THE GURU I WORSHIP (5th September 2010, 1515 Hrs)

I still remember how every student used to wait for Teachers’ Day year after year, especially the senior most class... for the simple reason that on 5^th of September one gets to come in civil dress (other than school uniform) for acting as a teacher for the day... the kick is ultimate really! I had to wait long but when my time came, I was made a Primary Teacher... nevertheless, the joy of being a teacher for a day, is an experience that every student enjoys in his / her school days.

Guru in our Indian context is considered to be the SUPREME because he guides to show the path to meet the almighty God. Great poet Kabir’s doha (couplets) says –

“Guru Gobind duho kade, kaake laagon paay

Balihari Guru aapne, Gobind diyo milaay.”

(Both the Guru and God are standing in front of the student. The student is perplexed and wonders to whom he should bow first. The student bows to the Guru first to thank him by saying thank you for making me meet God!)

The majestic stature of Guru really cannot be compared with anyone in the universe. Like every student in the world, I too dreaded my teachers during my school days. They were strict, loving, jovial, wonderful, amazing and at times they were funny too! I was studying in Kendriya Vidyalaya Panagarh (W.B) in IX th standard. We had Mr. K K Roy Choudhury, our English Teacher. Since I was good in sports, he used to like me. In physical stature I was small as compared to other students, yet because of my calibre to play better, I always ended up in School Team in most of the sports (Cricket, Football, Hockey and Volleyball – I was the service specialist.

Mr. Roy Choudhury is well-known for his impeccable knowledge of the subject... every student in the school knew that Oxford can go wrong but not sir, when it comes to his English. In fact, he has the credit to correct some of the well-known English Grammar Writers

1. Revered English Grammar Author Dr. Palmer, who died in 1949, committed a mistake and Roy Choudhury sir pointed out the mistake in 1976. The Reference Book Editor of Longman Group Limited Miss Gillian A Rathbone noted down the correction and it was implemented in the next reprint of the book;

2. Oxford University Press acknowledged one mistake in their published book ‘The Teaching of Structural Words and Sentence Patterns’ in 1978 pointed out by my sir;

3. Cassell And Company Ltd Publishers London acknowledged one mistake in their book ‘Oliphant’s General Certificate English Course’ pointed out in 1969 and was corrected accordingly in later editions;

4. Mr. Jonathan W Price from Oxford University Press acknowledged Roy Choudhury sir’s ALD definition of ‘coordinate clause’ in 1978;

5. In 1979, amendments were corrected accordingly in the dictionary by Oxford University Press and it was published in 1980 with sir’s correction;

6. Well-know English author R A Close acknowledged sir with a personal letter in 1988 for a point made in his Reference Grammar Book;

7. Jonathan Crowther, Managing Editor, OALD Unit, ELT Dictionaries, Oxford University Press London acknowledged sir in 1989 for making a point;

8. English Author Michael Swan was grateful to Mr. Roy Choudhury for a point made and with all due respect a correction was made by him in his second edition in 1989;

9. English author Mr. Eastwood acknowledged sir’s point in 1998;

When we graduated to the X th class, he became our Class Teacher and soon after the morning prayer, he used to storm in without a second’s delay in the class. The first day, he made me to sit right in the front bench (I was a very mischievous student of the class). Every day, he used to give us a topic to write a paragraph as home work, which we all dreaded. The next day, I was the first to put my copy on his table, followed by all the others 35 classmates. He called me and asked me to take out the copy and lo... there comes out his black fountain pen with red ink from his white shirt pocket... fear gripped me because I was a horrible student in English ( I am still...). There it goes, what is a sentence? Where is the predicate? And what about the subject... his stern eyes and tone made me shiver all through the year every first period... and my blue page would turn completely red hahahahahaha.... I really cannot tell you how scared I used to be of the first period!.... 

                                                                                                                               Cont'd in next part...