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Going home in a blaze of glory
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When all 16 students of the Post Graduate (English Literature) class of St. Teresa's College got a first class, the HOD, Prof. Mary Teresa, was on Cloud Nine. PRIYADARSSHINI SHARMA shares in her happiness.
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IT WAS a gift her students gave her. A most treasured parting gift on her retirement, as Prof. Mary Teresa bade farewell to 33 years of a distinguished teaching career. All the 16 postgraduate students of the English Literature secured a first class, besides bagging the top four honours, a record of sorts. And the shepherd, who led the flock, as Prof. Madhukar Rao aptly called her, dismisses her efforts modestly. "It has been a great team work. All the 19 teachers in the department put in their effort and the students matched their teachers' hard work. This is how it came about."
Along with this were the 32 first classes in B.A. English, which was a record of sorts for the college. And for Prof. Teresa, who retired as Head Of Department, the long and untiring years of teaching, a profession that she revelled in, has given her, her best moments. When she lost her husband recently, it was her students who were the source of her strength. "They rallied round me. They came from far off places, phoned me and were there to share my grief. They have given me unconditional love. Prof. Hridayakumari who taught me 36 years ago called me to share my grief. It was very touching moment."
A love got from years of mothering the girls, opening their mind's eye to life, through Shakespeare, Marlowe, Keats, Shelley, and the Romantics. "Shakespeare miss," as she was referred to in hushed tones by the students, changed raw, gawky girls into fine young ladies who were in turn to present her, her best moment.
For Prof. Teresa can hardly speak without fondly remembering a Dhanya or Sreeja or a Divya or a Renuka. Yes, all the girls, so many of them, who have passed out from the college still remain close to her. Surprisingly, she says that the girls have been her guide and inspiration. "I have learnt a lot from them. Their energy, their spirit and above all their love. It has been beautiful." She has learnt from these young women and taught them. A student and a teacher. " Yes, I have always told the students, to believe in what you are doing. Feel it. Many are called but few are chosen. I told them, many are called but you are the chosen ones. Probably this inspired them this time and they excelled. In my entire teaching career I do not remember having a recalcitrant student who could not be brought around."
"She was the best person to be contacted if we wanted information about any student. She knew them by names and their families," says Sr. Tessa, Principal of St. Teresa's College, pointing that her contributions were "not ordinary, but extraordinary."
And reiterating the contributions of her "loved teacher", says Dhanya, the first rank holder, "Besides being a wonderful person, she helped us adjust to the restructured syllabus and the newly introduced semester system, of which we are the first batch."
In this world of letters where students go on to become teachers and colleagues, where verse, poetry, drama and criticism binds them together, age, seniority, retirement ceases to matter. A teacher never retires, as one finds. They do not fade out either; they live on to interpret and teach the word down the generations and remain.
So, she remains, a distinguished teacher above all. Prof. Teresa who wrote her thesis on `Gone with the Wind' a novel that inspired her, believes in the world of her loved heroine, Scarlet O' Hara.
`Tomorrow is another day', she agrees as she continues to impart spoken English classes to nurses aspiring to move ahead.
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Metro Plus
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