A popular advertisement on TV shows a youngster’s daily pranks with the quote ” how you use your time tells the world who you are ” . I could not help going back down memory lane to the year 1959 when I was in the first year in my college . We were very fond of our English Professor – Prof C A Sheppard who used a lot of wit and wisdom in teaching the language and kept the students fully engaged with very imaginative story telling and narratives .
Prof Sheppard also took extra classes on Sundays at home for any student who wished to engage his time – free of charges, and I was a regular there . The Professor was in his elements during those sessions and told us the nuances of acquiring good skill in English language with anecdotes and his own life experiences . Even to this day , I owe my ability to express in English to my dear Prof Sheppard .
On completion of my course and before joining engineering , I called on the Prof and requested for an autograph . He wrote the famous poem titled ” If ” by Rudyard Kipling in my book which I reproduce below –
” If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run ,Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it , And which is more , you’ll be a Man,my son!
A profound advice to a young student from a teacher ! . It reminds me every moment that time is a slice of life and the catchwords in the quote are ‘ unforgiving ‘ and ‘distance run’ . Thank you Professor Sheppard . May God bless his soul!
Note: Professor C A Sheppard wrote a very useful book titled ” Towards better English “. I wish I had kept a copy of this book which is not even traceable on Google Search now !
Very profound advice indeed!! Language proficiency is a major element of effective communication. Therefore, instilling a love for language is what distinguishes the great teachers from the ordinary ones. You were blessed to have such a teacher. And, you used this opportunity to learn conscientiously!!
Thank you Ashok for your kind words. I appreciate this.Yes, this grooming held me in good shape when working as a trainer . I also emulated the Professor’s style of story telling to good use .
What a fitting tribute to a teacher of such calibre. The poem by Rudyard Kipling is a masterpiece in itself and the best guide for all of us in life.
Enjoyed it sir. Great read!!
Best Regards
Dhiraj
Teacher’s Day is full of remembrances. One day in class 10, history class was going on. My friend Rashmi and I were a bit distracted and started quizzing each other on Hindi film songs. There was a song by Lata Mangeshkar in a Jaya Bhaduri movie which Rashmi asked me. I wrote down the first line of this song on a small chit and while this was going on, unknown to us, the teacher had been observing us. She asked us both to stand up. Quite nervous, I tightly held the paper in my hand. She asked me to hand over the paper and then to our horror began reading out to the class: “Mera padne mein nahin laage Dil kyon”… The class burst out laughing and the teacher herself tried to suppress a smile…. Of course we both had to stand outside class for that hour!
Beautiful line : “Filling the unforgiving minute”. Gives us the most needed inspiration to get up and get going. Nice blog Harimama!
Thank you Mani. The Sunday classes was my first grooming experience in English language . I was privileged to get my exposure from a British Professor direct .
Funny ! We all have such experiences to share from the past .
Thank you.
Thank you Dhiraj.I was privileged to get this initial grooming from a person of Prof Sheppard’s calibre .