BEST TEACHER

A teacher should have a good knowledge of the subject he teaches, good communication skills to transfer the knowledge to the students and a good character to earn the respect of the students. Teachers may use different methods of teaching which may also depend on the subject. Some teachers are kind, friendly or funny but may not teach well.

The best teacher I had was Mr. Jacob, a mathematics lecturer at Fatima Mata National College, Kollam. He taught me for two years (1974 – 76) during the pre – degree course. He made a tough subject easy by clearly explaining each step involved in solving a problem and getting us to do it along with him. He would then give us problems to solve on our own.

Mr. Jacob had a stern face and would not smile even once during the two years he taught us. There were about eighty students in the class. He would stare at any student who made even the slightest noise till there was total silence. There was pin drop silence during his classes. He never had to raise his voice. When asking questions, he would point a finger at a student and raise the finger. The student is expected to stand up and give the answer. If you see him outside the class, he would totally ignore you.

When the results were announced after the final examinations, most of the students got very high marks for mathematics. After the course, when he was no longer teaching us, he would smile briefly when we wished him.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

RED DRAGONFLY

Saw a red dragonfly near my house. First time I am seeing one.

BUS STATION

KSRTC Bus Station - Kollam

SCHOLARSHIP TESTS

There are several organizations that conduct scholarship tests in India. If they charge a fee for it, there is something fishy. They may call it Application fee, Registration fee, Test fee etc. A genuine scholarship test should not require a fee.

Organizations that conduct these tests contact school authorities and try to get the maximum number of students to appear for the test. To spread the net wide they admit students from standard IV to standard XII for the test. Some of them advertise in the newspapers. Some are even able to get information regarding their test to appear as news in the media. Maybe they pay more. They may claim to have test centers throughout the country. But once the fee is received they may cancel some centers. This will reduce their expenditure. They inform the candidates that due to unavoidable circumstances the chosen center is not available and that the candidate will have to appear for the test at a far off center. They are not really interested whether or not the candidate appears for the test.

Suppose a fee of Rs.100/- is charged for the test. In a country like India with a large population they can get about 100,000 candidates to apply for the test. So the total amount they receive will be Rs.100, 00,000/-

They may need about Rs.500, 000/- for their expenses which includes test paper preparation and correction, hiring examiners and invigilators, renting examination halls etc. Once the results are announced they may spend another Rs.500, 000/- as scholarship for the students who did well. So their total expenditure will be about Rs.10, 00,000/- and the balance amount of Rs.90, 00,000/- will be their profit.

Usually they invite a Minister or some high government official as chief guest for the scholarship distribution ceremony. After distributing the scholarship the chief guest will give a speech congratulating the winners and praising the organizers for being so generous.  

RAILWAY STATION

Kollam Junction Railway Station

View from Over Bridge

Hotel Railview. Opposite Railway Station. It used to be a small dingy bar.

Old Railway Station which is nearby. Now the area in front is used as parking space for two  wheeler's.  I remember arriving at this station in 1972 to settle at kollam.

Road near Railway Station. The Trees!

FATIMA MATA NATIONAL COLLEGE

                                                                                                                 

Studied at this College for seven years. 1974 - 1981

Spent most of the time at this end of the building where the Physics Department was located.

Had to climb this over bridge every day to get to College.