My mother grew up in a village in the Kokan region of Maharashtra. After her basic schooling, she could not study for 5-6 years since no college was nearby. Later, she moved to Mumbai, where my uncle (her brother) had bought a flat.
She enrolled in a Secondary Teaching Certificate (STC) course. It changed her life.
Not the course but the principal of that college, Professor Vasant Churi.
My mother often shared how, with his encouragement, she could overcome her fear of failure and inferiority complex and do well in the course.
Years later, during one of her regular visits to Churi, sir gave her the photo below.
It reads – STC - The first rank. Miss Gulab Prabhu (my mother's maiden name)
He had carefully preserved the photo for decades. He told her to show it to my brother and me so we could draw inspiration from it.
I visited Churi sir many times with my mother. Always positive, gentle, and encouraging.
I was reminded of this story today while preparing for the course that I start with the new batch of PGPM students at GLIM tomorrow!
Each batch is special and always teaches us something new! Looking forward…
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