sin²θ + cos²θ=1; sinθ/cosθ=tanθ; Area of circle = πr²...blah blah....were some of the mathematical formulaes that echoed in my ears today...not for a second, or a minute or an hour, but whole day long...I wondered why? Tried very hard to figure out as well..but all in vain ! And suddenly started a slide show of some old forgotten memories before my eyes...some of the excerpts are narrated as below -
A fine Sunday morning..hmm..trust me 5.30 AM by no standards can be a fine morning..anyhow..I'll rephrase my sentence as..on the "so-called" fine sunday morning, a little girl removed her bike and drove it all the way to Mrs. Bansal's Bungalow. My friends then, would have certainly disagreed with the description of that little girl as she was by no means "little". She was a fat chubby football like creature which people now know as Mrids.Enuff about that little Miss. Lets hear something about Mrs. Bansal. She was someone who played a very important role in whatever little I have achieved today. She was the one who made me realise that if you befriend numbers, mathematics is nothing more than a childs play. Yes, you guessed it, she was my maths teacher.
Mrs. Bansal was unlike other maths teachers. She was neither tall and stout, nor had a stern and a straight face.Infact, she had a short stature accompanied by a charming and a talkative personality. Apart from being my maths teacher, she incidentally had a well paid job *wink*.She happened to be the head of the Maths department in Dungar College, Bikaner. She was my mother's colleague and had been garcious and kind to tutor me during summer holidays. I fondly called her Bansal Aunty.
Everytime I went to her with an incomplete homework and an innocent face, she responded with an even more infectious smile. She never questioned my abilities and sincerity towards mathematics as a subject. All she would ask was - "Beta, are you comfortable with my style of teaching? " or "Do you want me to experiment some different teaching style?" I wasn't mature enough to appreciate the maturity she displayed with a 16 year old. May be she understood kids better than anyone else. May be she knew that no student would like to break his head in understanding some god forbidden corollaries and theorms in his summer break. So whenever i was questioned on the homework aspect, i used to carelessly shrug my shoulders and say - "Aunty, Next time pakka..."
Bansal Aunty tutored me for 3 years during my formative years of 10th, 11th and 12th Standard. She made life easier for me by helping me overcome the fear of a monster known as Mathematics. Everytime my percentage soared because of my maths marks, I thanked my lucky pen with which I wrote my exam, my mom and dad for giving me birth so that i could appear for that exam, my doodhwallah, sabziwallah...everyone possible who was remotely associated with my life then. After constant reminders from my mother to utilise the 0.0005% of sensitivity i was left with, I also thanked my dear Bansal Aunty for teaching me the fundas which actually helped me clear the exam. Bansal Aunty never looked forward for any thankyou's from me. She tirelessly worked on me(Yes, she chiseled me like a potter,who works on his mud pot continously). She helped me in devising the tricks and strategies which one should know while appearing for competitive exams. I took a plethora of exams ranging from state engg test(known as Rajasthan PET) to IIT to IIIT...anything and everything..that was remotely related to engg. I managed to clear some of these exams and finally I joined Computer Engineering in Mumbai.Before leaving for Mumbai I had sought Bansal Aunty's blessings.I guess that was the last time I saw her face which was lit with pride and satisfaction coz her student had been successful in achieving the first milestone of her career.
Thereafter, I visited Bikaner twice a year at the end of each semester. Visits were short and hectic. Short because, i was hardly awake in those 10-12 days and hectic coz I had lots of sleep to catch up with. Even parents did not disturb me as they were under the impression that their daughter has worked really hard during the semester. No doubt I slogged, but that was just a week or two before the final exams. Well, that can be a topic for another blog altogether, but for now, lets not digress from the topic. So in those 10-12 days during which I basically did nothing which can be called constructive from any point of view, I could not even spare 10-12 minutes to visit Bansal Aunty who barely stayed at a distance of 10-12 lanes from my place. Everytime my mother used to tell me to go and see her, seek her blessings, share my experiences with her, I used to reluctantly reply - "Ma, next time pakka..."
I was growing and so was Bansal Aunty...the only difference was that I was growing up and she was growing old. But such a simple difference did not occur to me. My priorities had changed..competing with peers, completing a project, a semester, planning movie outings were more important tasks than dropping in at an old teacher's door step.Years passed and I graduated to become a software engineer. An IT firm in Mumbai hired me and I was on cloud nine. I got reasons to get busy with other things in life.
