My tributes to our great teachers - Pradeep Sahu

My Tributes....On the Occasion of Golden Jubilee of DMS…My tributes to the great teachers/ GURUs at DMS who were excellent. They made us believe in ourselves and told was there was light at the end of the tunnel…They are GODs for us…

I would like to take this opportunity to pay my tributes to our late Headmaster Mr K.C.Das. (Although much has been written in appreciation of this great soul but still I feel it is too less as compared to his contributions to society).

I remember my 1st class teacher in Class V, Section B, Mrs. Pramila Sathpathy. She was an excellent, caring personality yet strict. She was the first one ever to have taught us the basics about learning Odia at school. Thank you a lot ma’m because you are the One who started it for me, whatever I’m today, you are the one who instilled the love for my mother tongue. I remember how I sulked in Odia Grammer! I had to work on it a lot! You were the one who made me the class monitor.…

Miss Mickey Benson (late)!!! Ma’m..Me and all my batch mates will certainly miss you a lot. We were just AWE STRUCK by your teachings, sense of dressing, the aura, and your love as our class teacher. You were a great human being and I pray for your soul to rest in peace and may the almighty give you a place in his abode for you to guide us from heaven. We will miss your many English dramas like the Merchant of Venice and other Shakespeare dramas.

Mr. Konduru Kameswar Rao!!! How can I forget Sir. He was very strict with us boys, and used to handle the girls with utmost care. He was this bachelor teacher who had weakness for fashionable dresses and Maths. He had a very unique way of teaching Maths. His English with a Telugu accent was very interesting. He used to give tuition to many of our batch mates. He used to visit my neighbor’s house (Srinivas Bhai’s) and S.L.Mohan Rao’s house on his new cycle and give me a few tips on how to solve Maths problems. After school, almost after 25 years, last year I had a chance meeting with Sir at a wedding reception at Hotel Surayansh and invited him to my home. The next day...very early morning Sir was at my place to meet Sujata and Isha. He explained to Isha how one can excel in life with music and maths. It was a great moment for me and my family.

Mr P.N. Mishra Sir!!! This great English teacher with his white dress, hat and impeccable signature of Paramananda Mishra laid a strong foundation in English in all of us. I still cannot forget how he made us practice the heel marching and his commanding voice to make corrections in our postures during the practice sessions in NCC, and OMG how handsome he looked on those national festival days in the ceremonial dress and leading the parade in the parade grounds with the shining sword in his hands. He was just very royal and impressive the way he carried himself in the class and in the parade grounds.

Mr.B.B.Nayak Sir!!! This gentlemen teacher was the most feared but he was too good with his English Grammar teachings and who can forget his anger when silly mistakes were made while answering his Qs.

Mr. N. Mishra Sir!!! One of his daughters was our classmates and another our senior. Sir used to teach us English also. He was very particular about pronunciation. He was too thin and his daughters were much thinner. I recently met his elder daughter who is working as a SBI manager and enquired about sir's health. Sir is not doing well. My prayers will always be for his good health.

The late Mr. N. Rai who shouted at us while we went about understanding the History of India all through the ages. We were all least interested with the long notes he dictated and made various kinds of noises, and then he would shout at us not to jump like frogs in the classroom and we had all fun when he was not looking at us.

Mr. G.N. Das, he was witty, intelligent, learned and was great in his English... teaching us Civics. With his rye smile he used to have a sense of purpose in his classes. He was lovingly called JANDA by all his students.

Mr. Debraj Sahoo, Sir!! used to teach us Geography and then he left for higher studies for a few years and then again was back in school after a few years.

Mr. P.N.Panda Sir!!! How can anyone forget sir? He had a unique style of delivery. He used to punish each one of us when we were unable to answer his questions by saying Dhala Dhala Shirt re Kala Kala Bottama answer dela bela ku nahin tora nama…and his “stand up on the chair” shouts. We all used to giggle when the huge bodied ones stood up on the chair blocking Sir’s view from us. We had fun at the back when Tridib used to stand on the chair in front of us.

Mrs. Sandhya Mohanty!!! Ma’m was our class teacher and was unmarried when she joined school. She used to teach us Maths. I loved the way she used to shout at us for not doing the problem solving and forcing her to do it on the black board. She used to get irritated while we had fun in the back benches.

Mr. S.S.Das!!! Sir used to teach us Chemistry and he was really very good in his subject. He was strict and disciplined in his lectures. Although we enjoyed his teachings but many of us were not very good in understanding the complexities behind the many chemical equations he taught us.

I wish all my teachers [alongwith Mrs. Celinama Ma’m and (late) Mrs. B. Samal Ma’m!!! (both taught us Biology), Mr. Samal (Fine Arts), Mrs. Sarala Jena (Music), Mrs. Anjali Tripathy (Geography), Mr. Sankar Mishra (Maths), Mr. S.L. Mohan Rao and Mr. K.C. Mishra sir ( both taught us Hindi), Mr. L.K.Bhopa Sir (Maths), Mr. Hazari Sahoo and (Late) Mr. S.A. Hanan (Sports teachers) and many other teachers who shaped and moulded us] GOD's abundant blessings, good health, peace and happiness.