I had never understood the logic of paying so much respect to the teachers as my parents wanted me to. Especially after I had entered into an argument with our Social Studies teacher at VI th standard (I was trembling at the idea of showing my unit test copy to my father as I had scored 14 out of 20 and my point was that Pankaj Choudhury did not teach all the topics from which questions were asked), my father kept playing the record that teachers occupy the third important place in human life right after God and parents. I had to swallow the arguments and narrations, but could never digest them properly. Until perhaps I met Nivedita Menon while pursuing my M.A. in Political Science from Delhi University. I found her really different from all other teachers that I had met. What attracted me most was her sincerity and eloquence. From providing essential and related readings to answering all the questions, she had done it all. But it is not that I had not met any other person who could teach as nicely as Nivi. But the way she communicated to each one of us was different. She made us feel that each one of the class was equally important. It is not that she had applied one uniform standard. Her approaches were different, and yet egalitarian. It would be really very long if I continue. So let me put a stop and thank her on the coming teacher’s day! Thank you Ma’am for everything that you have taught us and also for everything that I have learned from you.

I am still not convinced that all teachers deserve the respect that the Indian tradition espouses, but I have realized that if not all, some teachers do build lives.