It was October 31, 1974. A farewell gathering was arranged on the premises of the Railway Mixed High School, Golden Rock, in honour of teacher Sivaramakrishnan on his retirement.
Felicitations, mainly by students, were over. Principal Vaidyanathan and correspondent Madappa showered encomiums on him. In his short response, SRK (as he was known) thanked one and all, and said he was happy as he had finished his race in obeisance to God and true to his conscience.
The ceremony over, the dignitaries walked the teacher down the platform and led him to the principal's chamber. All on a sudden, SRK bent down and prostrated, kissed the red soil and smeared the dust on his body. We were stunned.
He calmly rose up. “Don't be shocked. I am all right. The soil and dust which my students walked upon are to me as holy as anything else. This school and the administration helped me and my family sustain all these 30 years. This gesture is an expression of my love and gratitude to them. Nothing more,” he said. His eyes moistened. So did ours.
An educationist once classified teachers into four categories: “A poor teacher tells; a good teacher teaches; an excellent teacher demonstrates: and an outstanding teacher motivates.”
This writer, a junior colleague of SRK those days, observed him as an outstanding teacher, since he was very good at teaching English and mathematics.
The dedicated teacher is no more. But his service to the cause of education remains green in my memory even after 35 years.
