Teacher's Day: 'He was a guide, mentor and friend'

We'd asked you, our readers, to tell us about your favourite teacher and we've been inundated with your entries. Here's the final set of responses we received:

Here, Ajit Pal Singh remembers the teachers who’ve left an indelible mark in his life

There are so many people who inspire, conspire and influence the mind of a child that to pick one of them and call them my favourite would be very difficult.

But there is always that one person who stands out in everybody's life -- the one who gives meaning to the words, teaches and forms principles, influences your thought pattern and in other words actually moulds you into a good human being.

I have been lucky to have a few such people in my life:

My father and my mother

They were the first teachers I had. They taught me right from wrong, left from right, how to stand, to eat, to drink, to speak and to do everything that I now know of.

I remember a few verses of a very old song once taught to me during my singing classes in school:

Mother of mine you gave to me, all of my life to do as I please,
I owe everything I have to you, mother sweet mother of mine...

This song truly captures my feeling for my first teachers (father and mother).

My Maths teacher, Ashok Ojha Sir

Like every kid I used to have a dread of numbers, the algebra x and y's were always an alien concept for me and the figures of trigonometry always baffled my logic.

I had developed such a phobia of this subject that I prayed to God to deliver me from anything related to maths.

Throughout classes VII, VIII and IX, I just scraped through and managed to score just 38 or 39 in the yearly average in maths, where the passing marks were 40.

However the school management passed me because I was good in the other subjects and topped some of them.

Then one fine day, when my parents were almost on the verge of kicking me out of the house for faring miserably in Maths my cousin sister referred her maths teacher to my mother.

I’d never been to a tuition class ever till that day.

But due to the coaxing (read aggressive) of my mother I had to go to him.

When I first met him at my cousin's house I thought he was a simple man. He was dressed in a plain white shirt (not tucked in) with black trousers, leather slippers, black umbrella and a khakhi shoulder bag.

He looked like a teacher, and I thought to myself that the next one hour of class was going to be my journey to hell.

From the moment he first addressed me and took me in, something all.

Most of the time I used sleep in your lectures but you never expelled me.

On this special day my best wishes to all those teachers from whom I’ve learned something new.

I’m falling short of words to express my feelings.

I would like to wish all my teachers a very Happy Teacher's Day.

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Finally, we have Ramanan Natarajan who pays his tributes to his teacher who helped him get to where he is today:

I am very happy that I can set aside some time and recall those great souls called teachers and write some tributes to them.

Right from my kindergarten until I graduated, I had the blessings to have been taught by some great teachers.

The key learning period from 6th to 10th standard was a great time for me at SAV Higher secondary School in Tuticorin.

I remember of Mr Sankararaman who taught me solid mathematical skills.

I remember of Mr Rajendran who has taught science so well to me.

I remember of Mr Sankaralingam who was fluent in Tamil and motivated me to love language.

However, it is Mr Venkatraman who taught me English and social sciences in my 9th and 10th standard whom I would remember the most.

He wanted to ensure all his students passed. His approach was very simple. He wanted to teach his students the basics very well.

When we completed our half yearly exams and the time came for the revision exams, he has held special classes for all of us and has re-taught English and social sciences so well.

He taught all students the basics of English grammar. He believed if the basics were taught well, we would be able to speak and write English fluently.

He also ensured he has taught his students an easy way to remember the location of the countries in the world map.

He brought a map he had purchased himself for this purpose. His expectation was that by rigorously training students on these, he can help them pass the exams. It did work for many people.

I used to be the topper but I was weak in English.

His grammar lessons during the 'revision exams' period helped me to the extent that I still owe my English skills to him. It was the foundation he laid during that time that helped me gain a reasonably good command over the language.

However, the most important and vital gift that I received from him was probably my life itself.

My father was a very sincere non-corrupt government Officer. When I completed my 10th standard, he was 55 and had only three years of service left before he retired.

We were a middle class family and he wanted me to join a Diploma course and find a job in three years.

The results came out; I was third in my school but my father was keen that I should join a Diploma course primarily because he was had a health condition and wanted me to be independent as soon as possible.

On the other hand, I wanted to do Class XII and study engineering.

That was when Mr Venkatraman stepped in and told him that I stood a good chance to get admission in a government engineering college whose fees wouldn’t burn a hole in his pocket.

He convinced my father that he could make a difference to my life by supporting my education.

I made sure I never let my father down, passed my class 12 examinations with good score and joined Coimbatore Institute of Technology which was one of the best engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu. I studied well in engineering too and got a campus placement in TCS.

I have been with TCS for the last 16 years as a senior Delivery manager.

I have visited several countries and am still going strong.

If I look back my life, I still think I owe a lot and lot to Mr Venkatraman.

He was the one who put my career on the right track.

I don't even know his whereabouts now (I feel guilty to say this).

But, I take this opportunity to thank him for the wonderful life I am enjoying today. Thanks a lot Sir!