24th October 2009 - The Scindia School

Qila Quotes | Alumni | 11Qila Quotes | Staff | 12 VOL 5 | Oct 2009The American MasterThe noise in the classroom subsided as we became aware of a tall foreignerstanding at the entrance door. With a few long strides he reached the blackboardand turned to face the class.“Hi! I’m Terry D. Plemons” he said in a somewhat high pitched nasal Americanaccent. He scribbled his name in capitals on the black-board.“You can call me Terry” he said as he turned to face the class again. “I’ll beteaching you guys Physics”.The class, by now was standing up, suddenly realizing that this boyish lookinglanky American, clad in jeans, checked shirt worn over a round-necked whitetee-shirt was the new Physics master.Earlier there had been Englishmen who had taught English at the school, butnever before an American.Terry had already broken several rules.He had used the banned words ‘hi’ and ‘guy’. These American terms had justbegun making an appearance in India at the time, and were deeply frownedupon by the English Masters and the School Principal.His dress code was also taboo. He was now sitting on top of the masters table,instead of behind it.He asked us to introduce ourselves, making each one spell out his name, whilehe wrote it down in his diary, making valiant attempts at proper pronunciation.Terry was from Tennessee and was doing voluntary service with the AmericanPeace Corps. This was his first visit to India.It was some time before we could fully ‘figure out’ what he was saying. Butonce we began understanding him, we started speaking amongst ourselves inexaggerated Terry accents.Terry’s teaching methods were different. He expected the boys to have read thetheory from the prescribed book. He would ask objective questions testing outhow well the theory had been understood, rather than asking boys to parrotNewton’s laws. And he loved giving problems to solve and would regularlyconduct class tests.When the marks of his first test were announced, we were shocked as manyof us had received 100% marks. In those days, for a correct answer, you wouldat best get 7 or 8 out of 10, provided you had written the answer in a neathandwriting without any words or figures being crossed out. With his liberalmarking, Terry became an instant hit.Terry was keen on sports but knew nothing of cricket, football and hockey. Oneday, at the end of class, he asked us whether we would like to play baseball andAmerican football. We agreed enthusiastically. Television being non-existent inIndia at the time, we knew nothing about these American sports. .For our first game of baseball, Terry brought with him a baseball bat and ball,as well as some gloves. The leather ball was much larger than a cricket ball,and the round bat much heavier than a cricket bat. When hit, the ball wouldn’tgo very far and seldom went in the desired direction. However, the rules weresimilar to ‘rounders’ which we used to play with a cricket bat and tennis balland so we picked up the game pretty fast.American football was a totally different proposition. We collected on a Sundayafternoon on the main football field. Terry, with the help of some malis, hadalready marked several parallel lines in choona across the field. The leatherball that he held in his hands was an oval shaped oblong object.Terry formed two teams and tried explaining the rules. Though it was calledfootball, very rarely was one allowed to kick the ball. Instead, one had to runwith the ball in one’s hands and pass it only backwards to one’s teammates.Every now and then, the two teams stood in lines facing one another. Themoment Terry blew his whistle, the person with the ball would pass it betweenhis own legs to a team mate behind. The rest of the team members wouldengage in wrestling bouts with their opposite numbers. Terry kept blowing hiswhistle, trying to explain the fouls and ordering the teams about. But the ruleswere too complex and it was much more fun kicking the ball and watching thezigzag path it took after hitting the ground. Terry screamed himself hoarse andfinally gave up. He refused to play American football with us again.Terry left us at the end of the year and we all missed him. He went on to TexasUniversity and did his Masters, PhD and Post Doctoral research in underwateracoustics, on which he is an authority (and no doubt advisor to the US Navyon its stealth sub-marine project).Nandlal RaneEx-Vivekanand ’67The teachers of ScindiaSchool went to Orchha,Madhya Pradesh for theoffsite programme this yearinstead of their annualsojourn to the Himalayas.This year the programmewas special as Mr. SamikGhosh, the new Principalwas joining us for the firsttime.Offsite Programmeat OrchhaAlthough a host of themes were initially considered, for paucity of time only a few could be pursued.However, it turned out to be a boon in disguise as some core issues could be looked at comprehensively.In the inaugural session the VP underlined some basic facets of Report Writing and mentioned a fewlacunae in our current practices. He provided a sampler of different report forms and formats. Each facultywas then asked to think about five most relevant subject parameters and indicate a likely format for thereport. Though initially thought daunting, most departments were eventually able to accomplish the taskfairly well. This brain storming session was found very illuminating by all and many interesting formsand formats were evolved. These have been scanned and will also be put to use in our new academicendeavour at classes 6, 7 and 8 wherein we shift from an exam based module to other non-intrusiveand skill based modes of assessment.In another important session each faculty head was asked to present a report of the departmentalactivities, initiatives, concerns and also comment on their board examination performance overthe last few years. Some challenging questions were posed to the heads of department and stiff targetswere set. However, they were also given a clear sense of direction and purpose. A clear mandate forimproving departmental performance in terms of appreciation for the subject, enhancement of skills andperformance at the board examinations has been stated.The Principal conducted a session on Learning in Groups through Enquiry and its particular relevanceat the middle school level. As part of the ‘assignment’ every faculty was required to submit a lesson plan.Several very thoughtful lesson plans were proposed and are in fact to be pursued in the current academicsession. Everyone enjoyed and gained by this valuable session.Two shorter sessions were conducted, one on Ecology of the Fort and the other on Working Togetherthat looked at various gender and hierarchy issues at school.The VP shared his concerns about diminishing indigenous flora on campus, the plastic menace anddisposal of garbage and wastage of several resources. This self-reflecting and awareness session madeeveryone realise the looming dangers and need for urgent corrective steps. The VP has prepared adocument on ‘Ecology of Fort’ which indicates many possible courses of action. It was reassuring todiscover that a few initiatives have already begun in this direction.The session on working together looked at our gender and hierarchical attitudes and the need to exhibitmore sensitivity and sensibility in these matters. It was also recognised by the group that every member ofthe teaching community has a right to adequate job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment and everythingpossible should be done to protect and support it by the community.The ‘heavy’ sessions were lightened by some entertaining activities. Teachers enjoyed playing differentgames and a few were even able to win prizes in the process! There was an impromptu music recital by ourmusically talented teachers. Many had the joy of watching beautiful sunsets and sitting by the riverside inthe evenings. Everyone came back with pleasant memories, definite insights and a feeling of camaraderie.Mr Jayant TengsheVice PrincipalThe Scindia School