From daily-wage labourer to teacher

Ranganathan with the headmistress. Image from Malayala Manorama

These days, when every other media story is likely to make one cringe, it was so refreshing to read this story from Kerala.

For teachers and students alike, he was just one of the labourers who were around to clean the surroundings of this school in Kerala. Until one day, he went on to take a class about education.

As reported by Malayala Manorama, Sheeja Salim, the headmistress of the Erattupetta Government Higher Secondary School in Kerala, would often notice one of the labourers peering into the class and watching the lesson in progress. She called him and asked him what was happening.

His reply in Tamil: “Teacher, the teaching methodology here is super!”

He was M Ranganathan, 36 years of age, hailing from Theni in Tamil Nadu. His qualification? M.A., M.Ed.

He had been working as a multi-tasking labourer for over a year in Kerala because that gave him a little more money to look after his wife and son. His plan was to save enough to train for a job in Tamil Nadu government.

Graduation done, he went on earn a post-graduate degree in Tamil. Then came B.Ed. And M.Ed. He had worked at a curry powder factory to finance his M.Ed.

After sharing his story at the invitation of the headmistress, he took a class on the subject of education. At the end of that class, the students and teachers had just one thing to say: his teaching methodology was super!

As long as we have a Ranganathan who is happy to put the spade aside and pick up the chalk, and as long as we are willing to accept and respect that, we still have hope.