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What is history but the life history of men and women who had contributed to this world's progress," wrote Bernard Shaw years ago. How true! My beloved teacher, Prof. U.L.Achar, in my considered opinion was one of the greatest teachers that I had the good fortune to learn from. Who is a good teacher? Million dollar question indeed! As I view it, he is the one who makes the student want to learn.

That is exactly what Prof. Achar used to do. In addition, he always used to make us realize that learning and wisdom come from genuine hard work and there is no short cut for it. A great American scientist, Frank Davidoff, wrote a book on education and explained the real type of education as midwifery type, in contradistinction to the usual banking type that is followed in our set up.

A teacher should be like a midwife, who stands by the side of the pregnant mother coaxing her, cajoling her, sympathizing with her, empathizing again and again, and encouraging her to deliver her baby. Ultimately it is the mother, and not the midwife, that delivers the baby. Similarly a good teacher should encourage, coax, cajole and empathize with the student to learn for himself. This is the correct type of education.

Unfortunately, today's monetary economy has pushed even teaching and learning to just parrot repeating textbook knowledge onto the examination papers. Teachers, most of whom do this as a method of earning a livelihood, have no commitment. Books are printed and delivered to students that mug them up and then pass the examinations to get a job to earn a living. This is compared to banks printing rupee notes in the mint, eventually to deposit them in people's accounts for them to make a living, called the banking type of education. Prof. U.L.Achar was a true midwife in the correct sense of the word. I am a standing example of his help to come up in life.

Reading through the book brought goose pimples on my skin because of the nostalgic memories of both my school days and my life as a teacher for the last four decades. Late Sri. Padiyar's knife incident brought to mind a student of mine who wanted to kill me with a mistaken notion that I was responsible for his imaginary troubles. When I showed him lots of love and did not mind his having brought a knife to kill me, he changed completely and is a very good doctor today. Many such instances come to mind in my life. The quality of teachers of the bygone era, when people like ULAchar worked, brings to mind the contrast in today's setting.

A recent government report, PROBE, revealed the darker side of school education in India. In the four northern states 47% of schools had stopped teaching anything. Half of them were converted to shops for the teachers. 23% of the schools the teachers were dead drunk and asked the students to supply them with the heavenly liquid, daaru. 17% of the schools the teachers used the students to do their household chores and babysitting!

On the other side of the coin excellent schools were springing up in slums in all these states and elsewhere run by local philanthropes, charging as little as 35-50 rupees per month. The teachers there were committed as their job depended on student performance, being watched both by the owners of the schools and the parents. These schools, in addition, also gave free education to the poorest of the poor in the slums. The results were almost cent per cent. Around Charminar, in Hyderabad City's slums there are as many as 50 such schools. Even rich parents want to send their children there because of their reputation.

Seeing this report a team of researchers from England, led by Professor Tooley of the Newcastle University, has advised the British Government to reorganize its fund-starved inner city schools to go the Indian slum school way!

How I wish this wonderful book of memoirs of my guru, Sri. U. L. Achar, makes more and more teachers to see their saddamma of being a real guru (one who dispels darkness). Our children need the education that makes them humble and makes them want to know more and more for the good of humanity at large. I hope the book finds a place in every school and college library. This book gets very high marks in my assessment, a rare opportunity that a student gets to assess his own teacher's work, but that is how it should be. Every teacher should get himself audited by his students in addition to his peers.

The language flows like a placid river. The book is so lucid, concise, simple yet very elegant at the same time. The print, the get up and even the cover details have impressed me a lot. I recommend this very, very strongly.

B. M. Hegde

Manipal Academy of Higher Education,

Deemed University, Vice Chancellor

Manipal- 576 119.

India.

19th April 2001.