Too
soon, it was time to go back to Mysore, to do my Bachelors degree. I wanted to
take English Lit, Philosophy and Journalism as my electives and was thrilled to
get this combo in the Maharaja’s College. Dad would not hear of it. He said
there was no need for me to go to a co-ed college and that I should study in
Maharani’s College for women. I was very disappointed but had little choice. I
knew when dad meant what he said and had no intention of arguing with him.
Anyway, my old friends were back into my life. Gayatri, Amba, Veena and Tita who, after finishing school, had joined this
college where a separate room was allotted for Gayatri to ‘retire’ after class.
I was happy to see them. Though I had many new friends by now, they were my
childhood buddies and it was good to see them. All of us, except Tita, wanted
to take English Lit as elective subject but the college did not offer that
course. We met the Principal who agreed to get necessary sanctions to introduce
it provided we had the mandatory number of seven students opting for it. I went
around ‘hawking’ the idea and soon, we were there, seven students in the English
Lit class! Amba became a Reader in that Department later. The other subjects we
had to take were History and Political Science.
If
Mrs. Watsa started my love affair with the English Language, it was Prof .B C
Wesley who took it to divine heights. As he stood reading out passages from Pride and Prejudice or Macbeth, we were transported to another
world. He made me love Alexander Pope enough to start writing poetry in
couplets. I never missed a word of what he said in class because he told us
what was not in the book. I emulated this style of his when I became a
Lecturer, which meant more reading and widening one’s own knowledge base. A
teacher’s role is to take the student beyond the boundaries of the mundane and
become ‘Captain my Captain’ of his/her students.
Prof
Wesley guided me when I prepared for by debates. He was always there for his
students and his little room was crowded at any given time. When he died, I
wrote a letter to the Editor of the local daily about one more star in the
galaxy. A teacher’s influence is for
eternity they say and I believe it.
It
may be out of context, but I remember two events that created a stir when we
were in college. One was the assassination of J F Kennedy. We were young
romantics at heart and felt the pain of Jackie Kennedy as she stood silently
beside her husband’s cortege, so dignified in her grief. Kennedy was our hero
and Jackie symbolized the elegance and affluence of high society. We had a
condolence meeting and we all sobbed unabashedly, for the young, handsome
couple. When Jackie married Onassis, we felt let down and recently, when I read
some books on Kennedy and Jackie, I was disillusioned to know our idols had
clay feet.
The
Nanavati case interested us. A naval officer, Nanavati had shot the man who was
allegedly having an affair with his wife. We keenly followed the trail, our
sympathies for the wronged husband. When he was convicted, we were angry with
the Judge. We were naïve enough to believe all is fair in love and war!
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