The fact that my daughter has got me hooked on a series of fictionalized history based on the life of Julius Caesar could not have come at a better time: I am going to deal with Shakespeare's Caesar in my classes again, and I am being considerably re-educated. Conn Iggulden has taken great liberties with history as it is recorded, even when it is not absolutely certain, but he makes superb reading, and I hope to get at least a handful of current pupils interested, if I am assured that they have attained at least basic literacy.
April went dry and blisteringly hot, but we were blessed with a strong shower on the very last evening, and then again today, though only briefly. So the last 'heat wave' is only a nasty memory already, and we are bracing for the next one. But I have lived through rainy and balmy Mays, so there's no harm on hoping that the weather gods might be kind again.
I have been reading back what I wrote about turning fifty ten years ago, and wondering what I should write on my sixtieth birthday, in October. Any suggestions from old and fond readers?
This year is also significant in that I wrote To My Daughter exactly twenty years ago.
With reference to the previous post, my thanks to those who cared to reply here and in our Whatsapp group called 'Suvro Sir's intimates'. It makes me feel good. I hope it will be remembered at least in some circles, by at least a few hundred people, that I loved and adored the English language, not merely made a living out of it, and it was that love that gave me whatever good I had in me as a teacher. Would some of my ex students reading this post care to tell me what they miss most about my classes, and what they would have liked to have more of while they were attending my classes?
I shall also be grateful if some of you gave me ideas about what to write about next, things that I might be capable of writing and interested too.
A special thanks to Saikat for coming back to the post titled Fafaia yet again.
9 comments:
Dear Sir,
I am reading your posts after a long time, but it always feels refreshing to come back to your blogs. I miss your classes and hope to meet you when I come to Durgapur. These days I see people around me read less and less and, I think in the last couple of years the way we consume content (written and visual) has changed so I would like to know your thoughts on that.
Regards,
Debabrata
First off, thanks for commenting, Debabrata, but I must admit I can't remember which Debabrata you are. You might wish to email me at suvro.chatterjee@gmail.com.
As for reading, at least so far as this country is concerned, we are NOT a reading civilization, never were. In this I am of the same opinion as Ruskin Bond, who is now almost ninety; he has confirmed in an interview that even when he was in school -- long, long before the internet - there were only three or four regular readers in his class. So it was true in my school days, almost fifty years ago. However, I am glad to confirm that there are still readers and writers galore, only, you have to look for them in the right places: you will find many such at literary fests and Delhi bookshops, and hardly any in Bangalore IT offices, malls or pubs.
I keep writing about books. Scroll down the right hand bar of my blog to click on the tag 'Books and movies' if you are interested.
Best wishes.
Sir
Dear Sir - I keep visiting this page once in a while and read all that has been going on with you. Apologize for not being in touch last many years - I think marriage, kids, career does that to some people (or at least to me). That being said, on one of your questions, I still fondly remember your classes, especially for the Julius Caesar narration that you did while teaching and your sense of humor. My daughter is just turning 2 this month but I'm sure I'll tell her stories of your classes whenever she starts understanding things! With my parents having shifted to Hyderabad I rarely visit Durgapur, but I'll give you a call whenever I'm in town next.
I hope you are keeping well!
Best wishes
Nishant Choudhary
Glad to hear from you after ages, Nishant. I thought I had been quite forgotten! My blessings and best wishes for your daughter.
Dear Sir,
Your post on English made me think that I should possibly consider my spoken English (and Hindi) as somewhere between first and second languages, although I'd consider my written English as slightly better than the spoken version. I might have mentioned before: it was while I was trying to learn French that I saw English (the language, grammar, structure and so on) in a whole new light. Hence, learning French proved to be rewarding for more than one reason. I do think that I am able to express myself best in English. I have colleagues from China and Iran who told me that their parents can't travel to other countries because they don't speak any English. Thankfully, that's never ever a concern for people like us. And while a whole lot of literature is available to us, I sometimes despair about everything that's out of reach because I don't understand Russian or German or Marathi or Tamil and I have to resort to translations and be subject to much that is lost in the process.
Your mention of Shakespeare ties in with what I had to write about your classes. Reading Roma Gill's textbook at home, before your classes, I couldn't proceed beyond a few lines. Nothing seemed to make sense. But in your class the same lines seemed to gain focus and make a lot more sense. "Ah, of course, seems obvious now: why didn't I gather that from the side-notes before?", I used to think, much like when an illusionist reveals his tricks. Sometimes I visit the play and I amuse myself by reading bits, smiling to myself at the fact that I still remember quite a few lines, all these years later.
As much as I enjoy reading books and listening to podcasts on history and discussions on similarities between present events and those in the past, I used to find history classes in school insufferable and the books miserable. The only exception was your history class. We barely ever used to open the books in class: you could narrate everything, dates, names, places without any notes and make it sound like a captivating story.
Once, at your home, we had a "free" class and we had solved "Jumble" from the Telegraph. Every time I go home now, I spend the entire day on the page of the newspaper (my folks still subscribe to the broadsheet) which contains Jumble, Crossword etc. Finding all the solutions serves an appropriate amount of dopamine while also letting me not be bored. I'll admit I obtain a smug satisfaction as well when I solve the puzzles in a public place where most around me have their faces glued to their phones!
Sincerely
Nishant (Kamath)
Thanks for commenting, Nishant. Heard from you after a long time.
It makes me sad that many more students did not find my history classes more interesting. You are witness that I tried... and do look up a post titled 'Clio stirring', if you haven't read it already.
Please always remember to mention your surname in your comments. As you can see, there is another Nishant who writes in sometimes.
Best wishes.
Sir
Yes sir, I did read the other post; commented on it too. I remembered after I'd sent the comment on the current one that I forgot to include one huge benefit of attending your tuition classes: the BBC audio tapes of the plays! You had been kind enough to lend them to me too. Knowing how valuable they were to you, I sometimes wonder if I would have lent them to others if I were in your shoes. But lend them, you did, and I made copies. Another student in school borrowed my copy and made his own. Sadly, we don't have anything to play those tapes on anymore. I am not even sure if they survived the move.
I had thought out loud, in my comment on the other post, if left-leaning people tend to join academia and journalism or if they gradually move leftwards after they join these fields. Perhaps you could pen your thoughts some time?
Sincerely
Nishant Kamath
A teacher's job is to help every way he can, Nishant. Though we do have to suffer for it. I remember with great hurt many books that have been stolen from my shelves! That students felt compelled to steal, when they could have just asked...
I think those BBC lessons, or things like that, are now available online. Do check.
Interesting question, about left-leaning people. Frankly, I don't know well enough to be sure about the answer, but I think both your guesses have some truth in them. By the way, though I have definitely been 'left-leaning' lifelong, most orthodox leftists, at least in India, hate many of my ideas about what leftism should mean!
Sir
Dear Sir,
I remember hearing the name John Wesley Powell for the first time in your class. I think you mentioned it while sharing stories about your visit to the Grand Canyon. Currently, I am planning a trip to Dinosaur National Monument and one of the places therein was named by Powell as 'Gates of Lodore' in 1869. The inspiration for the name came from a poem titled 'The Cataract of Lodore' by Robert Southey.
The world, with its myriad components, and their interconnectedness is fascinating. And thank you for being such a fervent catalyst in showing the door to that world!
With regards,
Saikat.
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