Dubai: The 9th episode of NewsKarnataka.com’s Namaste Teacher was held on Saturday October 30.
The series that showcases teachers and the impact they have had on students through teacher-student interaction was broadcast live on YouTube at youtube.com/newskarnataka. The event host was Spearhead Media Group Mentor and Advisor CA Valerian Dalmaida, and the co-host Rajesh Sequeira.
Fr. Denzil Lobo SJ, Former Rector of St. Aloysius College Institutions was the guest for the event. He was also the Director of AIMIT, St. Aloysius Institute of Management and Information Technology, Beeri, Kotekar. Other special guests for the event was Brian Fernandes, Dubai, Prabhu Mundkur, Film actor, Dr. Ananth Prabhu G., Professor Sahyadri Engineering College, Dikshith Raj, Founder CEO, CodeCraft Technologies and Anand Fernandes, CEO, Front Avenue Infosolutions.
In the beginning host CA Valerian Dalmaida introduced the teacher Fr. Denzil Lobo SJ, and co-host Rajesh Sequeira introduced all the students.
Fr. Denzil Lobo SJ sharing his experience as a teacher said, ”I started teaching in 1979-80. Once when I was teaching in the class someone threw rocket on me, and that was my first experience of mischievous things that students do. I have taught for 36 years, and maintained two faces in my professional; I was friendly outside the class but very strict during the class. I joined St. Joseph’s College in 1984. Suddenly in 1986, one of our old student Aubrey D’Souza donated a computer to the college and Fr. Leo D’Souza asked me to ne the in-charge of the computer centre. Post that began my journey in Computer Science field in St. Aloysius College. But I was not so sound technically and thus I went to America and did my Computer Engineering. Then it became very easy for me.”
“I was in-charge of student programme, items too and as a part of this, I visited Mundagod along with my students and made my students work and stay there in the houses of locals to experience their hospitality. We stayed therefore some days and thus students were exposed to the rural reality. I am happy to be in touch with my students. I am also happy to share that my teachers are in touch with me in social media. Memorising is the great drawback of today’s generation which should be rectified by the youngsters,” he added.
Valerian Dalmaida said, “Though I was not a student of Fr. Denzil, I know him very well because my brother, Fr. Francis Dalmaida, who is a Jesuit and Principal of Loyola College, Bengaluru. However, I always had a bond with Fr. Denzil. I knew Fr. Denzil from 1980 because I was centenary batch student.” He further stated that we should not remember our teachers only on teachers’ day, they should be remembered throughout the year.
Brian Fernandes said, ”I have a lot of memory related to Fr. Denzil. I know him from 1999, and at the time he was so young and handsome. I always used to hear this from girls. Fr. Denzil had unique signal to call his pets or communicate with them. He named them as kilobytes, gigabytes and megabytes. He has a unique way to call them as he just had to wave his keys. He hasn’t changed, and has remained the same. He is guiding generation to generation. He always advised me not to choose shortcut for success. I was in PUC II when I didn’t do my lab exams well. He got the news and called me, and motivated me. Students are like clay and teachers are who can mould it well.”
Dixit Raj said, I know him from my school days. During college we never took anything seriously but Fr. Denzil looked over us and put us on proper track. Fr. Denzil is just like a corner stone. He is an amazing mentor. He had ordered us to wear blazers during our Master’s but we were not wearing. Later when he noticed the same, he punished us. He is a fantastic basketball player. I had visited Mundagod with Fr. Denzil and it was joyful. He taught us a lot. A good teacher is one who is always alert. Fr. Denzil has that character.”
Dr. Ananth said, “I was not so good in studies but I was eager to sit for Fr. Denzil’s class because his teaching was so effective. He turned students street-smart. We should visit our teacher at least once in year. I have written a book on teacher which was influenced by Fr. Denzil.”
Rajesh Sequeira said, “I was also a student of Fr. Denzil. He had quite an influence on me. I still remember my first meeting with Fr. Denzil. A small talk with Fr. Denzil would make us happy. He is in touch with many of the students. Whatever we learnt in college we are doing it practically now.”
Pabhu Mundkur said, ”I joined my graduation in 2006 at St. Aloysius College. In 2008 we were organising a fest and so started the search for a sponsor. But no one came forward to sponsor or to give money. With a last hope I went to Karnataka Bank but the manager there disappointed me. Finally, I went to Fr. Denzil and he gave me the contact number of Karnataka Bank Chairman who sanctioned the money immediately. Try repeatedly and also approach the higher authorities was the lesson learnt from Fr. Denzil, which I follow even to date.”
Anand said, “Fr. Denzil touched us in his own unique way. Officially he taught me chemistry but unofficially he taught me a lot of lessons in life. He inspired students generation to generation. He always gave us time to ask doubts and with time he also made us feel comfortable. We always used to call him Fr. D. During my engineering I lost my brother and that was when Fr. Denzil first came to my home and consoled me. He is a very positive man. Great teacher is one who is always calm, and accessible. Fr. Denzil is an example for the same. We are lucky to come across a teacher like Fr. Denzil during our generation.
Both students and teacher recalled their school life and became excited. Students reminded their teacher the mischievous things they did during their school days.
While signing off, all the students wished their teacher again and extended best wishes to NewsKarnataka for hosting programmes like Namaste Teacher.
