Mrs Shuvra Mukherjee, former Vice Principal of DBMS School and President of the Prem Jyoti Prangan came into education quite by chance. But the thrill and excitement that she felt every year when a new batch of students arrived, ensured that soon this profession became a much loved vocation.

Mrs Shuvra Mukherjee

“The first few years after I began teaching were tough. Both my children were very young and I was entrusted with teaching Biology in the senior classes, which meant I had to prepare very well for my lessons. In the beginning, my knees would literally tremble but from early on I learned that students respect a sincere teacher. I worked hard at my lessons. A few years later I even did my B Ed. The Jesuit fathers at the Loyola College were very demanding, that meant during my B Ed I spent a lot of my time studying as well,” she recalls. However, the cut and thrust of handling a whole set of new students with different personalities had now made her realise that teaching was indeed her vocation! “Each year the students were so very different from the previous year. Each one of them is different and everyday something new happened. I like children and there is a certain joy in seeing them grow up and blossom,” she reasons.

“The eighth of nine children,” as she puts it succinctly, Mrs Mukherjee was born in Guwahati from where her family moved to Kolkata, when she was five years old. They opted to live in Ballygunge, then a quiet and much sought after neighbourhood. Residing in a city with a large and extended family meant that as a child there was always plenty of fun and activity, especially during the pujas.

It was, however, when she got married to Dr T Mukherjee, who was then pursuing his Ph D in Sheffield University, that she came into her own as a person. “He was a student , so we started life with no money. In fact, he borrowed some to come home to get married,” she divulges, proud with the progress they have made as a couple. Moving away from a large and protective family to the West was certainly a culture shock. She vividly remembers the “feeling of extreme loneliness. It was too quiet, and when it snowed there was no sound. For me , the only contact with the outside world was the sound of the neighbour’s child calling out “Tommy, Tommy” to his dog.”

Managing a new home and family

A few words of sage advice from her husband got her to dispel this loneliness and interact with her neighbours. “He told me, if you want company, then you must reach out to people. My first friend was the old lady downstairs. She was the one who taught many things.” Once confident enough to reach out beyond the confines of her home, she joined Sheffield University as a Research Assistant in Botany, after a short stint at a tea pot factory. “It was a very nice experience as again I learned a lot, especially from their meticulous work style.”

Within a year of becoming a post graduate student, their first child arrived; compelling Mrs Mukherjee to take a breather from studies. Around the same time Dr Mukherjee, now with British Steel, received several excellent job offers. They decided to accept the offer from Tata Steel and came home; tempted by the vision they had of Jamshedpur.

Dr and Mrs Mukherjee with their children Ipsita and Kaushik, at thir Northern Town bungalow

Settling down in their first home in Burma Mines was difficult but matters rapidly changed once they moved to Northern Town and Mrs Ananth, the wife of the then General Manager, greatly assisted Mrs Mukherjee in settling down and enjoying her new home by encouraging her to try teaching at DBMS School, a job she grew to love.

Now, as the President of a school for economically less privileged children, the challenge that Mrs Mukherjee has given herself is to create an environment where the children feel the desire to attend school. “We try to give them reachable targets and bring in people who can help us counsel them to reach their targets,” believes this mother whose children have followed their own hearts. “My only regret is that I was not tougher with them. My son tells me, he had me twisted around his little finger,” she says as she ponders over the years spent rearing her children. “I would not give up the time I spent with them to follow any professional ambitions.” For this teacher, home is the best school for education and the all important self esteem comes from the understanding and care only a parent can provide.