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'I thank my teachers for moulding my life'
Sheetal Sukhija
On Teachers' Day, Metrolife spoke to former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.Dr Kalam shared the experiences that he had with his teachers, and how he as a teacher, aspires to shape young minds.
Once a student asked Dr Abdul Kalam, which personality does he love being, a scientist or the President? The missile man simply said, "A teacher".
As the President, he was loved and respected by people across age groups and now as a teacher at the Anna University, Chennai — Dr A P J Abdul Kalam continues to make a difference to the lives of many of his students.
No wonder, he was voted the best teacher of the decade by people from different walks of life..
He recalls, "I was always fortunate and blessed to have one or two great teachers during every phase of my educational period. My elementary school teacher, Muthu Iyer and my fifth class teacher Shri Siva Subramania Iyer have shaped me personally and professionally. They taught me that teaching should be the soul of the teacher."
"Teaching is not just about shaping students' life but igniting the spark of questioning in their mind," he says. A teacher should develop the spirit of enquiry and answer questions, till the students fully understand. "My mathematics teacher Prof Thothatri Iyengar did just that. He injected great thoughts in the minds and promoted nobility in thinking and action."
Then Dr Kalam came across the next teacher who taught him a necessary lesson in life. "In my third year at MIT, my project was declared to be disappointing by my design teacher Prof Srinivasan. He gave me three days to complete it or else my scholarship was to be scrapped. I worked round the clock with the team. Later Prof Srinivasan patted and hugged me affectionately, appreciating my work. I realised that if something is at stake, human mind gets ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced manifold. He injected the necessity of understanding the value of time in me."
At every stage, each student comes across a teacher who not only shapes the academics, but teaches one some important lessons of life. "I thank all my teachers. I've always advocated that a teacher should be a role model, someone who teaches you the initial lessons of righteousness and courage. Today, my message to the teachers is that you should develop the qualities to inquire, innovate, be creative, and develop the qualities of entrepreneurship and moral leadership in students. The noble life practised by the teacher indeed becomes a beacon light to the students. What a teacher shapes, is an important contribution to the efforts of national development," he concludes.
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