Our teachers' nicknames

Our high school teachers were referred by their name initials.   Their initials were marked in our time table against which subject they took. The 1970-73 batch was lucky in the sense that the old timers were still around and started retiring. I was in 'C' Section.

As in most schools and colleges, students are renown to expand the initials of teachers to make funny nicknames. In our school too, there were some funny nicknames. They were not to disrespect them but purely meant for fun. Some teachers also seemed to know of their nicknames.  Some nicknames both silly and intelligent, were coined many batches back and passed on to the next batch and the next and so on.

I try to list out some I remember.  A few are not necessarily on initials. Many are not alive now, except probably 3-4, NSS, KRK, PV and CVR.  I have met the first three in recent years.

AVR - Ardha Vaday Ranganna - His real name was A.V.Ranganna.  English teacher, short man, chain smoker who had 'smoker's cough' and never seemed to know Kannada.
ASL - Lal Bahadur Shastri - because he had a resembled our Prime Minister in the 1960s. No initial expansion.  His name was A.S.Lakshminarayana. He was poverty-striken after he retired and used to walk the streets selling incense sticks to earn a living.  It was such a sorry state to see of a teacher. He took Civics and Geography.
MNL - none as far as I know. He was the Head Master when I joined 8th and retired at the end of the term. His name was MN Lakshminarasimhaiah. English teacher. No known nickname for him.
BN - Beedhi Naayi [Street dog]. He was B.Narasinga Rao. He took Chemistry.  His son was in our class, B.N.Ramesh.  There were six Ramesh-s in our class!!
MKG - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was M.K.Gopala Iyengar.  I think he took Science or English occasionally.
NSS - NoNa Saayso Shoora.  N.S.Seetharam. Took over from MNL as Head Master in 1971. Algebra teacher, renown for his neat writing on the board.
NSV - NoNa Saayso Veera.  NoNa is fly.  His name was N.S. Venkata.. something [not sure]. Physics teacher.
MRK - Madhya Raatri KaLLa [mid night thief] - M.R.Krishnamurthy. He took Physics.
KRK - Krishnamurthypuram RoTTi KaLLa.  K.R.Krishnamurthy [RoTTi is flat bread, KaLLa is thief]. The strictest Maths teacher.
SNC - GodhamoTTay.  His name was S.N.Chakravarthy. Biology and Chemistry [?].
SK - Cannot remember if there was any for him. He came for Biology.
VK - Vodakal KunDi.  Cracked buttock!  V.Krishnaiah [our PE teacher].
NL - Naayi Laddhi.  Dog Shit.  N,Lakshminarasimhaiah [he was my father's classmate in school, 1930s].  Geography teacher.
CVR - none for him I think. English teacher.
PV - cannot recall any name for him. History, Civics and English [non-detail]
MSK - Chinnada GaNi. [Gold mining].  Mohammad S..... Khan.  He used to dig his nostrils and keep them clean just like one cleans the barrels of a gun!  He was made to fill the 'Work Experience" slot where he made us do nothing. Sometimes MKG filled this slot and taught us sewing.  MSK was our school's only Urdu teacher and so he only had one class per day and students were few too.  Since nothing was done, the boys did all sort of nuisance in this time.
Ganapathi Bhat - He was renown for his below the belt jokes and was often referred to as 'poly bhatta'. Our school's only Hindi teacher.
Anantha Somayaji - no nicknames.  Our school's only Sanskrit teacher.
VSS - Cannot recall his name - Srinivasa Murthy may be. He was our school's only Kannada teacher.
MCC - He was a poetand taught Science and English.  No nickname as far as I know. He was M.C.Chokkanna who always sported the caste mark - a vertical red line on his forehead.  MKG also sported that red line once in a while.
DVN - Donku VeeNay Naarada.  This is the funniest of them all. Naarada in mythology having a crooked VeeNay [a string instrument]. I think he was D.V.Narasimhamurthy. English and Science.
SR - Name not familiar to me.  Due to his short stature, he was nicknamed "SR -KuLLa". He joined as a fresher to teach Kannada when we were in 10th and much later became HM.

There was very old and wrinkle-faced attendant of the school. Jogaiah - everyone called him Jogi.  He was the one who rung the beautiful hand bell and too attendance registers back to the HM from all classes at the stipulated time.  Just remembering him here.

Have I missed out any?

Comments are awaited.. with more memories!!

