An appreciation by Ms. RanjanaThambirajah (Nee Sabaratnam)
March 21st 2010 marks the first death anniversary of Mrs Gnanie Nalliah who passed away in Vancouver, Canada at the age of 91. The nonagenarian was a well known mathematician in the Jaffna circle and taught at Chundikuli Girls College, Jaffna for more than 25 years.
Some teachers leave an indelible mark on the young hearts and the memories linger with those when they become adults. One of the teachers who made a mark in my younger days was the Late Mrs. Gnanie Nalliah. The first impression I had of Mrs. Nalliah was not in person but from the senior students and my older siblings who studied under her at CGC. In time I came to learn that she was a strict teacher, good at teaching math, who never raised her voice and was funny at times.
Mrs. Gnanie Nalliah ~ 04.02.1918 – 21.03.2009
I remember vividly when she became our Maths teacher in 1970 in the seventh standard. She taught Algebra, Geometry and Arithmetic to our class. I still remember how she explained congruent in Geometry, simple and compound interest in Arithmetic and the pronumeral applications in Algebra. She always referred to zero as “poochiyam” in Tamil than “cypher” which was commonly used by other teachers. We had her for two terms and then she was delegated to a senior class.
Two years later, she returned to us as our Maths teacher in the ninth standard. This was the time when young girls in their early teens went through their adolescent years becoming mischievous and having an attitude on every facet of life. To top up the situation, a newly appointed teacher, fresh from the University was delegated to our class not only as a class teacher but also to teach us Biology. Our class took the advantage of her inexperience as the opportunity to disrupt her classes. The fun we had lasted for a term or two until the news reached the Principal’s ears, Mrs. GES Chelliah. One can guess who was replaced as our class teacher, none other than Mrs. Nalliah.
This time around we saw Mrs. N as a different person. She was very strict and stern as our class teacher. Since she had been teaching math when she wasn’t our class teacher, she had a better understanding of the culprits who were disruptive in class. Set a thief to catch a thief became her motto, and she made the naughtiest students as class monitors. A threat also came to us as that she would personally meet our parents or send warnings out through our older siblings. Sending a warning home through an older sibling was of course detested by every younger sibling so we were brought to our senses very quickly. The psychological warfare she imposed on us made a vast difference in our class behaviour. She came with a mission; she didn’t stop until her mission was accomplished. Nor did she enforce the threats she made.
In the Seventies, the salary for the tutorial staff was paid mid-month and the Principal had to go to the bank personally to make the cash withdrawals. Mrs. Nalliah accompanied the Principal to the bank and assisted in the distribution of salaries to the entire tutorial staff. Students eagerly wait for their “free periods” to have some fun when she disappears for her monthly chore. Mrs. N was too conscientious of her missed classes and she would use her lunch time to teach us the missed components. As teenagers, we did not like the idea of spending our time in “calculations” as we were more worried about our lunch time game such as “killi-thattu” (a grid game). Mrs. N also made special Saturday classes if she happened to miss the school for personal reasons. Such was her whole-hearted devotion and dedication to her profession. Now as a parent I believe that teachers don’t come in the calibre of Mrs. Nalliah with such dedication and passion.
Mrs. Nalliah was a also good educator in the ways she handled the young minds. She was good at throwing idioms and phrases aptly to the situations. If we were are unable to tackle a maths problem and ended up in tears she would say “Kalvi ennum payirrukku kanneer enum malai miha miha avasiyam( tears of rain are essential to a plant of education). One of the most popular idiom was “pandriyodu serntha kanrum pauvi arunthum “(a good natured calf will also learn to eat ‘dirt’ if it chose to live with the pigs). This idiom was very popular in our class for two reasons. One was that “pauvi” was colloquially used differently and the other was that we had a bevy of marked mischievous girls in our class. Whenever Mrs. N starts this particular phrase it will be finished as a chorus by the whole class.
She hated being disrupted when explaining a concept in Math. If she caught someone chatting with the neighbour, she would immediately stop and stare at the offenders. Every eyes would follow her glance, even at that moment if the offenders do not realise the situation, then the chalk would fly like a rocket from her hand over to the girls concerned, and most of the time the chalk would find its target. I was not an exception for this situation and I quickly learned not to talk in class.
