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".

PSBB Teachers 28 - Pushpa Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 27 here)

Hindi - '98-'00

Mrs.Pushpa Joshi - Pushpa Mam taught us Hindi during Classes IX and X. An extremely fair, slightly plumpish appearance who had a sense of wit & humorous which wasn't obvious, she had an extremely meticulous and neat way of teaching Hindi. One crib I had with her was how she always used to say "Shri Gurubhyo Namuh..." instead of "Shri Gurubhyo Namaha".

(Part 29 here)

PSBB Teachers 27 - Sunitha Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 26 here)

Biology/Class Teacher - '99

Mrs.Sunitha Narsiah - Class IX was when we moved from TP Road to Main School. And we were all understandably slightly scared. And having Sunitha mam as our class teacher only increased it. She was not particularly popular among the students, and my proximity to her (I was Class Leader again) did no help to my reputation/likeability among friends (not that that was the only reason, there were one or two others as well :D). She was pretty authoritarian and unfriendly (though I felt she could be jolly when she wanted to be, but then again, that might be thanks to my supposed proximity to her). She was a pretty good Biology teacher too, though her being our class teacher overshadowed all that. Overall, an interesting experience with some definite positives for me, but would be interested to hear from some of the others as well, assuming it was majorly negative for most of them.

(Part 28 here)

PSBB Teachers 26 - Gita Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 25 here)

Creative Writing - '98

Mrs.Gita Padmanabhan - In PSBB, we had this somewhat-controversial concept of "Enrichment Classes" - after-class extra-curricular sessions in Maths, Science & Creative Writing for "gifted" students. Though, retrospectively, I'd consider myself more Mathematically-minded, I was selected only for the Creative Writing classes. Gita mam was one of the teachers who conducted the Creative Writing classes - a witty, energetic lady with a bop-cut and spectacles. A specific incident I remember with her - we had our own version of the Spelling Bee Quiz in school and after the prelims conducted in the classes, the final round was selected in the English lab and she dictated the words we had to spell. One such was "Pneumonia" which I had spelt as "Nummonia" and when we were discussing the answers, accused her of mispronouncing the word, much to the humour of everyone present.

(Part 27 here)

PSBB Teachers 25 - Radhakrishnan Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 24 here)

Maths/Class Teacher - '98

Mrs.Radhakrishnan - Not sure if her name was Radha Krishnan or she went just by her last name, but Radhakrishnan mam was known as that only. She taught Maths for us in 8th standard and was also our class teacher. A very low-profile, disciplinarian who was yet another wonderful Maths teacher (again yet another teacher) with precise, neat hand-writing. That year was also party to what could be called a controversy in high school circles - I was the Class Leader then, and played hand cricket inside class before school-hours began and there was a group that wanted to see me ousted, and they promptly pottu-koduthufied me to her. She, however, after a strict telling-off, did not oust me from class-leadership. For whatever reason, her quiet and serious demeanour made her one of my most respected teachers in PSBB.

(Part 26 here)

PSBB Teachers 24 - Subhashree Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 23 here)

English - '96-'98

Mrs.Subhashree Chandramouli - Quite possibly, the most "fun" and student-friendly-type teacher during the 6th-8th period in PSBB-TP. A chubby, cute, well-dressed teacher with an awesome sense of humour, she totally knew how to endear herself to us students, and endear herself she did, so much so that she was probably the first teacher we demanded to have as our class teacher in 8th standard, at the end of 7th standard, when she taught us English, for the first time. Sadly (for us), C section got to have her as their class teacher in 8th standard.
(On a side note, her daughter, Divya C was a year senior to us in school.)

(Part 25 here)

PSBB Teachers 23 - Lakshmi Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 22 here)

Sanskrit - '95-'98

Mrs.Lakshmi Krishnaratnam - Lakshmi mam was the other Sanskrit teacher we had during the 6th-8th period. She gave the impression of being this typical affluent Tam-Brahm society-lady - impeccable & fresh sarees, and used to drive to school everyday in her light blue Fiat/Premier Padmini (that's always been a confusion for me). While Girija mam was the more middle-classly-relatable & less-flamboyant-talk types, Lakshmi mam's demeanour was endearing in her own unique way. :)

(Part 23 here)

PSBB Teachers 22 - Girija Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 21 here)

Sanskrit - '95-'98

Mrs.Girija Krishnamurthy - Girija mam was this "healthy" bespectacled teacher who taught us Sanskrit during the 6th-8th. She was my first Sanskrit teacher, I think (assuming it was not Lakshmi Krishnaratnam mam) and not sure if it was because of the language or her, but I immediately took to the language. She was also responsible for kindling my interest in learning the Bhagavad Gita and also in participating in my first ever Gita-chanting competition back then (not that I won :D). She was obviously quite well-read and was a genial-yet-serious type teacher.

