How do we arrive at the amount of centrifugal force needed to keep a body vertically on the top? Any guesses? Our revered professor threw a challenge, as the packed class immersed into his reasoning in rapt attention. You could hear a pin drop from a distance. It was the first year at the university, and it was an 8 AM class. The professor’s religious devotion to physics, and a genuine sense of helping students understand, commanded a near 100% attendance.

I checked the student allocation and found out that most of my Civil engineering friends are here, so I chose to teach this section, announced our professor on his first day. The famed teacher came out of retirement to teach more. Some of us from the section, who didn’t belong in the Civil just got lucky. He had two questions on his first day, How many of you are in the Civil Engineering branch? With many raised hands, he seemed a satisfied man with a pleasant smile. The second question seemed tricky. How many of you plan to remain in Civil engineering after the first year? It evoked some smiles, not unexpected for the master, but there were a good number of takers, and he seemed satisfied again.

As the class started, he dived into his element. When he talked about the angle of banking, we saw imaginary racers maneuver the imaginary curve on an imaginary race. When he discussed the coefficient of friction needed on the brakes to bring a train to a complete halt, it felt like the train stopped right in front of our nose with a creaking voice. Every day, as he approached the blackboard, we were ready for goosebumps.

Few years ago, I had taken some yoga classes. The yoga master carried his bulky stature with aplomb. At first sight, you would doubt if he could do a Padahastasana (Hand to foot pose). As he demonstrated the postures, one after the other, with a good amount of theory behind each one, the newer students gaped in awe. He often joked, What do you learn from Ganesha? And before we could reply (to that familiar question), he would answer it himself. You eat well, you exercise well. With an extra bit of humor, our mornings started with full of life. At 5 AM, he kept the class alive and kicking. One day, I had asked him if there was a book of theory for what he was explaining, and he offered to bring it the next day so I can check it out. The following week, I couldn’t attend the class, but apparently he has been carrying it with him every day, until I showed up and checked it out! The sense of responsibility that a teacher carries can be scary!

Back to our physics professor and his question! He seemed intent on getting his answer about the centrifugal force. He let multiple students reason it, but in vain, and after good number of attempts, someone managed to come up with – the centrifugal force should, at the least, be as much as the weight of the body! THAT was enough! His eyes twinkled brighter than the brightest star, and he danced like Nataraja all around the class, explaining why that was the right answer! For him, it seemed like a validation of his teaching! If only he had taught us an year earlier, may be, we had a shot at the IIT, but that’s another matter.

There was a writing on our school library wall, “A teacher tells. A better teacher explains. A good teacher demonstrates. A great teacher inspires“. I guess the greatest of teachers leave a lasting impression for a lifetime. They set a benchmark that you always look up to (within yourself), to emulate.