Mohan, the Geography Teacher
Roshen Dalal
The students of Class 9 were restless. They had not had a geography teacher for one month, and were told that one was expected that day. Some of them had actually taken out their geography textbooks, and were glancing at them. Aditi was busy reading about volcanoes in a pocket encyclopaedia. She wished she could bring her tablet or smart phone to school, but it wasn’t allowed. The school authorities thought students would use them to chat or watch inappropriate stuff, but Aditi just wanted to read and learn. There was so much fascinating information in the books and encyclopaedias she had downloaded, so much to know, while the school texts were utterly boring. Others were talking and laughing, altogether creating quite a din. A girl and a boy were sitting together at the back, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes. Altaf, known to be artistic, was sketching them in his drawing book, but they seemed unconcerned. Priti, the fattest in the class was busy eating chips. There was no point asking her to share, she never would, and so despite envious glances, she was ignored. Priti seemed to bring along an inexhaustible supply of snacks every day.
A tall young man entered and surveyed the students. So this was his class! He was not just going to teach them geography, but he would be their class-teacher too. His eyes took in the studious ones sitting with their books, those having fun, the lovers at the back, the artist and the munching girl. He took a deep breath as his thoughts flew. That fat girl – she must have some psychological problems. Those two gazing into each other’s eyes – he had seen this happening in other schools, it always began in Class 9. Strange that the youngsters seemed so averse to the opposite sex in classes 7 and 8, and all of a sudden, hormones kicked in and something changed. He looked again at those sitting with books open – only one thin girl was actually reading in a focused way, and it wasn’t the textbook. His spirits lifted – here was at least one student he would be able to communicate with.
Very few had noticed his silent entry, but now there were nudges to each other, and one or two at the front of the class called out, ‘The teacher is here, the teacher is here.’ The noise subsided; most of them sat down, and looked at him expectantly.
‘Hello’, said Mohan, addressing the class, trying to break the ice. ‘My name is Mohan and I want you to call me that. No ‘Teacher’ and no ‘Sir’. The students shifted uneasily. They had never called a teacher by their first name before. No one said anything. ‘As you know, I’m going to teach you geography’, he continued. ‘But close your books. We’ll start with some practical work.’
Everyone looked brighter. This sounded interesting. But what could the practical work be? Avdesh’s hand went up. ‘Yes?’ said Mohan. ‘Mr Mohan, will we be drawing maps?’, he asked. ‘No ‘Mr’, I want us to be equals. Just call me Mohan, and yes we are going to work with a map, but of a different kind. We are going to map ourselves. And then we will analyze that map.’
Everyone was puzzled, even Aditi. What did he mean? Mohan produced photocopies of a detailed map of Delhi, the city in which they lived, and passed them around. Then he asked each of them to mark the location of the school, and of the place where they lived. They took some time over this, looking through the huge map inch by inch. Having got over their inhibitions many voices could be heard: ‘Mohan – I can’t find my locality’, ‘Mohan, I can’t understand anything’. The time passed in a flash and before they knew it, the bell for the next period had rung. ‘We’ll put all these maps together tomorrow’, said Mohan, ‘and create one map out of them. Then we will proceed. And meanwhile here is your homework. Today when going home, and tomorrow when you are coming to school, you have to note down the distance from your school to your home, and the time it has taken you.’ They had all enjoyed the class, but some had already started wondering, was this part of the syllabus? They checked their textbooks, but did not find anything about a map of their own city. ‘He’s just teaching us mapping’, said Aditi, hearing the murmurs. ‘And that is part of the syllabus.’ Some had drivers and cars waiting outside the school. It was easy to ask the driver to note the kilometres from the school to home. Aditi and several others went in the school bus. There was a rush to the front of the bus that day, to ask the driver for his help. He helped them, telling them the figure on starting, and asking them to check and note it down when each of them got off the bus.
Aditi found she lived 16 kms away from school, by the roundabout route the bus took. And because of all the stops, it took one hour. As she reached home she told her mother all about the new teacher and the map. Aditi had joined the school a few months ago and had been feeling isolated and bored. She had a real love of learning that no one seemed to share, neither the students nor the teachers. Initially, she had read extra to do her homework and her tests, but instead of praising her, the teacher had cut it all out, written, “Not in textbook”, in red ink, and marked her “zero”. After that Aditi copied from the textbooks as she was told to, but she had lost all joy in going to school. Her mother had been worried, and now was happy to see her enthusiasm. They had moved to Delhi recently and this was the only school where Aditi had gained admission, despite her brilliant academic record in her previous school.
The next day in the geography class, Mohan called Altaf and asked him to make one grand map, putting together all the locations of their homes. Only the initials of the students could be put on the map, and Priti was called to make a key, a list with the initials, their full names, the distance they travelled each day, and the time they took. Neither Altaf nor Priti had ever got much attention from the teachers. One was always drawing, and the other always eating, now both had a sense of accomplishment. Mohan then explained to them how to represent the map in a circular model – the school would be at the centre; around it concentric circles would be drawn for every five kilometres, and their house positions marked on them. Once the model was made, he said, they could compare it with models of other schools, and then analyze them. Which school had the most students from the furthest distance? And why? Then he described what geography was all about. He said that there were many definitions, but the one he liked was that geography dealt with all ‘inter-related phenomena on the surface of the earth, of significance to man.’ Therefore the location of schools, and an analysis of students who studied in them consisted of inter-related phenomena. It was of significance to them, and it was on the earth’s surface, hence it was part of geography.
