Madam Ramakumari - As I saw her

Madam Ramakumari, Physics Teacher  - As I saw her

by

Dr Dwarkanath K. Murthy

1966 Batch NHS

 

Whenever I handled the classes using the compound microscope, it was the basic principles of physics which came to the fore. Be it the use of the screw gauge, vernier callipers, mirrors of concave and plane type, or the iris diaphragm, most significant was the concept of par focal objectives, the use of oil immersion objective (using oil having the same refractive index as glass, for solving the problem of diffraction), wide or narrow field eye pieces and condenser lenses. It's unfortunate that all this had to be told before students use the microscope. Whether it was UG or PG class, the working knowledgeof the microscope was next to nil, even among the biology students, in-spite oftheir prior exposure to the instrument. Due credit/blame be given to the present intermediate education system. The practicals and grading are an eye wash in almost all the colleges but for those with CBSE background. 

 

We can proudly say we had much better labs way back in 1963.  I would give the full credit to our honourable Mrs. Ramakumari for whatever we have imbibed in the practicals. Mr. Sangam assisting Madam and helping us. I stillremember vaguely, the other experiments on magnetism, electricity, sound- resonance-tuning fork, inclined plane, law of parallelogram of forces etc. The exposure we got was much more one can imagine. Some of these were demonstrated by Mrs. Leelavathi Madam, at a relatively senior level, besides handling all the theory classes.

 

Having visited/ inspected several degree and PG colleges affiliated to Osmania University throughout the Telangana districts I have rarely found any lab comparable to the Physics/ Chemistry/ Biology lab of our own school of1960s. The credit goes to our science teachers with the driving force of Sri. Udapachar, who religiously implemented the multipurpose scheme. Most of our teachers were post graduates too.

 

I do not have any specific incidents to narrate Madam's personal side. It was in early 2000 Madam and myself were co-invitees at a wedding, she asked to drop her home on my vehicle. This was a challenge, as the vehicle was aSplendour (motor cycle) and given our contrasting personalities. Though a bit hesitant, I dropped her home safely, with two factors paramount in my mind i.e. having my teacher as a pillion rider and knowing my physical limitation, that too at 11:30 pm.

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Our subsequent meeting was at the Chikkadapally Venkateshwara Temple, which my wife Padmini and I visited on 11 consecutive days in 2005. Madamwas also a regular visitor.  It was so kind of her on a specific day when Padmini was performing the 108 circumambulations, Madam was holding the prasadam, patiently waiting till Padmini completed her rounds.  That was the encouragement to her pupil. In fact Padmini, also an alumna, was dear to Madam. We happened to visit her house during this period, she was staying alone in a single room accommodation near the temple, visiting  her children frequently who were away (probably one in US and other at Bangalore). It was routine, those days, for her to scan  today's engagements column in DC and pick up the place to visit for the day and attend discourses.

 

Unfortunately our dream of having her visit our home could never materialise, as we lost touch in busy with our own mundane activities. A few years later,we came to know about her sad demise in a road accident. As the informationof her demise was several months old, we could only pray for the departed soul. Definitely Madam left an indelible impression on both of us.