Our MKG at Sarada Vilas High School

He had the same initials as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, MKG!  M. K. Gopala Iyengar. He had a Gandhian discipline, was slim, fair and soft-spoken.  This teacher used to occupy one of the slots usually in the after-lunch sessions about twice a week.  MKG was always clad in a spic and span white kurta and pyjama, neatly pressed.  He came on his shining clean bicycle that had a nice cane basket hung to the handlebar. 

The filled the "Work Experience" class which we used to like. I remember that MKG's hobby was tailoring and sewing.  He had made us to learn simple sewing techniques and he used to tell that they are very useful skills that can be handy all our lives. He had made us to buy a thimble, a needle, white thread, some buttons and some white cotton cloth.  I have not forgotten the hand sewing skills he taught - hemming, buttoning, making the buttonhole and using the thimble on the middle finger-tip for protection and as a tool to push the needle while hand-sewing. And the thimble I bought in 1972 is still with me, though the finger has overgrown. Here it is: 

We used to like his session better than the one occupied by another Urdu language teacher [MSK]. MSK would just sit and doze on his chair. When he was awake, he would make use of this time by cleaning his nostrils using his left hand fingers and making a tiny dry-mucous ball and......?  This was the noisiest 40 minuets besides the Sanskrit class which Somayaji was handling.  MSK could ever control the boys who went on murmuring and chatting but his shouts only dissolved in the noise.  He too did not bother much and just spent time till the bell. This was one leisure period that all of us enjoyed in that way.  Some of them used the time to finish their homework to save time for play at home!

Rajan, Rameshs and Anantha...

In April, B.Rajan was found attending a friend's family function to which I was also invited. The same old Rajan smile! When KoLi Master (our tall PT Master who was often hunting with our Mysore Maharaja was always fond of narrating to the whole school during the drill session that was once involved in a fight with a tiger showing his handicapped left shoulder which he could not use normally) found him not doing the drill in CKC, he used to lift him up holding those ears as a punishment! Everybody remembers that. Look at that ear now! Rajan was also in SVHS later.

In August, following KoLi Ramesh's intimation, I got to contact two chaps who were in Sarada Vilas High School. BN Ramesh and KR Ramesh. BNR (our chemistry teacher B.Narasanga Rao's son, is in Gujarat. He was a good debater in his school days and brought many laurels to our school. When I spoke to him over phone, he still had that clarity in speech!

One Ananthapadmanabha who stumbled upon this blog responded to which I corresponded and within a week we were facing each other in front of his home and later in it! He had come down from busy Bangalore and called. He remembers me from the Tennis-ball-cricket activity in 1975 from his crystal-clear memory and the ease with which he recollected so many things/events from those days on the field and at school was a joy to listen, when we together met KR Ramesh in his home over some fine-flavoured tea. Ananth was in CKC's Kannada medium as well whereas KRR was in another section of SVHS.

KoLi Ramesh is now very passionate in building fuel-effecient hot water boilers and ovens. He was kind enough to build one in my home two years ago. It was his 125th project. Indeed it is saving much fuel while giving hot water. The steel boiler was fabricated by another senior CKC mate Ramaswamy. KoLi is watching the finished job and had just fired to test it.

Some new pictures of Sarada Vilas High School

I was passing by Sharada Vilas High School recently (Dec.2, 2009). Since I had a camera in my pocket, I thought of taking a few shots. I had spent 3 years between 1970-73. There were a few changes in the quadrangle. The Head Master's room was shifted. In the old place there were some new rooms. Classes were on and except for the peon (seen in the picture below) in front of the HM's room none was out. It looked silent and deserted, though some boys near the windows tried to see what I was doing there! The classrooms looked crowded as teachers were doing their duties. I did not walk through everywhere, but just took a few pictures and moved out.

The quadrangle.

Another view of the quadrangle.

What was the backdoor entry to the field in our days is now the main entry to the school premise. Note the college structure standing right in front of it!!

We used to have our 10th sections here. Some of us used to bring our bicycles occasionally and they were parked here in this corridor in front of our classrooms. There was no cycle stand in those days! Since most of us came by walk there were just a few bicycles in total and putting them there was not a hindrance for our playful running in this corridor.

Classrooms had ventilators below the windows and now they are all closed up. But the little pipe that is provided to take out any water from the rooms are still there. It is through these pipes mischievous boys used to put their mouths and make a loud sound that took everyone aback. The teacher would then rush up to the window shouting "yaavano avanu muttaaLa" only to find nobody there - obviously the rascal would have gone close to the wall and "vanished"!

