A Tribute To An Economist

Mrs. Usha Balachandran taught me the brilliant subject that is Economics in Grades 11 and 12. Ma’am was always on top of her game, from explaining convoluted concepts of DMRS to lecturing us on morality and on the principles of life. But what separates her from the rest is that she is a true entertainer of her own sorts. Her one-liners would crack up the entire classroom even at its deadliest hour, and a subsequent little chuckle from ma’am would convert the heated class-discussion into a light-hearted rapport. We enjoyed Economics, and besides all the fun, Mrs Balachandran worked hard for us and drove us to do well. The amount of reference material we received was overwhelming, but what mattered to us was that she would have us fried if we didn’t perform. Believe me, a threat like that works. Thank you Ma’am for everything. =)

The Modern High Economics Boys Batch of 2006-07 will never forget:

“You will deal with me, not Amartya Sen.” – Mrs Balachandran

“Comb your hair properly and everything will be in place.” – Mrs Balachandran to Aaron Gomes for his incomplete work.

“One swallow does not make a summer.” – Mrs Balachandran

“You like to be seen even in the dark, as light bulbs.” – Mrs Balachandran to Zafar Bava, Akshay Mehta and Amir who returned late to class as they were busy handling the lights and sound in the school auditorium.

“It’s good to be Malabari sometimes.” – Mrs Balachandran

“Your respect does not add feathers to my hat, I don’t wear one.” – Mrs Balachandran to us, after punishing us, despite our efforts to reconcile.

“When I said 2 minutes work, I did not mean 1 minute, 30 seconds!” – Mrs Balachandran to Zafar Bava, holding up his inadequate homework.

“Don’t clean your eraser on my school wall.” – Mrs Balachandran to Mansoor Ali Khan on 7^th of September, 2006.

“I have such a vast ocean in front of me, I don’t know how I am going to cover it.” – Mrs Balachandran commenting on our 2^nd term portion.

“You are a new player to the game, unlike all the seasoned professionals.” – Mrs Balachandran to Abhinav Sinha for not completing his homework for the first time.

“Economics is maths.” – Mrs Balachandran, when we were about to begin the chapter on Statistics.

“You are drowning and pulling me down with you.” – Mrs Balachandran to Sunny Rajput when he received low marks in his Economics exam.

“Guesstimates” – Mrs Balachandran’s word to describe something even more inaccurate than estimates.

“I thought peeping was a bad habit.” – Mrs Balachandran when Dr. Khan interrupted the class to point out that Harendra Kapur was sleeping.

"If the marks are there, I can weave, I can spin…” Mrs Balachandran on recommendation letters.

“If you have thrown it out, I will throw you out.” – Mrs Balachandran to Ameya Chatim when he told Ma’am that he had thrown out his Holiday Homework.

“Don’t stab him from the back, stab him face on!” Mrs Balachandran to Arnav Jhunjhunwala for pinching Nawaz Kazi from behind.

“Take IT for instance, hardware is no where.” Mrs Balachandran talking about international trade.

“If we don’t do this, then the Government of India won’t earn any money.” – Mrs Balachandran to us, when she was explaining ‘Sources of Revenue’ to us.

“No one’s going to become an actor on Broadway. If you become, I will cut my right ear off.” – Mrs Balachandran (obviously, when she was furious) to Harendra Kapur when he was not paying attention in class.

Harry you need to get back to Ma’am on that last one. By the way, please note that the quotes quoted above are very accurate. Tejas, Unmukt and I made a note of them in class, behind my notebook, since the day they started amusing us. Ahh, I’ll miss our Eco classes. Not now, not yet, but soon.

P.S. The “India” post can wait, and umm, Superman is the coolest superhero ever.