Teacher Interview: Featuring Prof. Nina Narasimhan
H
ow did you come to this college? So far
out in the desert?
(Amused already … after cross checking how
long the answers should be, she begins) The
thing is, I had done my Masters in English
Literature way back in 2005 and after that I was
wondering which profession to get into. You
know, usually students, they learn... get a degree
… and then go blank as to where to get into… so
I thought of going into the proof reading and
edition profession, and I really didn’t want to go
into writing or journalism because I’m a very
moody person.
Then all of a
sudden I don’t
know
what
motivated me to
think of getting
into
teaching,
but you know I
never wanted to
teach
these
“school” kids or
children, or to be
in
a
school
setup. SO anyways I went further to do my B.Ed.
after which I started working in the same
college. The principal called me back because
the Diploma College was established during my
B.Ed. year, and she wanted me to be the
coordinator and lecturer because it was a new
college and they needed capable staff. So I
worked there for 3 and a half years, that’s at St.
Teresa’s Institute of Education, and at the same
time I was pursuing my Masters in Education. So
I did double masters in Literature and then I
moved into Education totally and it was real
fun!!! (she grins) During that time I shifted from
Andheri to Naigaon and after completing my
Masters in Education I thought it was time to
move from Diploma to Degree level of teaching.
I left that Institute and started dropping my
résumé at several Education Groups/Institutes in
and around Mira-Bhayander and Vasai/Virar for
the post of a lecturer in Education. Then all of a
sudden within 2 days, Rahul Group called me
and I met Ma’am Sridevi at the head office. She
actually asked me if I was interested in teaching
engineering students English! At that time, I
didn’t know what an engineering course was
really about, and for engineering students,
‘English’ seemed a weird subject. Why will they
have an English subject in Engineering? So I
looked up the syllabus online and I saw that they
had a subject known as Communication Skills
which was my forté because we had it in our
B.Ed. and other courses. Communication Skills is
a part of any professional course. I even had a
subject on communication in M.Ed., so I was
clear with the basics of what I’m going to teach,
and I needed to know what further skills were
needed for engineers. So I looked up ‘google’
….my best friend…. and I saw technical writing
etc. I was almost sure I could tackle all that as I
gain experience. They wanted me …if I wished to
join… to do so really soon because Sem II had
already started, so just within the span of 2 days
on 31 Jan 2011, I took my fir ???????????????)????????????????????????????????=?????)????????????????????????????????????)'?e?????????????)!????????????????????????????????)%???????????????????)=????? ????????????????(?I???????????$???????????????????????????)????????????????????????????$????)???????????????5??????????????$????)????????????????????????????????)???????$????????????????????????$)???????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????)??? ??????????????????????$???????((??((0