(Part 23 here)

PSBB Teachers 21 - Nalini Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 20 here)

Maths/Class Teacher - '96-'97

Mrs.Nalini Balasubramanian - Nalini mam was a fair, very very slightly plumpish teacher who was my class teacher in 7th std and also taught us Maths that year. I think she initially taught in KK Nagar and got a transfer from there. Her hand-writing was especially neat & looked pretty on the board. Needless to say, her Math was good. Two incidents I remember with her -
1. She once had Madras Eye (though the city was renamed Chennai by then...ok ok, sorry :D) and for a week or so, wore big black glasses. If I'm right, her eyes were also swollen a bit then.
2. During my childhood, I was prone to injuries. On one such occasion that year, I was ottifying Nithya (a classmate who recently got married) and when she came chasing me, I immediately shot off without looking where I was running. And suddenly, I turned to see where I was headed when I ran into the parapet wall and collided - result: a deep gash between the eyebrows and lots of blood. What pissed me off most was not the pain or the blood, but the unsavoury location my veera-thazhumbu (I was by now quite proud of my injuries) would have - the next day, I came to school and Nalini mam asks me - "What man, this new Naamam and all?" much to my classmates' delight. And incidentally, she also had this habit of including "man" while addressing us guys. :D

(Part 22 here)

PSBB Teachers 20 - Mahalakshmi Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 19 here)

English - '95-'96

Mrs Mahalakshmi Kumar - She taught us English either only in 6th or both 6th and 7th. Her son, Krithikesh was my partner during exams and if I remember right, her husband was in the army or something. Again, another of PSBB's impeccable-English teachers, she carried herself extremely well too (not that the other teachers didn't, but she did so quite noticeably :D). She also had this nice demeanour where she was quite strict when it came to studies, at the same time, being quite friendly and casual with us students. I very vaguely remember some incident during one of the school anniversaries I had taken part in, where she was also one of the organizers, but the details totally fail me. :-(
Oh yes, yet another super mam. :-)


(Part 21 here)

PSBB Teachers 19 - Radha Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 18 here)

Biology - '95-'98

Mrs. Radha Soundararajan taught us Biology (surely) and also Science some time during 6th-8th. She knew her subject and dealt with us effectively. She used to come to school in a blue Sunny (which was the Scooty of those days). I also remember many of her sentences used to have "maa" in them. :D


(Part 20 here)

PSBB Teachers 18 - Charumathi Ma'm

[Start of Series]

(Part 17 here)

History - '95-'98

Mrs. Charumathi was a well-read lady who taught us History during 6-7-8. History during 6th-8th, coming to think of it, is an extremely tricky proposition - as much as I can remember, the subject was quite boring and that's the time when the boyishness in kids (back during my time, at least) comes of age and rebellion/naughtiness is no longer restricted to only the pranksters of the class. So it was no surprise that our class used to pester the poor old lady (en masse) to no small extent. She must've been quite old then itself. For most part of PSBB, I was this Powder Subramani-type guy, so I was, as always, very well-behaved in her not-entirely-engrossing class as well, but gradually, though I was never the mischief-maker or part of the mischief-group myself, I started enjoying their antics simply because it was fun. Chief among them were V.Arun (who went on to represent India in International swimming competitions), Alagappan, Joel (now a Navy officer :D) and Sushil (now more-or-less a Doctor :D).

Some time around 2000 or later, I remember reading her obituary in The Hindu. I hope she RIP.


(Part 19 here)

PSBB Teachers 17 - Tara Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 16 here)


Science/Physics - '95-'96 or '93-'94 
Mrs. Tara Sridhar - Tara mam was a fair'ish teacher (a bit on the shorter side, though not short) who taught us either Physics or Science either in 4-5 or 6-7 period. Some distinct things I remember about her are her curly hair, bright red lip-stick and her immaculate English speech - her pronounciation, though by no means accented, was close to some of the best English I'd heard back then and to top it, she had this wonderfully deep feminine voice.


