In school, some teachers make an impression on you.
Some trigger a new path in your life.
Some seem to live in your memories.
Ms Devotta who passed away on May 14 ( as reported by Asha Marina on our FB page) was a teacher at St Anthony's who had a place in my memory and will remain so till I reach the shore she has.
My earliest memory of Ms Devotta was of this very proper lady, always dressed in rich saris and speaking very proper English one would expect in a convent school in the Madras of the 1960s. She was a 'distant' teacher for us who were in Classes III and IV. Distant in the sense these teachers seemed senior and important and handled the higher classes we would soon graduate to.
Ms Devotta handled English. And for some reason this was a subject I liked. I guess the passion grew from my evenings spent reading a variety of English magazines at a club near home off Mount Road.
I wanted to write and Ms Devotta's classes had something for me.
Exams were times when I got to know the real Ms Devotta. The questions would challenge me and when the corrected answer sheets were out, enjoying the high marks and looking closely at mistakes made helped me understand how Ms Devotta assessed these papers.
I began to think that she sensed I enjoyed English, I and II and that she read closely some of the long texts I produced. And I earned some fantastic marks too.
My classmates saw value in my English essays and texts and often I would share with them my notes and then go on to produce texts that were reworded and restyled - it was a challenge I enjoyed most.
I still remember my first ever attempt at 'editing' - putting together the Class Magazine from hand written manuscripts with Ms Devotta's guidance. I guess it was produced for the displays at the annual Inspection of Schools.
Through college and my early years in journalism I hardly kept in contact with St Anthony's. Later though, when I resumed small contact in recent years Ms Devotta was happy to see me as a journalist-publisher. I still remember her acknowledgement at the Alumni Meet in 2012.
And now she is no more with us.
Perhaps, the Alumni Assn. could think of creating a Teachers' Roll in the office, detailing every teacher who has contributed to this school.
Some trigger a new path in your life.
Some seem to live in your memories.
Ms Devotta who passed away on May 14 ( as reported by Asha Marina on our FB page) was a teacher at St Anthony's who had a place in my memory and will remain so till I reach the shore she has.
My earliest memory of Ms Devotta was of this very proper lady, always dressed in rich saris and speaking very proper English one would expect in a convent school in the Madras of the 1960s. She was a 'distant' teacher for us who were in Classes III and IV. Distant in the sense these teachers seemed senior and important and handled the higher classes we would soon graduate to.
Ms Devotta handled English. And for some reason this was a subject I liked. I guess the passion grew from my evenings spent reading a variety of English magazines at a club near home off Mount Road.
I wanted to write and Ms Devotta's classes had something for me.
Exams were times when I got to know the real Ms Devotta. The questions would challenge me and when the corrected answer sheets were out, enjoying the high marks and looking closely at mistakes made helped me understand how Ms Devotta assessed these papers.
I began to think that she sensed I enjoyed English, I and II and that she read closely some of the long texts I produced. And I earned some fantastic marks too.
My classmates saw value in my English essays and texts and often I would share with them my notes and then go on to produce texts that were reworded and restyled - it was a challenge I enjoyed most.
I still remember my first ever attempt at 'editing' - putting together the Class Magazine from hand written manuscripts with Ms Devotta's guidance. I guess it was produced for the displays at the annual Inspection of Schools.
Through college and my early years in journalism I hardly kept in contact with St Anthony's. Later though, when I resumed small contact in recent years Ms Devotta was happy to see me as a journalist-publisher. I still remember her acknowledgement at the Alumni Meet in 2012.
And now she is no more with us.
Perhaps, the Alumni Assn. could think of creating a Teachers' Roll in the office, detailing every teacher who has contributed to this school.
Indeed a sad news to hear of the passing of one of the best teachers, in Ms. Devotta. She taught our batch English over two years (71-72) and particularly Shakespeare's "As You Like It". Boy did she know her Shakespeare and there was always absolute silence in her class. You could not but pay attention to every syllable and word uttered by her. I also remember her as one of the most fair teachers when it came to grading the exam or test papers. One always got what one deserved. Teachers like her are indeed a rare breed. My condolences to her family and I know one of her kids, Ashok was my junior in the school and he used to do great in the school quiz competitions. May Ms. Devotta's soul rest in peace.
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