Tribute to My teachers:-informal and formal-Part I Nandkumar Kamat
“Sa vidya ya vimuktaye’ ‘Vidya bhoghkari, yasha sukhkari, Vidhya Gurunam Guru” “Vidyadhanam sarva dhanapradhanam” “Gurrursahkshat parabrahma, tasmai sri guruve namah” I was raised in the above tradition in a family of GSB traders where nobody was educated beyond a few standards. Then many formal and informal teachers came to my aid as I charted a turbulent , often lonely course of my career, my life and everything else.....who were they, those who kept my hopes and aspirations in this life alive?. On the eve of Teachers' day this is a humble tribute to all of them....I am here on NET because of them..... :Late Tipu Gavade, 101years, Aksan, Madakai, 1991-3 He educated me on the engineering aspects of Madkaim’s vast khazan lands. He remembered all the details of construction of Khazan bundhs, backwaters or ‘poim’, repair works such as ‘thor’, ‘cupto’ and ‘chonoi’. He remembered Goa of the years of first world war. Before I could interview him for Goa Doordarshan, he succumbed to an accident. Recently I met his daughter in law at Madkaim. : An anonymous yellow cab driver, 1970, Panaji: He taught me honesty at the age of nine years. There was a taxi stand near Imperial hotel, Panaji-old praca. Taxis from St.Cruz used to take passengers in the morning for Re. 0.25. To reach early to school, I used to get a lift. When I gave him an eight anna coin, this driver returned me extra change which without counting I had pocketed. Then he caught hold of my collar and asked me- “Tu odxech kortolo?. would you do this again, return my extra change”. I apologized and returned the extra cash and took a vow not to touch money which does not belong to me. : Shrimati Sindhu Kelkar –my language teacher in high school, 1969: I had a muslim friend-Mirsab in high school in V th standard. On the way back from school to Panaji bus stand he used to purchase ‘panpatti’ (scented betel leaves with stimulants) from a gada (kiosk) near Fazenda footpath. Once he offered me a panppati to taste and I took it without knowing that we were being followed by Mrs. Sindhu Kelkar who was also proceeding in the same direction. When she saw me chewing paan, she gave me an angry look and hurried her steps without saying anything. Next day, in the class she asked both of us to stand up and ordered us to write the sentence- “henceforth we would not consume panpatti or any other tambakhu (tobacco) product in our life (amhi yhapude kadhihi panpatti kinva tambakhu khnar nahi) hundred times, show it to our parents and get their signatures. We did it. I don’t know about Mirsab. He left the school and I lost his track. Since that day I have never touched any tobacco product in my life. : Headmaster, Marxist ideological champion S.S. Khanolkar, 1968-75 An old colleague of comrade B.T.Ranadive, when Sa.Su.Khanolkar took over as Principal of Kasturba Matoshri High school (formerly Kanyashala, a wholly Marathi medium high school till 1980s with excellent Sanskrit teaching facilities) everyone was terrified. He had hair trigger temperament and was a strict disciplinarian. I have seen him losing his temper in the class and slapping my classmates on small academic mistakes. I never got his ‘prasad’. I remember him for identifying and promoting my reading habits. ‘Take what you want, as many books as you wish to read’ he used to call and tell me. He gave me first English dictionary-Oxford’s and advised to learn 10 new words everyday. He threw open the school library for me. Within a few days of arrival every new Marathi book used to reach me. “Sant ani Science’ by Prof. Deshpande was then a controversial book in Maharashtra. It had attacked the casteist approach of Maharashtrian saints. It was heavy stuff for me in VIII th standard. But Khanolkar made me read it and develop an idea of rationalism and literary criticism. He also introduced me to Prof. Narhar Kurundkar’s iconoclastic critical books- Jagar and shivaratra-which discussed the Hindu-Muslim politics in India. Kurundkar’s Jagar can be now matched only with the scholarly tomes of Karen Armstrong. He introduced the system of presenting books as awards for intra school competition. I won several awards in state level elocution and essay competitions only because of his inspiration. He had also admonished me for writing a satirical poem on my classmate. When the girl complained, he called me to his office and said-Can’t you find any other subjects?. Having spent seven years in the high school which lies today in a dilapidated condition - I have come to value his special attention to me in boosting reading habits and creative spirit. : Science teacher Vijay Rajgolkar: 1971-75 Young Rajgolkar from Belgaum under the influence of Soviet brand of Communism was running ISCUS in Panaji with Adv. Arun Nigalye, Ramesh Kolvalkar and others. He was a hardcore rationalist and taught science subjects very effectively. He loaned me the ISCUS sponsored slide projector and hundreds of colourful slides to conduct slide shows on Soviet monuments and culture. That was quiet exciting novelty for us in a newly (1967) electrified village like Calapur-Santa Cruz. It was he who introduced me to Russian literature which had then flooded India at cheap, subsidized rates. I read Marx, Engels, Lenin, Tolstoy, Gorky, Gogol, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Sholokhov, Maykowsky, Perelman in translation only because of his inspiration. He saw to it that we would do well in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I learnt these subjects for seven years in Marathi medium. Once in a quarterly school test Rajgolkar gave me 105 marks out of 100. When I brought it to his notice he said-“you have not only