(Part 18 here)

PSBB Teachers 16 - Prema Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 15 here)

Maths - '95-'96
Mrs. Prema Ramaswamy - Prema Mam was this small, fair, petite lady who reminded me a lot of my grandmother who brought me up. She was more the age of a perimma for me, I guess, but there was an unmistakable similarity. She was yet another of my Maths teachers who I enjoyed learning from. Her "and" was very distinct - it sounded like aaand (like the "aa" in "aam" or "aadmi") and her speech had this cute drawl to it.
Another wonderful teacher. :)

(Part 17 here)

PSBB Teachers 15 - Meena [Jain?] Mam & Rama Devi Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 14 here)

Hindi - '95-'98
Meena mam was a slim youngish teacher who looked very South Indian (Tamilian, in fact), but never totally convinced me if she was one, especially because of the Tamil she spoke with the occasional peon - it wasn't Seth'ish, but it hadn't the colloquial "spashtam" that we would associate with native Tamil speakers. A nice lady and a wonderful teacher (for some reason, PSBB seems to have had this great set of esp. Hindi-language teachers). I also remember she took a break for a year when she had just given birth to a baby.
This one year was covered by Rama Devi mam, quite an old woman, who was quite puny. I think Meena mam was more liked by the class than Rama Devi mam, but she was also a fair teacher, nevertheless. I also remember that I got 98 in the Vth cycle test or something, which I remember her paaraattifying me or something, with a smiling face (not sure why I especially remember this "smiling face" thing, not sure if she was a generally serious-faced teacher or anything). :-)

(Part 16 here)

PSBB Teachers 14 - Mehta Ma'm

[Start of Series]

(Part 13 here)

Geography - '96-'97
In case I didn't mention, 6th std was also the class when our addressing of teachers changed from "Miss" to "Mam". Why I remembered this now is because of the teacher in question - Mehta Ma'm was arguably our first exposure to artistocratic elegance & style. Not to mention her insistence on correct + proper adherence to the Queen's language. All this while being a Geography teacher! Bobbed hair and an almost milky complexion, the lady knew how to carry herself with poise - be it her exquisite range of sarees or her pearl necklaces or her matching sandals, she sure did present an impeccable picture of herself. If I'm right, she did strike a rather intimidating picture of herself at first, but she really got us grooving to her and we (the whole class, literally!) did strike up some amazing conversations ranging from her visit to the Grand Canyon (I still remember all our eyes grow wide in amazement at this and if I'm right, she showed us the photos also) to what not. Not sure, but I think she was related to our batch-mate Rohan Mehta (of Mehta Jewellery). And whenever we heard her speak in Tamil, we were in near splits. Overall, a definite not-to-be-forgotten teacher of TP Road.

(Part 15 here)

PSBB Teachers 13 - Dilip Sir

[Start of Series]

(Part 12 here)

Sports - up to '98 in TP Road, '98 onwards Main School
Dilip Sir was our Sports sir throughout TP Road. A wiry disciplinarian who was quite fun to be with, I remember two specific incidents for no specific reason -

1. Some shot put practice was going while I was hanging around simply, near the assembly hall when he had instructed us specifically to stop the shot put ball using the leg when I think it was Joel who tried to stop it with his hands and sir gave him such a beating that I wondered if he would've been better off getting injured with the shot put ball itself.
2. In 7th standard, we had the customary class leader election in which Sanjeev and I were two of the candidates (not sure who else stood), and Sanjeev won by just a few votes (single digit, if I'm right...and I also remember voting for Sanjeev while another close friend Shiva said he voted for me). So Sanjeev was the class leader and we went for our first Sports period when Dilip sir saw Sanjeev and immediately declared he was too short to be a class leader, thereby paving the way for me to be class leader for a second consecutive year. :D
   

 His son, Samson was a year junior to us, I guess. Dilip sir then joined us in PSBB Main either in 9th or 10th. Dilip Sir replaced Williams Sir, who was our classmate, Joel's dad.

