To the cool gurus, with love...

Students across the city fondly pay heartfelt gratitude to their favourite teachers

“Teachers’ Day is a day dedicated to recognising and honouring teachers because they play an important part in everyone's life since they are the students’ only source of information. On this day, I want to thank Prof. Neena Sharma for always guiding and showing the right path to hundreds of students. She has helped build countless careers and imparted us all with valuable life lessons. Prof. Sharma seems to be strict, but students who know her closely know that she is the sweetest and the most supportive guardian angel for them. Her day starts with teaching, distributing her knowledge, and her encouragement and unwavering support have aided students in reaching their full potential. Without Prof. Neena, many students would not have gotten to where they are now.”

—Pragati Tiwari,

TYBAMMC (Journalism), S M Shetty

College, Powai

“Teachers, parents, mentor, guardian are different names for one personality which work to shape a child to become a good human. Parents teach you how to live a good life, but teachers teach you how to enjoy a life with ethics and morals. I was lucky enough to have Deepak Suryawanshi sir in my initial years of degree college. The best thing about him is that he gives us the liberty to perform the presentation the way we want, whether drama, musical, or short film. He inspired me to get out of my comfort zone to be the best version of myself. Teachers’ Day gives you the opportunity to show gratitude towards the one who always lifts your spirit and helps you move forward. Happy Teachers’ Day to all my teachers who keep their thoughts as a step ahead of me so I can walk on the right way.”

—Supriya Vithoba Sorap, Guru Nanak College of Arts, Science and Commerce, GTB Nagar, Mumbai

“Akshata Narkar ma'am (Professor of Mass Media, Communications and Advertisement) has been a guiding-light who is not just a professor but a mentor. She has been guiding me through every step of my life. She is a friendly companion to have who motivates us to do well in life and shares the joy of our success as her own. She never shies away from her responsibilities and treats everyone equally in the class. Miss Akshata inspires students like us who want to become independent and do well in life. As time will pass, I am sure that someday I would look back and recall the moments that someone taught me with kindness and made me believe that I can achieve my dreams someday.” —Emaan Qureshi, University of Mumbai

“My teacher and principal, Sudam Kumbhar sir, is my role model. Though he is a disciplinarian, we students have an excellent rapport with him. He always encourages us to read extra books apart from our syllabus and goes the extra mile to help students who are weak in their studies. He also urges us to take part in extracurricular activities. I always see happiness and satisfaction on his face when we students win prizes in any competition.” —Pratham Binsale, Shailendra Education Society's Secondary School, Dahisar

“My favourite teacher is Suchitra Vavekar. She always helps us to resolve all our queries, no matter what we ask. In our online classroom, she also shows us, students, video stories and rhymes. She never scolds any of the students even if they disturb the class. In fact, she brings our focus back to the subjects with her unique way of teaching.” —Swarup Prashant Chavan, Class 4, Dosibai Jeejeebhoy Primary School, Goregaon

“Miss Rashi Bijlani has been an inspiration as she made history very interesting as a subject and helped me learn a lot more than just facts. She taught us history as if she was narrating a story and has been instrumental in making me a history buff.

We are fortunate to have a teacher like her, who is knowledgeable and has made learning fun as well.” —Aadil Jitesh Talpade, Jasudben M L School,

Khar (W)

“Saudamini Bhagwat ma’am (our visiting professor) is the reason I attend early morning lectures at the university level. Her knowledge and understanding of various subjects and her deep sense of connection with every student make the class worth attending. I owe my knowledge and success to Saudamini Ma’am.”

—Charlene Fernandes, a research student at the

University of Mumbai

“A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his image but to develop students who can create their own image. I am glad to have a teacher like Miss Christabel Veigas, who has been a strong pillar of my academic career. I am grateful for her as she always inspires me to give my best output.” — Jaden Rao, Bombay

Scottish School, Mahim

“My English professor, Kajali Raina ma'am, has been the go-to person for any queries. Her ways of teaching have always been different where every student feels belonged and welcomed. I have learned a lot from her, and I consider her as my role model.” —Afreen Shaikh, degree

college student from

St Andrew's College, Bandra

"Naukhiram Bala has been a great teacher who supported me throughout my education in a civic-run school. Bala sir taught us various tactics to understand difficult concepts to grasp in a class full of 60 to 70 students. Also, he has been a great mentor."

—Eds Rebello, Class 11 student, GG College, Vasai

“Ranjana Desai ma'am has been a pillar of strength during my school days. She took education beyond the classroom and taught us life lessons. She has been a true friend and guru who is approachable and understanding.”

—Omkar Yederi, a Class 12

student

“There are quite a few teachers from Sir J J College of Architecture that have made an impact on me.

First of them is the then principal, Ruben—this was in the year

1959. Then the other ones are

Russi Khambata (a visiting faculty) and Madhav Devbhakt. Some of them were practising architects.

And their practical knowledge made the classes more informative and fun. I believe that most schools just teach you the basics, but when you move out in the real world, that's when you actually learn things. I believe learning is a life-long process. Had I stopped learning, I wouldn't have been able to sustain in this field for almost six decades. I salute all the teachers who taught me and the ones who continue to teach me newer things in life.”

— Atul Desai is a renowned architect and

an alumni of Sir J J College of Architecture — As told to Priyanka Navalkar, Sweety Adimulam, Bhavna Uchil, Pratip Acharya, Ronald Rodrigues,

Narsi Benwal, and Manasi Y Mastakar