The students were fascinated, but ‘Is this part of the syllabus?’, one of them had to ask. ‘Partly’, said Mohan, ‘Your syllabus begins with a section on understanding your environment. And Chapter 9 also looks at land resources and their use. It talks about accessibility, and how roads and railways affect land use. We have started with trying to understand our own school, which is built on land that is accessible by road. I wanted to introduce you to the complexities of geography. You should understand that geography is not only about land and mountains – there is economic geography, human geography, and many different types. We tried a very simple model, but by using models, geographers can help in planning cities, and in a lot else. Maybe some day one of you will study these further. Now that you have learnt something about geography, we will proceed.’
Aditi went home excited. ‘I know how to make a geographical model, Ma’, she announced proudly. Her mother was happy with her enthusiasm but wondered how long such an unconventional teacher would last.
The next day Mohan said that now they would study two chapters in their text, soil and vegetation. After giving the students a few points, he took them outside and they collected soil samples from the school grounds, and then walked around identifying and photographing the trees, both in the school and just outside. The soil was classified, and linked to a classification of other soil types. The trees were categorized as deciduous, and then other vegetation types were explained. Other classes followed the same pattern. There was always some practical activity connected with the topics in the textbook. Mohan seemed to have realized that he could not stray too far from the syllabus, but still he managed to get their attention and make everything more interesting. Only Aditi was disappointed as she hoped for something more. The model they had created with concentric circles had captured her interest, why couldn’t they make more? After class she went to Mohan with this question, and he offered to teach her, if she could pare some time in the lunchbreak.
Everything was now proceeding smoothly. The students were happy that he was following the syllabus, and at the same time making things interesting. Aditi had progressed to making mathematical models in geography in her spare time, and found it challenging and exciting. And as class teacher, Mohan got to know every member of the class. He counselled the lovers, and urged them to focus on school work for a while. He tried to find out why Priti was always eating, and discovered a fat mother, who was stuffing her beautiful daughter with food, so that she herself could look better in comparison. After several talks with Priti, she began to distribute her bagful of snacks to others, and was slowly losing weight, looking better and gaining confidence. Each student in the class got his personal attention. Checking on the class, and looking at their notebooks and the work they were doing, the principal too was satisfied with Mohan.
But always, there were some who were unhappy. The other teachers, reading out from textbooks, and droning on in the usual boring manner, could not stand his energy, his innovativeness, and even his kindness. They wanted him out, and finally, one of them thought of a way.
Mrs Mehta, teacher of English, happened to know Priti’s mother. She knew the mother was unhappy with her daughter’s growing beauty, and she began to insinuate that there was a love affair, a relationship between Priti and Mohan. Perhaps the mother knew there was no truth in it, but how could she miss the opportunity to get her daughter fat and ugly again? She went to the principal and told him that Priti had confided in her – that the geography teacher was meeting her alone and harassing her. The principal called Priti, who was totally shocked, insisted that there was nothing like that, and that Mohan was the best and kindest teacher in the world. ‘See’, said the mother, ‘she calls him Mohan. What other proof do you need? Why does she call him by his first name?’, ‘Everyone does’, said Priti, before she burst into tears. The principal asked the mother to leave, and talking to Priti on her own, heard the whole story of the food, and how Mohan had helped her. He was sure Mohan was not only a good teacher, but a good man. Now Priti’s mother began spreading the story among other mothers. She convinced some of them that Mohan was a danger to their daughters. And maybe to their sons too! Though the principal knew it was all untrue, the parents complained to the board, and he had to ask Mohan to leave. Aditi’s mother heard the whole story and tried to intervene, but it was too late.
Class 9 was devastated. But Mohan, in one last class spoke to them about life, and about being strong in the face of adversity. He said that if they considered him their friend and teacher, they had to promise him to never give up, not just now but in every moment in their lives. They should always try to help others and to do the best for themselves. They should not let him down, he said. The class wept but they remembered his words. They did not know where Mohan went, but a part of him always remained in them, and the memory of his words guided them through their worst days. Priti never went back to gluttonous eating, no matter what her mother tried. Altaf failed one year, but remembering Mohan’s words, he did not give in to despair. Working hard the next year, he topped the class. And Aditi continued to study geographic models on her own, and later was recognized as one of the best geographers, the creator of new predictive models.
Each one of them was touched in some way, by those few months with Mohan. It proved that a good person was never forgotten, and that the light such a person ignited, removed the shadows from the lives of many.
Roshen Dalal is the author of the best-selling two-volume Puffin History of India, The Puffin History of the World [also in two volumes] as well as of other books. She has taught at Rishi Valley School, and has a PhD in History. She can be reached at roshendalal@gmail.com.
