DR.R.N.SINGH

Sr. Executive, IRON MAKING DIVISION, TATA STEEL, JAMSHEDPUR

(email: dr.rnsingh@tatasteel.com, ph: 09234653553)

In 1968, my sister, Mrs Shakuntala Nahar was was married to Mr Sheo Chandra Nahar, the youngest son of Sri Chandradeo Prasad Singh(GURUDEV).   Erudite and scholastic traits of the personality of GURUDEV enchanted my family ( Parsawan, Konch, Gaya) which led me to  be  admitted at BALDEO HIGH SCHOOL NAILY, GAYA,BIHAR in class eight, just next year.  

And  in 1973, I passed matriculation but I was not free from his value added guidelines. He not only taught me at school life but  he proved to be instrumental for me for the studies & research like  MBA, Ph.D (Total Quality Management),  D.Litt(Reengineering: SCM)  and so on… till the end....

He was pleased enough with my hobby as that of contributing to local daily .....

Once Mr Brahmadeo Sharma, editor of AWAZ, Jamshedpur chapter called and asked me just like GURUJI and appreciated enough for an article of mine “GANDHI &  GUNVATTA/Quality” and then there I was asked to render it into English.  I did accordingly. That translated article in English was sent to GURIJI for correction. He  made corrections accordingly but he changed the title as TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT :   A GANDHIAN APPROACH ” in place of GANDHI  & GUNVATTA and said , “ Sweets are good  but packing/DIBBA should be better than that of sweets”,

which means  packing of any commodity is not less important than that of the product.

This truth was realised to me as a fact  after when I went through the quotation of Alex Asborn , father of BRAIN STORMING & ADVERTISEMENT WORLD, “ Business without advertisement is winking at a girl in dark”.

During aforesaid four years & onwards, GURUDEV has left indelible impression in mind &  heart. As he had   mastery on “SAVITRI”, the 2^nd largest epic of the world (having 24000 lines), he usually used to quote the lines of Maharshi Aurobindo,” The soul in man is always greater than the fate.”  Bhishan Babu, migrated to Naily, and friend philosopher of GURIDEV, used to sit with him almost everyday for couple of hours specially for spiritual discussion  based on  Aurobindo philosophy, Divine Life.

He was not only a regular reader of relevant books but also estinguished his thirst going thru the spiritual magaizines like PURAUDHA, AGNI SHIKHA, MOTHER INDIA…..published from Aurobind Ashram, Pondichery,  a place of climax of peace. This ashram’d’n visited by GURUJI 3-yrs back. Recently, I did visit Aurobind Ashram on 19.09.2009, and found  that GURUDEV has really elaborated  as if  divinity’ve landed to the point of earth and that point is that of Aurobind Ashram.

He had a desire to share his love of the subject with students having an ability to take the material being taught stimulating and interesting and facilitating- engaging with students at their level of understanding .  One set of his characteristics observed from his way of life, may be pointed out as:

 A capacity to explain the material plainly

• A commitment to making it absolutely clear what has to be understood at what level and why
• Showing concern and respect for students
• A commitment to encouraging independence
• An ability to improvise and adapt to new demands
• Using teaching methods and academic tasks that require students to learn actively, responsibly and co-operatively
• Using valid assessment methods
• A focus on key concepts, and students misunderstandings of them, rather than covering the ground
• Giving the highest quality feedback on student work time to time.
• A desire to learn from students and other sources about the effects of teaching and how it can be improved.

Teaching skills and practices

He gladly accepted the most frequent  questionaire made by

students , explained in a way which was clear and helped

students to understand. He made difficult work comprehensible

without oversimplifying, and used simple language. If technical  

language was used, it was clearly materialised & defined 

relevant examples were used to assist in explanation or

clarification where appropriate. Abstract concepts were illustrated

with examples, and the distinction between concept and example  

was made clear.

He seemed to be well prepared, structured with his expressive  

content effectively, and communicated the structure to students.

He clearly defined the subject objectives and emphasised

important points. He spoke clearly and at an appropriate speed

and allowed adequate time for students to both take notes and

listen, indicating when note-taking was and was not required. He

often provided handouts to assist students to take notes without

furious copying. He  used questions and activities to engage

students' thinking and interest.

He was highly knowledgeable and up to date in their subject

area, but did not pretend to "know it all" and were willing to

learn from their students, recognising that rural work experience

makes  senior students a valuable resource.

Students, teachers as well as guardians hardly got an opportunity

to make any comment that the lecturers tried to make the work

interesting, new unique and useful. All teachers related new

concepts to students' experiences by means of case studies,

relevant examples or anecdotes, and placed a high priority on

varying student activities during classes/ sessions.

Student participation was encouraged, in classes as well as

morning sessions.

Teachers of the school followed GURU JI intoto and knew that

most students gained a better understanding from active

involvement than from passive note-taking. He therefore made a

conscious effort to release time from "lecturing" for student

analysis, problem solving, questioning, discussion or "buzz

group" activities relevant to the topic for the sessions. During

study session, he made frequent opportunities for questions

from, or discussion by, students, and attempted to answer all

questions promptly and clearly. He treated all student questions

seriously and did not intimidate or ridicule. He also asked direct

questions of students in order to check understanding before or

during a lecture.

