An old-style schoolmaster would have made common cause with today’s Gen Z protesters

I remember Mr Peterson and think of what he would have made of the Cockroach Janta Party. Affectionately nicknamed Gup by his students, Mr Peterson taught us English and History at La Martiniere Calcutta. He was one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. 

We called him Gup because the word has two meanings. As a verb it means to talk, and as a noun it means not exactly an untruth but embroidery to enliven the drab fabric of the strictly factual. 

Gup was a past master of both. He talked a lot, with a low-toned eloquence all the more compelling for its soft-spokenness.

In History class he would flesh out the bare bones of dates, and names, and battles won and lost, through mimesis. He would crouch, vigilant sentinel on a rampart, hand shielding watchful eyes from the glare of the sun, ears attuned to the rolling thunder of oncoming cavalry. 

Mesmerised, we soaked in the long-ago past brought to present life. That was the art that Gup had, of making the act of learning not a chore with which to pass an exam but an enjoyment more fun than fun itself. 

In English class he would ask us to write a review of our favourite film. As we replayed movies on the screen of our minds, they came more alive for us in intensity of colour and sound, sharpness of image, than they’d been as mere pastime. 

I think Gup was so good at teaching because he was so good at learning, learning from us what would spark interest in us, what would not just hold our attention but grip it like a Hitchcock thriller. 

Teaching and learning were the twin sides of the coin of education which for Gup was a lifelong mission. Had he been around today, Gup Peterson would, for once, have been bereft of words by the tragic travesty that rampant corruption and cheating have made of what was his cherished vocation. 

The Cockroaches? Gup would have applauded their passionate protest against the defilement of that to which he had dedicated his life. And that’s no gup.

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