To ma’am with love

Elizabeth Matthew joined St Mary’s in the beginning of that year and taught our batch English for two solid years. ‘Solid’ is the exact adjective to describe our learning over those two years. Rock solid. She really worked us hard. Her own rigourous preparation for each class set the tone. Not one to simplify things,she inexorably raised the bar and I remember being very motivated by the challenge.

She was retiring and almost shy in that first year. Very serious,the occasional light hearted comment would draw out a smile which then made her blush . We often joked about how she hid behind her large leather hand bag which she propped up on the teacher’s desk.

In the next year,as we neared our Senior Cambridge exam,she had settled in and we had really warmed to her. She divided us into ability sub groups,and some of us got more challenging assignments,extra lectures in the lunch break,and one to one sessions reading out our answers to her on the garden bench. Three of us even visited her at home (a flat on Hare Krishna Mandir Road ) in the Michelmas break,to hand in our extra assignments. I remember the aroma of the fish she was frying when we arrived,fish that the three of us were happy to polish off in a jiffy. We sat there for hours that day,talking about all our adolescent woes until she had to gently tell us to be going!!!

Mrs Matthew was by far the very best teacher I have ever had . I came back to St Mary’s as a teacher in 1982. She was principal by then . We spent many hours talking about the girls,their problems,my teaching,their learning. She overlooked my beginner’s bloomers….and I remember a few vividly.

Mrs. Matthew never held back a compliment. I remember her commenting on my saris,appreciating the way I carried a particular hand bag,appreciating my (over?) enthusiasm as a teacher and more recently,applauding my work even long after I left her team.

We kept up the contact,being in the same field of work. I visited her on Teacher’s Day almost every year. A month before her passing I was passing by the school,and on impulse,and without prior appointment,I just walked in,climbed up her wooden staircase and asked to see her.

Though dismayed at her state of health I came away shaken by her optimism and by her interest in every detail of every day life. She even told me,“They have made a palkhi to take me down the stairs. I want to come in the palkhi to see your new school”.

She asked me many questions about my research project and when I hesitated to go into details thinking it would tire her,she rebuked me saying she wanted me to explain it properly. We debated the issue of class and how it impacts the social climate of a school. She was just as committed to improving the school,telling me about new things she wanted to do like labeling all the plants with their botanical names. I offered to get that done for her and failed to execute my promise in time.

Thiry five years ago Mrs Matthew was not impressed when I told her that I was going to follow in her footsteps,study Literature and History and choose the ‘old fashioned ‘ profession of teaching.

“What do you want to do that for?” she said,“ there are so many other professions to choose from”.

Well I did not follow her advice. And I have my teacher’s word for it that it was not a bad decision.