By Savitri Narayanan
It has been my good fortune to have met and continued to be in touch with Shomie Das Sir. Our paths crossed a quarter century ago in then Bombay. Those days I taught in and headed a school or two there. The days were getting rather routine, was on the lookout for something more interesting and challenging.
‘In Indonesia an Indian school is coming up, interested to be part of the team to set up the systems?’ I was asked.
Shomie Das Sir was in the interview panel. It took some time to make up my mind and to put things in order before thinking of relocating. After a year or so I reconnected with Shomie Sir with the question, ‘Sir, is that offer still open?’
‘Can you come to Chennai for a meeting this week?’ was the instant response.
Indonesia is an archipelago with more than thirteen thousand islands, spread over three time zones! Before long I found myself in Sumatra Island, looking after the Early Childhood Education in the school there. When the task was done, I shifted base to head a school in another island. During the tenure there, due to family commitments, I took a year’s sabbatical and was back home in India.
‘Savitri, enough of Indonesia! Come back and do something for our own country, I’ll find a job for you wherever you wish!’ said Sir and continued, ‘Incidentally, a primary school in Dehradun is looking for a head; if you’re interested, go over and take a look!’
It was tempting ‘to go and take a look’ especially as I’d never been to Uttarakhand before. Dehradun, Mussoorie, etc., were familiar words from Ruskin Bond’s books, that’s all!
So, I boarded a train and with Shomie Das Sir, landed in John Martyn Memorial School. It was ‘love at first sight’ and I joined the school right away. There was something endearing, genuine and heart-warming about the school. The children were first-generation learners, most of whose parents worked as helpers, cooks, gardeners or drivers in the bungalows around. The children’s eyes glowed with eagerness to learn, an urge to explore and transcend the boundaries!
With their inherent wisdom and strong foundations of community bonding, many students did transcend their boundaries as in they passed the entrance tests and continued their higher education in all the nearby secondary schools including The Doon School and Welham Girls’ School on scholarships!
In retrospect, I owe my careers in Indonesia as well as Dehradun to Shomie Das Sir. Even after he relocated to Hyderabad, we remained connected. It was inspiring the way he lived life to the fullest in his own ways. He was (so was his contemporary, the late Arijit Banerji) like a banyan tree – a shelter, a space of comfort and security, a reference point and a role model for many! During our frequent telephone conversations, it was heartening to hear, ‘I’m out shopping, call later!’, ‘Can’t talk now, I’m in Australia!’, ‘I’ll call you when back home, now I’m in Cambridge!’ etc. A few weeks ago, Sir said, ‘I’m in Coonoor, have you been there?’ and I said, ‘Sir, knowing you, one of these days you’ll appear in one of the beaches in Goa!’
But the destiny had other plans, Shomie Sir moved on to another world! Yet, he is very much around, lives on as fond memories in the umpteen lives of students, colleagues and the community he touched!
(Savitri Narayanan is a retired educationist at present in Bangaluru. A mother and grandmother, loves, reading, writing and travelling.)
