Teachers have a profound influence on how our life turns out. We all have our favourite teachers. These teachers show us the path. These teachers also tell us what not to do. We wish for many things in our lives. But most of all, we want a champion who will encourage us and be our cheerleader. We all want someone to say, “Why do we fall? So that we can learn to get up!” We all desire such teachers in our lives who will sit with us on the katta in the college because we don’t have friends. We want teachers who won’t laugh at our dreams because they sound ridiculous to most of the adults around us. There are times when we tend to listen to teachers more than our parents.
We could go on and on about how important good teachers are in our lives. But we thought we will do something different. There are great many teachers, masters, sensei, and gurus in literature, movies, and pop culture that have made a mark on us. They are revered by a large number of people around the world. These teachers have played an important role in their respective worlds. So, we thought that we will pay an homage to such teachers who we all would love to have in our corner.
1. Prof. McGonagall:
If we had a teacher who sat on her desk in theform of a cat, we would lose our minds every day. How did Harry, Ron, Hermione and other Hogwarts students not react more animatedly when they saw Prof. McGonagall turn into a cat and back into herself, is a mystery to us. There are some amazing teachers and characters in the Harry Potter universe. But majority of the fans would agree that Prof. McGonagall is the best teacher at Hogwarts. She is one of the most powerful witches in the series. She is strict but not to the point where she would destroy the spirit of the students for rules and regulations. She treats all her students equally. She never coddles anyone but treats people with kindness when needed. She never backs down from a challenge and stands up to bullying and exploitation. She is the one who keeps the school together after Dumbledore’s death. She knows the strengths and weaknesses of her students and knows how to encourage them to do their best. She treats Neville with respect when no one does. She nurtures Hermione’s brilliance. She is the one who gets Harry his first broom. She even takes a stand for Malfoy when he is turned into a ferret by the imposter Moody.Unlike Snape, she is fair to all students. She is, without a doubt, one of the best teachers and one of the best characters in the Harry Potter universe. And all of us in the fandom raise our wands to Prof. McGonagall and to Dame Maggie Smith who brought her to life!
2. Master Oogway & Master Shifu:
“One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.” These are the words said by the wise Master Oogway, the founder of Valley of Peace and founder of Kung-Fu. There are some movies that make you cry; some make you laugh. Some make you feel so good that you can watch those movies anytime. Kung-Fu Panda Trilogy makes the cut. Master Oogway, the gentle tortoise is probably the wisest character in the Kung-Fu Panda universe. He recognises the potential in Po, the panda, when no one can. He trains Shifu to be a great master and look beyond prejudices. It is his faith in Po that Po is able to become the Dragon Warrior. In the third movie, Oogway makes Po realise the power of his Chi and makes him aware of himself.
Master Shifu, the red panda, becomes the master of the Jade Palace after Oogway. He is skilled in Kung-Fu and teaches The Furious Five. He is not as patient as Oogway is. He is set in his own ways that stop him from attaining inner peace. He is a little narrow-minded when it comes to Po. But he proves to be a fantastic teacher when he realises that he cannot teach Po the same way he taught others. He knows his student very well and is able to bring out the best in him. At the end of the third movie, he realises that in spite of being a master there are still many things that he needs to learn. And that truly makes him wise and he is able to attain inner peace.
3. Ram Shankar Nikumbh:
“Har bacche ki apni khoobi hoti hai, apnikaabiliyat hoti hai, apni chaahat hoti hai…”
Ram Shankar Nikumbh is an eccentric art teacher to a child with learning disabilities in the movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’. Nikumbh, portrayed by Amir Khan, uses out-of-the-box ways to teach his classes. Having faced the disability himself that Ishaan is struggling with, he empathises with thetraumatised child who is unable to conform to the standards of academics, decorum and discipline set by schools. He recognises Ishaan’s needs and transforms him into a happy child.Nikumbh is a perfect example of what being a good teacher entails: the ability to discover every student’s interest, capabilities, learning stylesand using these to mould the student into the best version of himself or herself.
Two more characters worth mentioning as good teachers are Debraj Sahai, portrayed by Amitabh Bachhan, in the movie Black and Naina Mathur, played by Rani Mukherjee, in Hichki. While Sahaihelps a deaf and blind girl learn how to communicate, be less aggressive and eventually get a college degree; Mathur turns her own disability into a strength to be a teacher and a role-model to students who come from broken and poor families.
4. Anand Kumar:
“Jab ek ghar me ek bachcha padh leta hai na, toh uss ghar ka, uss parivaar ka, maata peetaka, aane wali saat pushton ka, sabka life humesha ke liye badal jaata hai.”
Anand Kumar, played by Hrithik Roshan, is a mathematics whiz from a modest background in Patna. Owing to the lack of financial support, his dreams of going abroad for higher education are shattered. Life’s harsh realities provoke him to break the wheel created by the rich and the powerful. He gives up his comfortable job in a coaching centre to help teach 30 students, belonging to the economically backward classes,prepare for the IIT entrance exam. Kumar is akind and encouraging teacher, who makes the students believe in themselves and beat the odds. He makes us wish we were his students!
The movie ‘Super 30’ is a biography based on the life of award-winning teacher Anand Kumar. The title of the movie has been taken from the name of the actual programme run by Kumar since 2002.
5. Kabir Khan:
“Pehli anpni game baaki logon se unchi karo fir apni awaaz unchi karna.”
Kabir Khan, portrayed by Shahrukh Khan, is a fierce teacher, rough around the edges but has the focus of a laser. He wants his women’s national hockey team to play at the World Cup. The movie ‘Chak De! India’ shows the journey of an unsuccessful hockey player transform into an excellent coach. He has to deal with a group of misfits, and teach the students what teamwork and patriotism are. He also instils in them, a sense of self-confidence and modesty.
Another teacher worth mentioning here is Mr. Miyagi from ‘The Karate Kid’. His relationship with his protégée Daniel is one of give and take. On one hand, he teaches Daniel that karate is meant for self-defence and discovering one’s inner peace, while Daniel makes Miyagi’s grief bearable by comforting him.
We told you about our favourite teacher characters and why we adore them. Tell us your favourites by adding your comments to this post.
Apoorva Apte & Surashree Joshi
Faculty, ELTIS