Manas Ranjan Mahapatra, Puri, 5th September 2022
Once opon a time, I was a school headmaster at Umerkote, then in Koraput district of Odisha. I also taught in various centres of higher learning throughout the country as a visiting faculty in the last four decades. I feel nostalgic every year when Teachers’ Day comes on 5th September.
Many of my friends may have forgotten that once upon a time I was a visiting faculty in Delhi University’s College of Vocational Studies in their PG Course in Book Publishing for about 5 years. I used to teach Editing. My friends Dr. G.S Jolly, Kalyan Banerjee and Sumit Bhattacharjee were also teaching Editing and Book Production there.
My assignment as a faculty came as a surprise. Sumit and I were good friends and used to commute to office together. His assignment from the University came first. He was an alumni of the College of Vocational Studies. I used to accompany him as we used to go back home together. Dr. Jolly did not know that I was a visiting faculty in Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and a few more centres of excellence. One day he surprised me by offering me to teach Editing!
So, I started teaching Book Editing. We used to reach the college everyday by 6 p.m. It was an evening course in self financing mode. There were two classes of 50 minutes each. Our students were mostly professionals or those preparing for competitive examinations. One of them, Sakul Kundra, had already completed his M. Phil., and was doing Ph.D in History at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He was our best student and got Gold Medal in his batch.He used to send me Teachers’ Day gift for many years even after the college had stopped the course. Now he is a Professor.
Besides Sakul, I fondly remember two girls – Swati and……(can’t recollect her name). Swati was working with Sage Publications and the other with Macmilan. Both were extremely bright.
One day, the parents of the other girl came to meet me and requested for notes prepared by me. I told them that I have never prepared notes in my life! Then I asked them, “Do you want your daughter to be an editor or a clerk? If you want her to be an editor, I will do that hard work and guide her. But if you want her to be a clerk, I can only recommend some help series books for her preparation. And regarding examination, be sure that she will get more than 90 per cent marks. I know her calibre,” I concluded. Indeed, she got 97 per cent marks in her examination!!
Two years ago, I met the CEO of Sage Publications in a Panel Discussion. He informed me that my other student, Swati, was now the head of the Editorial Division of a noted Publishing House at Singapore. My heart swelled with pride.
Teachers’ Day is not only a day for students to remember their teachers. It can be the other way round where proud teachers remember their students! I feel honoured that Sakul Kundra is now a Professor in Fiji University and Swati heads the Editorial Division of an international Publishing House.
I dedicate my success as a teacher to those who taught me in school, college, and university. They have indeed opened the sky for me to fly.