This is the vast playground from where we tried to escape home for lunch as the 'games' slot was just before luncheon. Later in the evenings during my college days in the same institution I used to come for tennis ball cricket here in the same field. A few years later I played one of my earliest cricket matches with the cricket ball here on this ground - there is no regular cricket pitch now because the institution has grown up with new facilities. The one in the background is/was the Girls High School.

The stone protection is a new addition. Earlier there was only soil. Erosion might have prompted them to come up with this. Tree roots were then not visible then.

As it now looks from the far field. The right side building that has come up is of the college. Ealier there was an open space with a nice gap between the college and the school buildings.

At this high school, which was a very reputed one in the 1930s and 40s, both my father and uncle also studied.

Evergreen Memories

Evergreen Memories

Gone are the days
when the school reopened in June,
and we settled in our new desks and benches.

Gone are the days
when we queued up in book depot,
and got our new books and notes.

Gone are the days
when we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.

Gone are the days
we learnt writing with slates and pencils, and
Progressed To fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips.

Gone are the days
We began drawing with crayons and evolved to
Colour pencils and finally sketch pens.

Gone are the days
we started calculating first with multiplication tables and then with
Clarke's tables and advanced to calculators and computers.

Gone are the days
when we chased one another in the corridors in
Intervals, and returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat.

Gone are the days
when we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle sheds.

Gone are the days
when all the colors in the world,
Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays.

Gone are the days
when a single P.T period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons.

Gone are the days
when cricket was played with writing pads as bats,
and Neckties and socks rolled into balls.

Gone are the days
when few played "kabadi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,
while others simply played "classroom book cricket".

Gone are the days
of fights but no conspiracies,
Of competitions but seldom jealousy.

Gone are the days
when we used to watch Live Cricket telecast,
in the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks.

Gone are the days
when few rushed at 4:45pm to
"Conquer" window seats in our School bus.

Gone are the days Of Sports Day,
and the annual School Day,
and the one-month long preparations for them.

Gone are the days of the stressful Quarterly, Half Yearly and Annual Exams, and the most enjoyed
holidays after them.

Gone are the days
of tenth and twelfth standards, when we
spent almost the whole year writing revision tests.

Gone are the days
we learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost,
we laughed, we cried, we fought, we thought.

Gone are the days
with so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more.

Gone are the days when we used to talk for hours with our friends.
Now we don't have time to say a HI.

Gone are the days when we played games on the road.
Now we work on the road with laptop.

Gone are the days when we saw stars shining at night.
Now we see stars when our effort doesn't work.

Gone are the days when we sat to chat with friends on grounds.
Now we chat in chat rooms.....

Gone are the days where we studied just to pass.
Now we study to save our job

Gone are the days where we had no money in our pockets and fun filled on our hearts
Now we have the ATM as well as credit card but with an empty heart

Gone are the days where we shouted on the road.
Now we don't shout even at home.

Gone are the days when we shouted out names in front of friends' houses to borrow notes.
But we use mobile phones to call.

gone are the days where we got lectures from all.
Now we give lectures to all... like the one I'm doing now....

Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and Ever..... NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE,
DONT FORGET TO LIVE THE LIFE THAT STILL EXISTS.
IT WONT BE THERE FOR EVER.

At the Sarada Vilas High School

School Uniform: Cream shirt and Olive green Chaddi. Some had trousers. But it was optional.

[Words have followed my thoughts - please bear with the flow!]

We got scattered to different schools for our 8th. It was May 1970. Passing out 7th for me was an adventure. That incident with the “pickled star gooseberry” which played its role has been narrated in a separate place. Well, it was time for us 12-year old boys to get relieved from the Convent. At times we disliked, for no valid reason, being under the tutelage of Sisters and sitting with ‘sisters’. But afterthought tells that they were as affectionate as one can get. But the best memories are from the convent for all the good things that formed the basis of our education. We boys no longer needed answering the attendance as “present sister” or “present miss”, much to our relief!

In high school, all teachers were “Sirs”. I was admitted to Sarada Vilas Boys High School. It was also equidistant [and close by] from my home, just a 10-minute walk. I could now go on the bicycle alone. That was a Robin Hood which my late uncle was using and later a cousin who was using it also went on a heavenly journey. It had become mine. I had learnt riding the bicycle as early as my 7th year from my other small blue cycle on which I must have covered many miles in street itself!

