When I was in Class 11 at DAV, I once stayed up the whole night studying for a Physics exam. The next morning, I had low blood pressure and was unable even to get up. I was scared and, for a moment, I doubted myself.
My principal told my mother, “Let her write whatever she can.” I went to the examination hall, wrote for an hour and passed the exam.
Those few words stayed with me, not because they helped me pass one exam, but because they taught me something much bigger: an obstacle should never stop us from moving forward or facing a challenge.
Sometimes, all we need is someone who believes that we can still try.
During college, I was hesitant to initiate conversations or interact with people outside the institution. My teachers always gave everyone opportunities to interact with outsiders, take responsibility and be at the front.
They did not always say, ‘Go through the proper channel’ or ‘Let the head handle it.’ Instead, they gave us the space to learn, take initiative and grow.
This built my confidence.
Today, as a teacher myself at the Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, I consciously try to give my students the same opportunities. I encourage them to initiate, interact, take responsibility, face people and situations and not always wait for someone else to lead.
Perhaps that is what teachers leave behind: not just lessons from textbooks, but words, opportunities and moments that students carry with them long after they have left the classroom.
- Krupa, Teacher, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology
My father was my best teacher. He used to say, “Do what you like.”
I learned a lot from him. Integrity is key in life. I chose to be a librarian and think it is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Living with books is a blessing.
“Do not bother about what others do. If it is wise and makes you happy, go ahead,” was his advice. Happiness is more important than running after money.
He used to tell my brother and me lots of stories every night when we were young. Many of them were about science, Thomas Alva Edison, the environment and more.
He was a big inspiration to many people who worked with him. He retired as the postmaster at the Besant Nagar Post Office and used to cook for his staff once a week.
I learned a lot from watching him. Our house was always full of people.
- Indumathi Mohan, Senior Manager, Library, Collections and Conservation, DakshinaChitra
Teachers usually hear from us when we need them.
Rarely do we go back and tell them what actually stayed with us, sometimes for decades. I've carried three sentences with me. Not lessons, not marks, not moments, just three impactful sentences that shaped my life.
A school teacher once told me I was a people's person, genuinely talented and creative, and that I should build my career around those qualities. She said it was a rarer gift than anything in the textbooks we were being taught from.
She probably said it and moved on with her day. I never did. It quietly told a young girl that her worth wasn't going to be decided by the marks on her report card.
Another teacher mentioned that I'd make a good teacher someday, that I already had it in me. I laughed it off; I genuinely didn't see it. Now, years into mentoring people and building spaces for others to learn, I think about that a lot.
But the one that actually changed things came later, during my master's. A professor said, almost as an aside, “You're the director of your story; shape it the way you want.” I nodded like it was just professor talk. It wasn't. I've thought of that line every time I've had to choose between the safe option and the one that actually felt like mine.
They probably don't remember saying any of this, but I remember all of it. That's the thing about teaching; you rarely find out where your words end up. I know that now because I'm on the other side of it too.
This Teachers' Day, I just wanted to say it: thank you for something you don't even remember giving me. And to anyone I've unknowingly said the right thing to at the right time, I hope it stays with you the way theirs stayed with me.
- Priya Banik, Photographer and Educator
I can only think of my late dance teacher, who taught me ten years ago.
She always told me I could be anything I wanted as long as I kept dancing, because that is what keeps the soul alive. She was my role model for the longest time.
She was everything I wanted to be. I wanted to learn and teach dance just like she did, to stay alive metaphorically.
Ever since she passed away, I have found a new dream. It is to become a doctor and save lives, literally.
I still have much time to decide which speciality to choose, but I know that whatever I do, I will always be dancing to keep my soul alive.
- Akshara Chitty Babu, medical student