President dons a teacher’s hat

Pranab Mukherjee gave lessons in History and Political Science to a class of 60 students.

September 05, 2015 03:21 am | Updated March 28, 2016 03:28 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

Dressed in a formal grey bandhgala, President Pranab Mukherjee donned the hat of a teacher at the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya on Friday.

Giving lessons in History and Political Science to a classroom of 60 students from classes XI and XII, Mr. Mukherjee developed an instant connect with them and asked them to call him ‘Mukherjee Sir’.

“If anyone of you feel bored, you are free to tell me. I am no longer a President or a Minister. I am just Mukherjee Sir, I will be happy if you call me Mukherjee Sir,” the President said.

He spoke about the meaning of development for people in the current times and said that people these days do not value things they get. During the hour-long class, the President touched upon various facets of political history, including changes in the economy under former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.

He also said that he was not a bright student. “I was an average student. I had to walk five kms to my school and used to complain to my mother about the distance. She would tell me that she had no option and always advised me to work hard,” he said.

Stating that teachers were responsible for kindling the interest of students in books, he said that his college Principal was an excellent orator who ensured “my interest in history and English”.

“While narrating Julius Caesar, our teacher used to play the role of Brutus, Antony and Caesar. It was done so beautifully that within the next two years I had finished half of the books of William Shakespeare,” he said.

The idea of holding a class was proposed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.