I do not remember about bringing application forms and all formalities involved in admission. I had a first class marks in 7th, which was good given the ‘adventure’ just before the exams. My grandfather knew the Head Master Sri M.N Lakshminarasimhaih (MNL). Knowing was not that important because cut-throat competition was relatively absent as there was no mad rush as it is now. It was a reputed school where my father and uncle had studied and there was still that old generation teachers on its rolls, with that traditional dresses typical of Mysore. Close-collared coat and ‘kacche panche’ with a stiff cap as head gear. The HM also wore this costume. It was the last year in office for him.

So, the first day of school arrived, I attended. It was a Saturday. The next working day was Monday with a gap of Sunday. To prevent a ‘Dviteeya vighna' my grandmother asked me to at least step on the class room’s doorframe – it was a Sunday and none was there, the gate was open – which instruction I dutifully followed. I remember how funny I felt at that time. I had gone riding the Robin Hood.

MNL took English grammar and composition. He had that typical entry into the class. The very moment he stepped into the class room he used to begin the class with the words “In the last class, we were ….” The most silent class was that of Maths which the well-built annd much dreaded KRK took. He was notorious for hitting the boys black and blue and pinched the thighs when someone did a mistake [sometimes to the entire class!] which was very painful. Equally painful were his blows from his huge palm on our cheeks. And a ‘back handed stroke’ on the right cheek. How much the boys hated his strictness! He stretched it too long. He came to school on a green Raleigh bicycle. The very sight of him was chilling. What a great relief it was to all the boys, without exception probably, when he was sent away for one-year training while we were in 9th. KRK stood for "Krishnamurthypuram Rotti Kalla".

We had AVR who took English Prose. Short man, white hair, always spoke English, renowned chain smoker. His class was a bit noisy. He had a smoker’s cough that troubled him in between and he had always a cough lozenge “Peps” as that brand was known. When he passed by, that smell mixed with cigarette smoke odour emanated! Boys used to tease him from a distance esp. for his typical gait. AVR - "Ardha Vade Ranganna".

NS Seetharam used to take Algebra. His writing on the board was a pleasure to see. Equal sized, equal intensity and very neat. Hardly any chalk dust! Even his erasing was meticulously done. Soft-spoken, good teacher clad in kacche panche and always ash coloured coat, with a black headgear. Became HM when MNL retired. "NSS - Nona Saiso Shoora"

The name “MRK” used to give us chills in the spine, somewhat like KRK’s. Because he always carried that black rosewood ruler meant for hitting the boys with. Any mistake and we would get a blow from that. Very painful! He used to take Science –Physics. He wore thick ‘soda’ glasses. MRK - "Madhya Raatri Kalla"

For Biology, one SNC [Chakravarthy] took. He was very short tempered. One incident in the 9th stays in memory. There was one Jagannatha who did nothing wrong. Someone else teased him as ‘godamotte’ [he was a bit fat] during a class and he came chasing Jagga in the class and Jagga ran over the benches and he got cornered. He got some blows.

Chemistry was taken by BN. B.Narasingha Rao. He had that typical jump while he pedaled his bicycle which the boys waited to see! Slim, simple dressed and bespectacled. His son also was in our class. BN Ramesh. There was another BN Ramesh also! When someone came in search of Ramesh, we had a problem – there were six of them. BN - "Beedhi Naayi"

There was that old wrinkle-faced man Jogi, the attender having a slow gait who took back the attendance register and also rung the school bell.

Sanskrit was my opted language and there was the one and only Anantha Somayaji. The noisiest class! He did his job and the boys just had their own ways. His shouts “stop talking” just got drowned in the noise and never seemed to reach any ear! Traditional dress with vibhuti – sandal paste marks on forehead.

CVR took ‘non-detailed’ English. Soft –spoken, his teaching was interesting and had us all listening. For, he had that knack of making funny gestures relating to his explanations to the lessons.

