तस्मै श्री गुरवे नम: ॥

In the kingdom of Nostalgia – तारी मास्तर

Last month I took some time off and paid a visit to my birth place, Vengurla. It was just a casual visit, sauntering lazily through the town and recollecting the nostalgic moments of my childhood and school days. We had reached a non-descript one story building on the Main Road, with sloping tiled roof, with facade of wooden ribs and a tall compound wall made of lateritic stone. “That’s my school, my primary school!” I said to my wife, recollecting about the days, when I was in 7^th standard.

The floodgate of my memories burst open. Once upon a time, I was running across the street to reach the school in time before the bell stopped ringing, singing hoarsely with the chorus the “Geetai” by Vinoba Bhave, squatting barefooted on the floor cross-legged & writing down on a stone slate, playing mischief during the study breaks. But the most intense and moving memory of all was that of Tari Sir.

Tari Sir was the headmaster of School No. 3, a primary Marathi medium school of Vengurla. He was known as a very stern and disciplinarian headmaster. Let alone students, even the other teaching staff was afraid of him. Initially, while talking to him I could not raise my eyes from my twiddling toes and it took me a couple of months to discover the divine qualities of this gem of a man.

Those days, during the academic year of 7^th standard, there used to be a competitive examination, passing which with good marks; one could avail of a scholarship for next four years of schooling. I was selected with five other students from this school, to appear for this examination and Tari Sir had taken upon himself to coach and prepare the aspirants. Coaching had to be carried out without disturbing the normal hours, spending extra time at school. That is the time I discovered the excellent personality of Tari Sir. Loving, caring, encouraging and completely dedicated to the welfare of his wards.

After a tiring day spent in teaching and administering the school, Tari Sir would teach us for long hours with a smile on his face, kindling our interest in solving difficult sums and understanding nuances of literature. When we were tired with fatigue, he would look up enthusiastically and ask, “Shall we play cricket?” We would jump up in affirmation and close all the doors and windows of the school building. The building was actually a single huge room, demarcated by chalk marks into separate class divisions. With a stack old slates serving as stumps, he would take guard with a worn out old bat and ask one of us to bowl underhand, with a tennis ball. Many a times, I have glanced up at the photograph of Mahatma Gandhi adorning the wall, with suspicion that there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and amused smile on his face.

At that young age, we would get famished in no time during our coaching time. Tari Sir quickly comprehended our problem. He disposed off the old magazines and newspapers, which had been donated to the school and with that money he would buy some snacks for us. Whenever I reflect back on those days, I ask myself, why was this man with a family and home of his own was going out of his way to care so much for us, who would be out of the school anyway the very next year!

The scholarship examinations were to be held in Winter and the test centre was at Savantwadi, about 30 kilometers from our town. The number of students had come down to three, including me. We would have to travel to Savantwadi and stay there 2/3 days, during that period. Parents of the students concerned were not inclined to go out of town and advised us to forget about the test. Not to be undone, Tari Sir applied for a leave of absence from the school and accompanied us to Savantwadi. He booked a room in a lodge, to be shared by four of us.

He would teach us till late night, get up early to get us all prepared clean and bright and take us for breakfast. He would then accompany us to the test centre, bidding Good Luck. When we would finish answering the morning test paper and come out of the exam hall, we would see him waiting there for us, with a hot lunch-box and four plates, lest we waste our valuable time. Over the lunch, he would join us in a quick recap of the next test questions. As we went back again, we would see his figure walking away taking the empty lunch-box. Once again after the afternoon test, we would see his smiling figure, waiting for us, to take us back to the lodge.

During my career, I have come across many teachers, some of them with multiple PhDs and research papers to their credit, some whose portraits are adorning the entrance halls of renowned institutions, but if you ask me who is the best teacher I had, from the bottom of my heart I would say, TARI SIR!

Such unselfish dedication, such genuine feeling of responsibility for the students and most of all such positive attitude to take on any hardship for their sake, I am yet to come across on this planet...... तस्मै श्री गुरवे नम: ॥