Giving time for students to actively engage with the subject matter means reducing time available to cover new content. His most frequent strategies for gaining time

without compromising course objectives were:

• Providing students with  taught subject notes  and encouraging students to highlight key points, add comments and note insights generated during class interactions.
• Thoroughly explaining key concepts and examples in short lecture segments, and encouraging students to access texts and references for further details and multiple examples.
• Reducing the content covered in classes to central areas, and encouraging wider reading and/or the integration of work experience through carefully designed assignments and tutorials.

Knowledgeable

Once, GURUJI said,” Much I  learnt from book,  more I  learnt from my teachers but

most I learnt from students”. The fact is there are 4-stages of  learning & education and teaching is 4^th/last stage of  learning & education is teaching. ……….…Japanese concept GURUJI possessed a deep knowledge of the subject matter and was able to manipulate, simplify, and individualize this data more easily because he was a master of it. To gain this  he was not just hard workers, but has  a passion for the subject.

He was able to empathize with students who might not like that subject and turn that lack of enthusiasm around by presenting the facts from a different angle. In other words, his bumper sticker reads, “This teacher stops for new, unique & instrumental  ideas.” attitude towards students

As highly rated  teacher genuinely he wanted students to learn, understand and develop critical thinking abilities, as well as master content or learn skills. He demonstrated an empathy with student thinking, anticipating misconceptions and allowing students to develop understanding in a variety of ways. He observed students in class for signs that he was students y were failing to keep up, were bored, or were not understanding, and were flexible in responding to student needs.

He encouraged student feedback on their teaching, and often sought informal

feedback during classes and outside thru their parents and other teachers.

Outside class time, he  made a point of being approachable and willing to help students. They tried to avoid "spoon-feeding" and encouraged students to take an active role in working through their difficulties, but would take time to work though concepts in detail with those who genuinely had difficulties. Even after retirement, he used to give free  faculty assistance everyday for the needful students of the villages.

Personal qualities

He used to show enthusiasm for the subject area and teaching role. Students found this motivating and commented that they looked forward to coming to classes. The most frequently mentioned personal attribute of the highly rated sessions was his

"easy going", "relaxed" or "open" manner, and the relaxed atmosphere that this brought to the classroom. Students also appreciated appropriate humor and an attitude which suggested that learning was enjoyable.

He had proved to be democratic till the end of his life. He used to give the example of atrocities on Babu Jagjivan  in  his student life at BHU  & it was resolved by Pt Madan Mohan Malviya ilw untouchability. And such he also adopted & proved to instrumental democratically several times in practical life. He did help many helpless persons for the sake of prosperity & humanity, as kind enough he was.

As a first-class teacher he has  a good sense of humor. He made jokes and accept jokes. He was  not comedians, but he was entertaining. He told stories, point out silly things, bring joy to difficult situations, and  was not afraid of laughter. He  used humor to connect to their students. In other words, as an excellent teacher he kept the students’ attention without fear.

 In summary...

He worked hard at making the most of his class contact time to maximise student earning and interest in the subject. While some felt that he was fortunate in having "natural" teaching ability, he all emphasised the considerable amount of time he had spent in session and resource preparation while change of syllabus  or on its amendment.

GURUDEV’s teaching - mission cannot be confined to a particular field. He used to

teach the bravery of Lord Nelson or Starlin, patriotism of Mazini & Garibaldi,

statesmanship of Winston Churchil or Loyd George, farsighted political vision of

Lenin and Mao-Te-Tun, liberal-mindedness of Abraham Lyncoln or Martin Luther

King, spirituality of Jesus, Ramakrishna Paramahansa or Swami Vivekananda.

Every time he was cascading the spiritual flow of Maharshi Aurobindo. He is was always observed as a combination of culmination  of all these qualities.

Usually, he used to quote, PM is the country, CM is state & DM is the district, means leader is the organisation:> Principal is the institution.  This reflects his permissive style of leadership. Though by behaviour is not good specially for in grateful persons but I admire which I learnt from him that behaviour is the most important word of  dictionary that is why a simple mahawat controls the strongest animal/elephant.  He was of the opinion of Pt. Nehru that  “Thought without action is abortion and action without thought is folly”. His view was “Proceed for reading  as per schedule/plan”.  Overall, he was a true teacher, sound man of the house, successful permissive - democratic leader and saint by deeds/actions.  Seldom he applied the theme “Spare the rod spoil the child”. But that was stopped soon by great MATARAM, vital half as well as heart of GURUJI. Actually, MATARAM was real helping hand behind  his success as father and father of many schools. 

Over all,  he has a sound family with spirit. It was he who established “citadel of learning”. His family-garden is full of fragrant flowers. Really,  I am grateful & thankful  to him as well as to  all of  his family members, nearest relatives, villagers of Naily who always cascaded affection and love for me.

This is not to say that hagiographers could be summoned, and GURUDEV is above criticism. In fact, the man attracted criticism, and continues to do so, like a bee is drawn to honey. But few would have beheld the man and his philosophy, without yielding both a reaction. Perhaps no other local figure specially in the confined place  has enjoyed such a rare distinction. This was GURUDEV’s forte, alone.

I am proud of my sister Mrs Shakuntala Nahar, who contributed new, unique and  instrumental services till the end of his life, which GRUDEV had shared with Sri  Chandradip Babu, ex –Principal, Higher  Secondary School Bela, Gaya.

Birth after birth the holy sages toil hard but they do not ultimately utter the name of 

ALMIGHTY”, but GURUDEV was blessed by almighty, with “Hey Maa” (Mataji of Pondichery) and light has gone out....