Mrs. Nalliah was well known for her Mathematical skills for the GCE Ordinary Levels, and she was well sought after by the wider community for Maths tutoring. She held her private tutoring lessons at her house “Gnanasthan”at Perinpanayagam lane, Chundikuli Jaffna. She maintained a principle that she wouldn’t take any girls from CGC if she teaches them at school indicating that she was not going to teach anything different from the class.
Our College Monday morning Prayers were generally conducted by our Principal or by a teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed the times when Mrs. N took the podium. She always came up with a story which had a moral at the end.
Mrs. Gnanie Nalliah hailed from Thunnalai, a village in the Vadaimarrachi region. Her father was a Principal of Hartley college of Point Pedro in the early twentieth century. She was named as Gnanapooranammah at birth shortened as Gnanie in later stage. One of her siblings was also known for his principalship was late Mr. K.Pooranampillai who had been a School Principal at The Hartley College and then at St. Johns College, Jaffna.
In her conversations she had mentioned that her studies were disrupted to a halt when her mother was bedridden for nearly six years. She pursued her studies after she got married to Mr. LWD Nalliah and she had to sit for her exams when her son was a baby. She received her degree from the University of London, United Kingdom. These may be the reasons that she was reiterating the value of studies to us girls. She always encouraged girls to study to and use the time wisely and also instilled high morals and principles in life. One of the concepts she inculcated to the girls which was passed on to her by her mother was that if you do a good deed at school, most of the people won’t notice it but if you do a bad deed that the whole school community will carry the story home. So think about your actions before you commit yourself to a task.
In my GCE Ordinary Levels year she would open a lunch time session weekly for all the girls, irrespective of the class, to voluntarily come up with their mathematical problems. Even though I was studying under a different teacher, the offer was put to good use by some of us. Closer to the examinations she would extend invitations to interested students to come to her house to have a go at the past examination papers. I am always grateful for the services she rendered to us during that exam time free of charge! Her moral values were never matched with monetary values.
Mrs Nalliah was always neatly dressed in pastel colour saris and her falls was always pleated and pinned to the side. Her hair was always coiffed to a neat bun. One of her saris was quite popular among students coined as “rocket sari”. This was the post era time when the Apollo 11 has landed on the moon. The sky blue colour sari falls was painted by her artist husband depicting the landing on the moon by the three astronauts. Whenever she wore that sari there will be someone at school wanting to examine the detail of her falls.
She was a virtuous lady with a humble manner and was highly respected by the wider community. Nick-naming a teacher was the norm in every school and these names were generally referred names instead of given names. However Mrs. N escaped without a nick name.
Mrs. N did retire from her teaching service in the mid-seventies after serving Chundikuli Girls College for more than twenty five years. The college is in debt of her service to a generation of students. The retirement didn’t deter her from tutoring students at her home and then in Colombo. The 1983 communal riots in our Island brought a massive emigration of Tamils abroad. Mrs. Nalliah emigrated to Vancouver Canada to be with her son and family. The emigration did not prevent Mrs. N from tutoring math. Math was her life. I did hear from her relatives and friends that as an octogenarian she was able to keep her mind active by teaching maths for the younger generation.
She was a regular church goer and had faith in God and spiritual values and worshipped at the Methodist churches. She also had preached in some of the churches when she was requested. Once she was asked to preach at the Vannarpannai Wesley Methodist Church for a women’s day service. She mentioned that she was a bit nervous to get on to the pulpit among the strangers until she saw my late father’s face as the only known person.
Mrs. Gnanie Nalliah had the genuine passion for teaching and mastered the art of paedogogy to the amazement of students. May God bless her family for her services rendered to the community. As Paul says in the New Testament her life can be described as “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7)
Gnanie Nalliah did light a candle of understanding in our hearts which shall not be put out.
I wonder why God does not make Mrs. Gnani Nalliahs’ anymore with high morals and values. The current world requires many more Gnanies!
May her soul rest in peace.
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