We had that PT master VK who came on his always glittering bicycle. During the Games period which was just before the lunch break, most of the boys would run home from the open ground just behind the classrooms. We were supposed to play games like cricket, kabaddi, kho-kho volley ball or whatever. PT was always one period we disliked to attend. Some lazybones used to come with false bandages and plasters to show an injury to sit out! A few complained of fever. VK - "Vadkal Kundi"

N Lakshminarasimhaiya was my father’s classmate. He took Geography. His class was much looked after as he was very jovial, cutting jokes to make the class interesting. Sometimes a bit indecent jokes too. NL - "Naayi Laddhi"

History and Civics were taken by BMPV, strict but good teacher. Not an interesting class due to the dull nature of the subjects. I was to meet this teacher after 35 years and visit his house. He has a great impression on me because of an incident which has been narrated separately, concerning ‘bad English’.

AVR, a short teacher again with the traditional dress of kacche panche took Geography. He also had a great sense of humour. His speed of dictating notes was too fast for hour hands to cope up with. And he used to give notes in pages! Writing it was a very tiring exercise. After many years I used to see the sad sight of him selling incense sticks in the streets after retirement, most likely driven by poverty. Here was another case to prove the old saying that the school master never gets rich. The mischievous boys used to tease him by pulling the tucked kacche panche.

Then there was the Urdu teacher MSK who was asked to come to “take care” of the class during the “work experience” period, which was a great time for all the boys to make merry. MSK reluctantly would try to silence the class but always in vain. He would simply sit clearing his nose for 45 minutes till the bell rung.

MKG, a tall and fair man, clad trimly in kurta-pyjama would come during one of the WE periods and teach us stitching, hemming etc. It has come in handy in my later life.

NSV came to take Physics in our 8th class. "Nona Saiso Veera"

There were VSS, KGB, SR, DVN, who did not take our “C” section in all three years.

Nicknaming teachers was a great fancy among the boys. Many nicknames to teachers’ initials were carried forward to coming batches. Some of them were humourous some were childish. But they were done for the heck of it. Here are some of the Kannadized names. KRK- Krishnamurthypuram Rotti Kalla; MRK- Madhya Ratri Kalla; AVR- Ardha Vade Ranganna; NSS- Nona Saiso Shoora; NSV- Nona Saiso Veera; VK- Vadkal Kundi; SNC- Godamotte, NL-Naayi Laddi, BN- Beedhi Naayi, DVN- Donku Veene Narada.

There was one S.Suresh who, if at all came to class, was found sleeping on the desk often. Noor Ahmed always sat in the last bench. KRK used to call his name in the attendance as “hundred Ahmed”. One ‘Koli’ Ramesh whose house was opposite the gate of the school and he would start from home when he heard the bell! We envied such nearness! Very mischievous little fellow – he would sometimes climb the toilet wall and escape home!

There was no cycle stand in those days. We used to park our bicycles in front of our classes and hardly there were 10-12 of us that came on them. Latecomers got the treatment from KRK who used to hover around the gate looking for victims at the time of the morning assembly and a short while after. The iron gate was closed later, but somehow one or two would climb over it and silently enter.

After classes, some boys used to play cricket in the school enclosure. Being shy, I remember just once making use of the facility. Instead, I used to dash home to have my own cricket with street boys. Annual day functions – I never took part.

One Shankar Nadig used to carve erasers with a blade into rubber stamp to print his name on books. I had copied this art and had become adept at it!

Cariappa was a talented fellow. He used to get his books bound using cardboard from soap powder packing. It was amazing to me. He had made to his Raleigh Bicycle a switch to operate the ‘brake light’. I copied the idea from him and did it to mine much to his delight! He had made a motor bus using a plastic box (which I never found) and a toy motor. I made my crude model! Both of us exhibited in the Science Exhibition. Venue was the old Dasara Exhibition Building [now Medical College]. This was in our 10th in 1972-73. One Jaipal had his bicycle fitted with a dynamo in the front axle.

There was a ventilator below the window to bring in fresh air. There was an outlet pipe below it in every class that opened towards the open ground outside. Suddenly, someone would shout through the pipe and that sudden loud echoing sound would rattle everybody. When the teacher ran to the window to look for the culprit, it would always be too late. It seemed to provide a good break to the lessons for a couple of minutes!

There was one teacher who wore a 'naama' on his forehead. MC Chokkanna. We came to know that he was a poet having composed many poems when he used to tell some poems in the class and later had even sold us his compositions in the form of a little booklet for twenty five paise each.

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This blog was posted sometime ago. Now, in August 2010, I've started an exclusive group for SVBHS on Facebook. The widget is shown on the right corner of this blogpage. There are more photos there. Please join there.

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