PSBB Teachers 29 - Ravishankar Sir

[Start of Series]

(Part 28 here)

Maths - '98-'99

If ever there was a teacher in PSBB who classically epitomized the "Murthi Sirisu, Keerthi Perusu" adage, it has to be Ravishankar sir. I dont know how PSBB managed to get hold of this dynamo, but he was quite possibly one of the best "catches" PSBB ever made, when it comes to getting quality teachers (sadly though, they couldnt hold on to him since he, like Chhaya Mam, is with the American School now). We were fortunate to be the first batch to have a taste of him and initially, there were very few who liked/adored him. A majority of my classmates were highly irritated with him, some even hated him, but nobody could ignore him. That's quite something, especially considering how puny he was. If not for his beard, he could easily pass off as a school-kid. And when it came to the subject, few dared to even think he wasnt awesome. How could anyone, when this M Sc (Physics) bloke taught us 9th graders Mathematics, and that too with such aplomb! I, for one, didnt know for a long time that his major was Physics. He was a student of Prof Ananthan of the Physics Society, to whom he remains devoted to this day.

Some of our most memorable high-school days were, during his classes, for a multitude of reasons. He used to hate it when folks tapped their pens (among the many student-mannerisms he hated :D) on their desks and numerous pens have thus been broken. Sushil, Joel, Naveen and Sanjeev were prominent....umm...."entertainers" during his class. "Stop thattt sttopp thattt" - his already powerful voice used to boom, thanks chiefly to these guys.
Out of the many remarkable things he helped us with, one will definitely be, I think, exposing us to lateral thinking and brain teasers. One such unforgettable incident was when he asked us, during one of the first few days of Class IX, what the angle between the minute and hour hand at 3:15 was. I knew it obviously wasn't zero, but it didn't strike me (as it didnt most of the others) that we could actually derive the answer. Someone first answered zero, then another person said 1° when I joined the chorus. Then someone else said 0.5° to which I then shifted my loyalties. Finally, a new student, Nikhil Neelakantan gave the correct answer - 7.5°.
And how can I not mention his impeccable hand-writing - precise and beautiful.
Sir now teaches at the American School and is also part of the "Trimurthi @ Sathyamurthi".
Someone who left a lasting impression on most of us.
I am no Abbas, but Ravishankar Sir definitely qualifies to be a superstar and so I wont be way off mark if I say "What a man".