(Part 14 here)

PSBB Teachers 12 - Ambika Mam

[Start of Series]

(Part 11 here)

Class Teacher/Moral Science/Geography - '95
Ambika Mam - V'th to VI'th was the second quasi-major transition in a PSBB(TP Road)'ian's life. And aptly, Ambika mam was our class-teacher (apart from handling Moral Science & Geography). If ever there was a teacher who impacted a majority of us students with philosophy, spirituality & morals profoundly up to that point of time in life, for most PSBB'ians around my time, it has to be Ambika Mam. She had a deep, soothing voice and a wonderfully warm personality, at the same time, a stern glare from her could make even the naughtiest of chaps own up to any mistake he did.
Yes, there was also a few students who felt she was too preachy or something on those lines, but it was great to have had a teacher like her, especially at that time of life when we were about to enter our teens.
I must also make a special mention of the fact that my stint at Class-Leadership (ahem!) started thanks to her. For most part up to then, "Class Leader" was synonymous with Harish Anand - one of the most popular PSBB'ians from my batch, a very enterprising bloke and a good friend. I don't know where I'd got the desire to be Class Leader all of a sudden, especially considering he was quite well-made, popular & a good student (must-haves for Class Leaders in PSBB :D) in class while I, while not small by any means, was definitely smaller than him, besides being very quiet & reserved, but I remember confiding in my mom that I wanted to be Class Leader. I was also fresh from two consecutive All-Rounder medals (my only two :P), and this probably played a part in my desire, but I can't be sure. However, I had no idea my mom would actually tell this to Ambika mam, which she did, on the first Cycle Test report card day. And the ever-encouraging Ambika Mam made me Class Leader soon thereafter. And this leadership experience (whatever little it was) rubbed off on me all the way up to college, so I think extra-gratitude to Ambika mam for making a shy, bespectacled, chubby, then-chamathu, Powder-Subramani (I'm guessing this phrase is going to stick, thanks to Chutney :D) like me Class Leader (yes yes, including the coveted badge!) of VI 'A'. :-)
I think she handled Moral Science also for us, for a few years after that. A fair call it would be, I hope, if I said she was one of the most universally liked teachers in TP Road.
Since I was also this extra-chamathu guy who could bear to see no "wrong things" happening [:D], I remember telling her secretly about one specific boy-girl incident in 6th standard along with another friend. This pottu-koduthufying business didn't end then...there was another incident in 9th std in Main school when I pottu-koduthufied about another girl's disrespectful words about a sir to her. No surprises then that I was no favourite among my classmates. :D
Through this orkut community, I heard she moved to Lady Andal and then to Bangalore. Like the community description says, she is one teacher whom most students will most likely never forget all their lives. :-)


(Part 13 here)

PSBB Teachers 11 - Williams Sir & Vasanth Peter Sir

[Start of Series]

(Part 10 here)

Western Music - the 1990's
Williams Sir - A short, slightly stout tall, balding man with a big paunch and a bigger command of the grand piano in the ground floor room opposite to the Pillaiyaar Koil in TP Road, we really used to dread this man, however enjoying the Western Music classes.

Vasanth Peter Sir - He was Williams Sir's son and understandably, the heir to the Western Music teaching position. He was a somewhat stylish "dude" who could be friendly and strict likewise, depending on how he wanted to be and how we were. I also remember his small finger on one of his hands which had a carefully nurtured long nail. Among other things that I remember was, ahem, one Vaishnavi miss who used to spend considerable time whenever we had Western Music classes. ;-)

Update: My classmate, Sanjeev Vaidyanathan adds that Williams Sir wasn't short or stout, hence the correction. Also, he recollects that Vasanth Sir constantly kept threatening to leave us all and go to Dubai, which, now that he says, I vaguely recollect. Thanks Sanjeev.

(Part 12 here)

PSBB Teachers 10 - Mahalakshmi Miss & Kumudha Miss

[Start of Series]

(Part 9 here)

(Note: Since neither of these teachers handled any classes for me, I really don't have much to say about them, which is why I'm clubbing two teachers in a single post.)

PSBB TP Road Library - the 1990's
Mahalakshmi Miss - She was one of the teachers who I remember from the TP Road library. I recently came across an article here and was pleasantly surprised to see her. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/02/06/stories/2009020651090400.htm

PSBB TP Road Office - the 1990's
Kumudha Miss - A very frail, slightly grumpy kind of woman when busy, she handled the running of the office (which was right below our Principal, Jagam miss' room). I'd met her a few times, when I'd gone to get stuff like chalk, dusters, etc. However, whenever I saw she wasn't very busy or anything, she was quite pleasant. :D

(Part 11 here)