October 5 - World Teacher's day

Written and published nearly twenty years ago in India Digest, edited by umA rAmamUrti. This, together with other 500 "gems" may be found in the collection "Today's Beautiful Gem" at http://www.uramamurthy.com/mohan_gems.html

My Teachers - Dara Job was my first school teacher. This Christian teacher narrated the stories from Ramayana and kindled in me the interest in classics that burns to this day. Later on, I had teachers like Vedam Venkata Krishna Sarma and Narayanachar who inculcated in me the appreciation of literature - Indian and English - that made a long series of otherwise sombre days of later periods bearable. Chandrasekhara Reddy in the college once again worked a miracle. We read bhAsa's dramas such as `yaj~naphalam' and `pratima'. He taught me to look at the other side of things such as how well-meaning kaikEyi was always misunderstood in `pratima'. Though very interested in literature, I didn't take it as my major. Instead, I took to science and discovery. There, I had excellent masters such as SrIrAmaUurti, pApA rAv, rAmachandra rAv, bAbu rAv, and, bhImasenachAr, to mention a few. Then I had visvAmitra, R.S. kRshNan and vEnkaTasubramaNyam, and, rAjagOpAl in the graduate school. These and others inspired me to take up
the perilous path of scientific research.

I have several other teachers in my life. I learnt quite a lot from my parents and my siblings, in particular, music from my mother. My beautiful wife taught me several sweet lessons including the intricate aspects of cooking and biochemistry. My two children teach me daily the American perspective of life! My friends and colleagues are also, in a way, my tutors. Long ago, I myself was a teacher and tried to inspire many a student, but I am not sure
how successful I was. I am glad for many who attained good positions, a few here in the US. It is always nice to be a student. The teachers profess to know a lot; as a student, I understand I have a lot to learn. I had other teachers such as G.N. rAmachandran, Dorothy Hodgkin and Linus Pauling, who never knew I was their student. I met them briefly and conversed with
them; they might not remember me. However, they were my inspirational beacons! Then there were the authors from whose articles and books I got training in many disciplines.

In a broader sense, I had many preceptors - Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Nanak, Tagore, Gibran, Gandhi, and, many other great names. Nature, with its blue skies, bright stars, green valleys and gurgling rivers as well as with its abundance of flowers, birds, and animals, is a splendid but invisible teacher. The dawn of each day is a harbinger for new experiences in learning. The dusk of each day is a time for reflection on the small discoveries made and the many errors committed in the process. I am what I am today because of the lessons my many masters, past and present, taught me. Forever, I wish to remain a student longing for peace, wisdom, and, love!

Postscript: I consider many of my rangOli colleagues too as my teachers in this autumn of my life.

Om SAntiH! Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao