The Hindu : New Delhi News : Chitra Subrahmaniam passes away

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Sunday, Mar 30, 2008
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Chitra Subrahmaniam passes away

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Chitra Subrahmaniam, a Fulbright scholar and history teacher at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in the Capital, passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. She was 59.

Ms. Subrahmaniam was honoured with the Best Teacher Award by the Central Board of Secondary Education last year and was part of various sub-committees of the National Council of Education Research and Training.

Recalling her long association with Ms. Subrahmaniam, former Principal of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Vibha Parthasarathi, described her as an iconic figure who became a legend in her lifetime: “She was a creative and innovative teacher and had a unique way of presenting history to children. She used to bring alive history and issues involved in a certain period of time. She encouraged students to reflect on what had happened and then arrive at a conclusion, rather than accept historical incidents at face value. She encouraged students to debate and explained in detail historical episodes, their location and peculiarities. In brief, she presented a holistic view of history.”

Former Indian test cricketer Rahul Sanghvi fondly remembered his former history teacher as a very polite, soft-spoken and friendly person. “Even after passing out of school we kept in touch with her. She remembered all her former students by name. She had a total command over the subject she taught,” he added. Ms. Subrahmaniam is survived by her husband. Her sister Vidya Subrahmaniam is Deputy Editor with The Hindu. Cremation will take place at the Lodhi Road electric crematorium at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

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