The most significant advantage that accrued to us was that we retained in mind all the details. Preparing for exams thus happened on a daily basis for all the papers taught by Prof. T.R.B. In order to fill gaps in the notes, the lunch intervals were quickly utilized. That also helped us to sort out any lacunae in our understanding. It was an excellent training in our late teens- to listen, comprehend and write – all in one stroke.
By the time we were in the III term [the last 3 months of the academic year], we acquired our skills of rapid writing, grasping the vital points.
Soon, some 40 plus students in our class turned prolific writers who enjoyed the exercise. Now it helped us to go for quick, refined and vivid expressions. Truly, it was a magnificent transformation for us to face harsher situations in later life. It almost became a second nature for us to decipher the intricacies of language and the subject effortlessly. Automatically our abilities to assemble information reached a standard and using English was just fun. It is a clear case of how any visible quality can motivate and meaningfully help youngsters. By any assessment, it was a unique exposure from which we gained a total training. I am quite sure that it would have been a dismal failure, had it not been for the sheer brilliance of those lectures. Another impact was our desire to opt for lectureship in our own lives. At least, 6 of my classmates turned effective teachers and all recall their gratitude to Prof. T.R.Balakrishna. Needless to say I have been a rich beneficiary of this impact from my guru. How much of this, I have transmitted to my students is a matter that time alone can answer. Certainly, we sustained rich motivation.
His [Prof. TRB’s] planning of lectures:
After I took to teaching, I realized that my guru had meticulously planned his lectures. He never spent time to explain. He lectured and we understood. It was a single event and to be precise, a simultaneous happening. I do not remember an instance where he had to repeat a statement. Such was his perfection in marshalling the idea. He never took time for framing sentences. Statements used to flow in a torrent. The vocabulary was so neat / perfect that, no explanation was needed. Replacing words in his statements was not any easy nor called for.
Obviously, enormous preparatory repeats he should have gone through for a perfect delivery
For two reasons I believe so. He delivered the details in perfect sequence. He never sought to explain using alternative expressions. Thus, he could cover substantial areas of syllabus in reasonable time. He could pack information of real high quality that proved valuable in our higher studies. His approach to teaching was clean and sophisticated. All his references were from authentic sources. Occasionally he used to pinpoint conceptual errors in some popular authors. All these he did in passing through the lecture without undue stress. He had the highest priorities for content and delivery. He was a wholesome teacher, absolutely articulate, lifting the student to higher styles of learning without diluting his efforts in the garb of being comfortable to the student. He could impress his students on day one itself and possess them forever. Once exposed to that pattern of teaching / learning, students would not prefer any other style. His contribution to posterity is of a very high order. All his students would have certainly employed these methodologies in their daily teaching and kept the culture alive. All his colleagues and authorities held him in high esteem and for us undoubtedly he was God-incarnate.
To Continue Prof/K.Raman
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