A month back, I decided to meet all my teachers and mentors in bikaner ; seek their blessings and good wishes before I leave for my masters abroad. I had kept a slot from my so called busy schedule to meet Bansal Aunty as well. But i guess she was short of time slots then. I was slapped hard in face, when my father told me this morning that my dear Bansal aunty had passed away on 2nd May' 2007. I craved to meet her, hug her, express my affection & gratitude for everything she had done for me...but I could not...I was even ready to go to her place at 5 AM in the morning, but she would no more be there to welcome me with a broad smile...**sigh**... not only did I feel sorry for her untimely demise, but was also filled with guilt and remorse attributed to my laziness to visit her, thank her, see her glow & smile which she unfailingly radiated back...I so cursed myself for saying that one line - "next time pakka..." **sigh**
But when you lose something, you do gain a lesson ! I too have learnt, that next time, whenever I wanna express my gratitude, affection or love to some one, I would never procastinate in doing so...and I would never ever say.."next time pakka ... "
A fine Sunday morning..hmm..trust me 5.30 AM by no standards can be a fine morning..anyhow..I'll rephrase my sentence as..on the "so-called" fine sunday morning, a little girl removed her bike and drove it all the way to Mrs. Bansal's Bungalow. My friends then, would have certainly disagreed with the description of that little girl as she was by no means "little". She was a fat chubby football like creature which people now know as Mrids.Enuff about that little Miss. Lets hear something about Mrs. Bansal. She was someone who played a very important role in whatever little I have achieved today. She was the one who made me realise that if you befriend numbers, mathematics is nothing more than a childs play. Yes, you guessed it, she was my maths teacher.
Mrs. Bansal was unlike other maths teachers. She was neither tall and stout, nor had a stern and a straight face.Infact, she had a short stature accompanied by a charming and a talkative personality. Apart from being my maths teacher, she incidentally had a well paid job *wink*.She happened to be the head of the Maths department in Dungar College, Bikaner. She was my mother's colleague and had been garcious and kind to tutor me during summer holidays. I fondly called her Bansal Aunty.
Everytime I went to her with an incomplete homework and an innocent face, she responded with an even more infectious smile. She never questioned my abilities and sincerity towards mathematics as a subject. All she would ask was - "Beta, are you comfortable with my style of teaching? " or "Do you want me to experiment some different teaching style?" I wasn't mature enough to appreciate the maturity she displayed with a 16 year old. May be she understood kids better than anyone else. May be she knew that no student would like to break his head in understanding some god forbidden corollaries and theorms in his summer break. So whenever i was questioned on the homework aspect, i used to carelessly shrug my shoulders and say - "Aunty, Next time pakka..."
Bansal Aunty tutored me for 3 years during my formative years of 10th, 11th and 12th Standard. She made life easier for me by helping me overcome the fear of a monster known as Mathematics. Everytime my percentage soared because of my maths marks, I thanked my lucky pen with which I wrote my exam, my mom and dad for giving me birth so that i could appear for that exam, my doodhwallah, sabziwallah...everyone possible who was remotely associated with my life then. After constant reminders from my mother to utilise the 0.0005% of sensitivity i was left with, I also thanked my dear Bansal Aunty for teaching me the fundas which actually helped me clear the exam. Bansal Aunty never looked forward for any thankyou's from me. She tirelessly worked on me(Yes, she chiseled me like a potter,who works on his mud pot continously). She helped me in devising the tricks and strategies which one should know while appearing for competitive exams. I took a plethora of exams ranging from state engg test(known as Rajasthan PET) to IIT to IIIT...anything and everything..that was remotely related to engg. I managed to clear some of these exams and finally I joined Computer Engineering in Mumbai.Before leaving for Mumbai I had sought Bansal Aunty's blessings.I guess that was the last time I saw her face which was lit with pride and satisfaction coz her student had been successful in achieving the first milestone of her career.
Thereafter, I visited Bikaner twice a year at the end of each semester. Visits were short and hectic. Short because, i was hardly awake in those 10-12 days and hectic coz I had lots of sleep to catch up with. Even parents did not disturb me as they were under the impression that their daughter has worked really hard during the semester. No doubt I slogged, but that was just a week or two before the final exams. Well, that can be a topic for another blog altogether, but for now, lets not digress from the topic. So in those 10-12 days during which I basically did nothing which can be called constructive from any point of view, I could not even spare 10-12 minutes to visit Bansal Aunty who barely stayed at a distance of 10-12 lanes from my place. Everytime my mother used to tell me to go and see her, seek her blessings, share my experiences with her, I used to reluctantly reply - "Ma, next time pakka..."
I was growing and so was Bansal Aunty...the only difference was that I was growing up and she was growing old. But such a simple difference did not occur to me. My priorities had changed..competing with peers, completing a project, a semester, planning movie outings were more important tasks than dropping in at an old teacher's door step.Years passed and I graduated to become a software engineer. An IT firm in Mumbai hired me and I was on cloud nine. I got reasons to get busy with other things in life.
A month back, I decided to meet all my teachers and mentors in bikaner ; seek their blessings and good wishes before I leave for my masters abroad. I had kept a slot from my so called busy schedule to meet Bansal Aunty as well. But i guess she was short of time slots then. I was slapped hard in face, when my father told me this morning that my dear Bansal aunty had passed away on 2nd May' 2007. I craved to meet her, hug her, express my affection & gratitude for everything she had done for me...but I could not...I was even ready to go to her place at 5 AM in the morning, but she would no more be there to welcome me with a broad smile...**sigh**... not only did I feel sorry for her untimely demise, but was also filled with guilt and remorse attributed to my laziness to visit her, thank her, see her glow & smile which she unfailingly radiated back...I so cursed myself for saying that one line - "next time pakka..." **sigh**
But when you lose something, you do gain a lesson ! I too have learnt, that next time, whenever I wanna express my gratitude, affection or love to some one, I would never procastinate in doing so...and I would never ever say.."next time pakka ... "
