Teachers’ Day: 4 teachers from Vizag talk about their favourite teachers

Teaching is considered to be one of the noblest professions in the world. Our teachers are our inspiration for what we grow up to be in the future. But we seldom consider that even our teachers were inspired by their teachers. We often ask people about their favourite teachers, the ones who inspired them and encouraged them to follow their dreams. To shuffle it a bit this Teachers’ Day, we approached some teachers in Vizag and asked them about the teachers who inspired them to take up this profession. 

For K Prameela, Assistant Professor in English at St Joseph’s College for Women, her favourite teacher and true inspiration is her mother K Jaya. Her mother has worked as a teacher previously, before taking up law. “Being a teacher, I have a lot of things to do from the time I wake up. That art of multi-tasking and managing all things peacefully is what I learnt from my mom,” says Prameela.  

Dr. A Sayibala works as the Head of Department (HoD) in English at Gayatri Vidya Parishad College for Degree and PG. Dr. Sayibala talks about her favourite teacher who constantly made efforts towards the upbringing of the poor needy students and inspired her to become a teacher. “My favourite teacher was Sister Philipa who taught us English at Sacred Heart Girls High School in Gnanapuram. In the ‘80s, she was one of the few teachers who spoke openly about women’s health and hygiene. Sister Philipa was the one who explained to us the use of sanitary napkins at a time when talking about it was a social taboo.” 

A Amulya, who is a psychologist in Vizag, talks about her psychology lecturer on Teachers’ Day as her reason to become a psychologist. “I’ve always been interested in understanding people and their behaviour. That inclination took me to St. Joseph’s College for Women and once I got there, I became even more passionate about the subject. Thanks to our psychology lecturer, Ms. Shailaja. Till date, I have her on my mind whenever I teach and she continues to be my inspiration.”

The best kind of teachers are the ones who do more for their students than teaching in class. Ms. Antharvedi, who is a retired principal of a government junior college in Vizag, had one such teacher who she wants to thank on Teachers’ Day. “I studied in Telugu medium till I completed my SSLC. When I joined St. Joseph’s College for Women, I was a fish out of water as every student was well-versed in English and I found it difficult to understand my lectures. Mrs Durga, my Physics teacher, then came to my aid. It was because of Mrs. Durga that I could score well in Physics and Maths which enabled me to enter Andhra University to study BSc (Hons.) with Physics as my major. She inspired me to take up this profession and help backward students cope well in their education.”

Here are some facts to know about Teachers’ Day.