at the unearthly 7am in the morning-----the second severest punishment according to me after the penalty of assassination! Lingering between the worlds of coma and awareness, I dragged myself towards lectures that worked as lullaby and the teachers as nannies. It was an arm's race to keep up lifting my eyelids that felt 5 kilos each! But just as soon as the bell for the 3rd period went, the door of my theatre of vivacity stood open ajar as it was the grand opening to the world of literature by our one and only Tahmina miss.
Miss Tahmina was our English literature teacher when I was a sixth grader. It was not the subject of literature that had lured me towards it, but it was her grandeur for it as she was our "The Tale of two Cities" Miss. Her arrival used to be the mega opening of a marvelous literary world---- a period full of pure delight, zeal and enthusiasm for every being present in there. Literature is a subject to be transformed into history after you pass your eighth grade. But it was her exuberance, her vitality and liveliness that used to make us fly into the world of Charles Dickens---dwell the eighteenth century life, flourish into those aristocratic devours, survive under the brutal contents of the French revolution, witness the slashing of the la-guilotine and bereave for the darling Carton. Her techniques of explaining were so apt and clear, so full of gestures and visuality that the switching of her expression from a romantic episode to a disheartening ploy, the diminishing of her thunderous laughing from a hilarious spectacle to a rising suspense all left us spell-bound, mesmerised and as children around the Santa Claus.
Through the euphony, Miss Tahmina used to drag us from one topic to another, highlighting every major event with sincerity. Since I am a born crammer, I often missed a topic or two on the night-before-exam. So, whenever I used to face difficulty remembering a concurrence during the examination, I used to take rides in my mind about the things she discussed ----like who staggered towards the burnt tree, who shoved off the pennies towards the girl and how did Mr. Evermonde die. In person, she is considerate, humble and endearing. I do not remember her ever passing a student without smiling at him or inspiring him for further progress on his tasks. Her very communicative nature in both outside and inside the class increased the standard of both understanding and co-operation among class individuals to a very high degree. The higher we scored, the more were we proud of her!
The teacher who have next put his depression inside me is our Prof. Faizul from Physics during my eighth grade. Do you know any person who just loves the laws of Newton or Einstein's theories? Why not when a certain person's contribution towards teaching these is so high! The first thing he did on entering the class was to make us all stand up and ask: "Is there any one left to wake up from hibernation?" Smiling and free, we all used to head-on for the lectures. He showed every possible way of solving a problem, thus analysing everybody's method. He always finished a diagram orally before making us work it out----increasing the understanding ability of what we did. Whether it was a pulley experiment or balancing of a meter-rule, he always preferred practicals for better precision of everything.
Prof. Faizul encouraged questioning, critics and upbringing of any alternate method that might be better than even his own. He had triggered this notion inside us that the study of physics is like the making of a work of art----hammer out the crevices using certain techniques, design the curves using others and create the history of building another pyramid!!!
Monsoon might influence the growth of ripeness, harmony might motivate the progress of humanity, but the ones who guide us for the establishment of a strong and powerful nation are our dear teachers. They help to build the spine of our tomorrow, teach to live life and let others live. They are my teachers who have directed me how to hold on things firmly; maximise my knowledge and thus minimise the world. They are the people whom I still cherish and honor most!
Sifat Siddiquei is an A level student at Maple Leaf International School, Dhaka