To a dear professor...
From "Professor S":..."I'll be teaching my last year of classes for the university & will retire at the end of spring 2007. After 35 years of teaching at the U of I. I look forward to starting other kinds of work-- not sure what. But I'll be looking. Take care & stay in touch. You were a terrific student who brought much pleasure into my teaching life...."
I recently received an email from a dear professor of mine who I've kept in touch with since I've graduated. She's one of the most fascinating women I know and a champion of human rights, at the forefront of developing events for womens' rights, a lover of South Asian culture and literature, a traveller, a writer, a voracious reader, an AMAZING cook, and a teacher with a heart of enormous compassion, love, and hope. She has truly been one of my many inspirations during college and introduced me to the wonderful world of South Asian literature and art. I travelled with her throughout England and she showed me the beauty and history of the cultural mix that is London. London and consequently my trip throughout England, wouldn't have been anything without her guidance, stories of past travels and studies, her knowledge of obsure places, authors, histories, her connections to local historians and celebrities, and her eye for the various diasporic links within London.
I'm truly grateful for her eagerness to help each student (including myself) believe that we were, are, and could become great writers, noble citizens, and acheivers of our own, often delisionary, dreams.
Now, this dear professor of mine, will retire soon and move forward with a new life with the same passion, integrity, and vision she brought to her classroom, both near and far. This is my ode to you, "Professor S", for making me believe that "words are things" , that you can be somebody anywhere and at anytime, that a book unread was our luck, our new opportunity to open up our minds, that life was about making new mistakes, and that your identity is always who you are and and not what others interpret it to be. Thank you and may you make many many more new mistakes in your future life to come.
posted by payal @ 12:38 PM
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