My Teacher, My Role Model

I remember all my English teachers quite vividly – be it Mrs Pushpa Dean, Mrs Vanita Kapoor, and Mrs Rashmi Arora. One in particular, Mrs Rashmi Arora influenced me the most during my formative years.

Mrs Arora was my class teacher in my junior school. With her crisp cotton sarees, lustrous brown hair neatly tied up in a bun, she radiated the image of a strict teacher. And she was. But then there was another side to her as well and that was her caring, protecting and nurturing nature towards her class.

If she was strict with the defaulters, she was equally good with the students who were disciplined and well-behaved. She never judged any student. As a teacher she believed that every student has different strengths and weaknesses. And we just need to identify those and enable them to succeed in life.

She was the one who saw potential in my over-the-top imagination and told me, “Swati, with your over-the-top imagination you can be a good storyteller.” That was then. But today I take pride in calling myself a writer. Now, if my son tells me to write all the stories that I create and narrate to him, I feel grateful to Mrs Arora. Her faith in me strengthened my writing skills. As I write about her on Women’s Day – I salute her dedication towards not only her profession but towards her children as well. 

Contributed by Swati