solved the compulsory questions but the extra ones also, so I am making an exception for you-yes, it is 105 out of 100, there won’t be any change now. You deserve it.” :Smt. Shanta Sardessai, class teacher, St. IV, Massano da Amorim Govt. Primary school, Panaji, 1967-68: I have completely lost track of her but God knows how she identified my talent. She was very fond of cats. She used to send some of us during the break to Panaji fish market to buy ‘karbat’ for the cats. She included me as a child artist for Childrens’ programme on All India radio. I got probably the highest marks in the state (676/700) in IV th standard examination during 1967-8. I didn’t understand anything about percentages and state ranks at that time. When we had assembled to get our final report cards, Mrs. Sardessai- called me and said –‘You must learn to celebrate since now you would be leaving this school. Go and get some sweets otherwise you may not get your report card” I did not know what to do. I rushed to our shop closeby. My maternal uncle was busy. He looked at me questioningly-‘Kide zale re? (what happened). “mama, teacher has told me to get some sweets.”. He was puzzled. I thought I won’t get anything so I began crying. “don’t cry, he said, take these peppermints and distribute in your class’. He handed me a bag full of peppermints. I just dashed to the class and gave the bag to the teacher. I still don’t know why she had insisted on this ritual. Probably she expected me to enjoy my success and learn to share it with others. :Late Vishnu Anta Vaingankar, senior toddy tapper from Bondir, Calapur”, 1988-91 Vishnu tapped some 50 coconut trees for toddy before the Chirculem and pante cantor bunds began breaching since 1980-1 in St. Cruz village and salinity killed the trees. Before I decided to file a PIL (WP 319/88) I was asked to collect affidavits from Khazan farmers, salt producers and toddy tappers. Vishnu accompanied me everywhere. Slowly he began to give information on things which I never knew-the once booming salt industry in the village, the coconut groves, the art of tapping toddy and producing vinegar, the discovery of rotten planks from a ship buried in sediment in old port of Bondir, his ecological world vision, his predicament about the village- “greed would destroy this village, you just see” he had told me in 1988. He died without experiencing any rejuvenation of Calapur’s coconut , salt, rice , vegetables based economy. He opened my eyes to a new reality when I was doing my Ph.D. and the knowledge which he gave me about microeconomy of the village later helped me in advocating conservation and protection of Khazan lands of Goa. :Adv. Late Sharatchandra alias Babsaheb Sonak, St. Inez, Panaji:1977-83 The groundfloor flat of Sonak’s in Ashwini building at Sant Inez was a beehive of activity ( it still is) during the golden days of Goa’s students movement (1977-87). I was introduced to Adv. Babasaheb Sonak by his son adv. Satish during 1977. He hailed from a well known, cultured family from Nagpur. They had settled permanently in Goa after liberation. He was a bibliophile. He had a large collection of books. He had undergone a major cardiac surgery abroad. With deep interest in philosophy, religion and science he carried long conversations on famous authors and philosophers. He truly inspired me to read western philosophers and novelists. It was because of him that I got introduced to great sarvodaya leader Acharya Dada Dharmadhikari and spent a whole day in his august company. For nearly seven years Adv. Sonak (senior) was my intellectual guide- he constantly propelled me in every endeavour-essays, poems, debates, speeches-it was a charged, cultured atmosphere at Sonak’s. At breakfast we discussed Aristotle and Socrates, during lunch it would be Russell or Wittgenstein, at night Albert Einstein and Jayant Naralikar or George Gamow. We spent several evenings discussing Sarvappalli Radhakrishnan and J.Krishnamurti, Erich Fromm and Will Durant. He suggested that I should read all ten volumes by Durant on story of civilization. I did it. I had better knowledge of world civilizations after that. Then it was Havelock Ellis’s books on psychology of sex which he permitted me to read. I could see that he was molding my mind in a secular and progressive direction. It was his wish to meet India’s noted astrophysicist padmavibhushan Prof. Jayant Naralikar. After his death, I managed to persuade Dr. Naralikar during his short visit to Goa to visit Sonak’s house. Dr. Naralikar obliged and we had a memorable evening with him. Babasaheb’s portrait was witness to this historic visit. I was sorry that he was no more there to share the beautiful moments. All his three children ,high court lawyers Adv. Satish, Adv. Mahesh and Mrs.Sushma Lokare ( anthropologist, ex editor NBT, New delhi) have made tangible contributions to enrich Goan society. Babasaheb taught me many family values. He was a true teacher. When news of his death reached me I rushed to Panaji on my bicycle. The body had been kept on a block of ice. I picked up Bhagvadgeeta and read the full sacred text to console myself. I felt a void in my life for many years after he died. Once in one’s life such personalities, who are not your blood relations-meet and inspire you, touch your lives and shower their love on you without any expectations. How to forget such teachers and guides? End of part I. September 4, 2010 -- Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, GOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Now available in Toronto, a few copies of *Into The Diaspora Wilderness* by Selma Carvalho. Contact Bosco D'Mello [email protected] (416) 803-7264 http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
