Math Miracle: An Inspirational tale of how a Teacher made all the Difference
- In Society
- 12:52 PM, Aug 21, 2017
- Bhanoji Rao
This refers to the period 1950s.
The then Municipal High School, Vizianagaram, India offered instruction from grades 6 through 11. Examination at the end of Grade 11was conducted by the provincial government. It was well known as the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examination and was the stepping stone for higher education. In Math, I was getting just about a pass mark or a bit higher, that is, between 30 to 50 per cent, in the school examinations from grades 6 through 10. Thanks to the sheer lack of any general knowledge, I did not know for quite some time that there was education beyond grade eleven. I was quite content as long as I passed the school exams — with least anxiety about what marks I obtained.
At the beginning of the academic session 1953–54, I was promoted to grade 11 and, within days, I gathered a vital piece of information from a kind friend: one must not stop with SSLC, if one wished to enjoy a career other than and better than a clerical position. In fact, one must get at least a Bachelor Degree if one wished to do relatively better in life.
I was 12 years old then and already learnt a great deal about my upcoming family burdens as the only son of my parents. At the least, a bachelor degree is a must if I wish to do justice to my anticipated responsibilities.
Engineers and doctors seemed to be getting a decent income. I learnt that to pursue an engineering degree, mathematics, physics and chemistry must be taken at grades 12 and 13 — together known as the Intermediate in Arts and Sciences (IASC), the then pre-degree qualification. To pursue a medical or dental degree, the requirement at IASC is the study of biology, physics and chemistry. I decided to settle for mathematics, physics and chemistry in the hope to become a professional engineer.
One vital piece of information was gathered. A good pass at SSLC is the pre-requisite for admission to IASC, ‘good’ meaning an overall average grade of around 50 per cent. An additional pre-requisite for taking mathematics, physics and chemistry combination is a high score in mathematics.
It became clear that a mere pass in mathematics at the 11th grade would not take me very far. The kind classmate, referred to earlier, advised me that if I really wanted to improve my grade in mathematics, I should take private tuition from Mr. Yerramilli Seshachalam Pantulu, a well-regarded and respected teacher in my school. He is popularly known by his initials YSP. My friend told me that many students over the years benefited from his instruction.
I trusted the wisdom of my friend and approached YSP on one fateful day in mid-1953 requesting him to instruct me in mathematics and help me improve my grade. His straight question to me was what grade I would like to aim for. I had to do some quick mental calculation: I should have a decent 60 per cent; that would not be realized unless I aimed for say, 70 or 80 per cent; and I settled for a target of 80. As I blurted out the number 80, he began probing a little into my previous achievements. Looking into my modest silence and observing my discomfort, he kindly abandoned that exercise. For a second, I thought that the session ended and I would be accepted for tuition — perhaps for an hour or so in the morning and perhaps for a few days in a week. The gentle and soft-spoken teacher had a different plan.
He said that getting 80 per cent in the government examination might not be feasible unless I spent each and every night at his home (devoid of electricity) studying under his supervision and care. If I agreed to study at his home, it would involve using a mat for sleeping and the use of a kerosene lamp for study. Despite my inner discomfort with his proposal, I agreed to his terms and within days got ready with a mat and a lamp.
Night after night YSP would spend time discussing problems in mathematics. The kind and benevolent teacher found a simple mechanism to prolong the study time. Whenever I was seen to be dozing off a little, he would ask me to go to the nearby well and lift a bucket of water. Off and on, he would entertain me with a story — usually about a past student who had received instruction from him in the same surroundings and who now occupied a high position. At times, he would tell us about some great mathematician or scientist or about a devotee of the divine who by sheer penance achieved knowledge and wisdom, about which later generations were to read. In addition to mathematics instruction he directly provided, YSP also ensured that I was paying attention to other subjects as well.
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YSP’s instruction strategy was no magic; it was time tested and comprehensive. It included covering the formal syllabus first and then answering questions from the examination papers from the past years, from examination boards in India and UK. Thanks to the regimen, there was not a single problem that I could not answer within the framework of the syllabus.
When the day of reckoning arrived and I was in the examination hall for the mathematics paper, it was as if my right hand had its own intelligence and did not need the help of any other agency. All problems, excluding some questions outside the syllabus which none could even think of attempting, were cleared in less than half the allocated time.
A couple of months later, the results were declared and the so-called SSLC register was handed over to each and every student. The register contained a prominent page showing the marks obtained in the final exam. In my register, against mathematics, there was the number 80, the exact number targeted. It was achieved despite the fact that no teacher in my school had any role either in setting the question paper or in marking of the examination paper. YSP was very happy. Along with me and my family members, he enjoyed the fact that the set target was precisely achieved.
YSP was an instrument in the hands of the divine to change the course of a particular life — a life that owed a lot to him. He was content to receive a token honorarium — after the result. Years later, he lovingly accepted (when my family and I forced him) a new pair of clothes.
The issue is not what difference a teacher could make — the teacher alone makes all the difference. The issue is what makes a teacher like YSP. A rented house, children to raise, meagre pay, less than fully adequate clothing, broken furniture and so on — none of these deterred him from his mission, a mission to create intellectuals from out of under-achievers, notably those from low income groups, perhaps taking pride in defying the accepted doctrines on natural abilities, latent genius and hereditary capabilities.
A version of this article appeared in The Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, December 12, 2013
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