To Sir, with love

He walks into the class just when all of us are struggling hard to stay awake. He sits on the chair with an air of  a king adorning his throne and starts shooting us with his wise anecdotes. He is none other than Prof. S. P Srinivasan, professor of finance who taught us Accounting and a lot more than that in our first term. His fan club in Orkut boasts of a staggering 900+ people. (Of course, I being one of them). Well, this was a brief introduction about one of the best teachers I have ever come across.

Right from day one, he made Accounting seem like a subject of wonder. Number-crunching is by default there but he makes it so much more enthusiastic by adding his own versions of stories,idioms and jokes.. I know a few of my batch mates do sleep in his class too but sorry guys, I can never get bored in his classes. He has captivated me with his knowledge! After he starts his lecture he consciously veers off to a different(more often, unrelated) topic altogether and at the end of the lecture we realize that he had actually covered one of the important topics in the syllabus. I am a student who has had no A, B or C of experience in Accounting  whatsoever and so I am all ears in his classes and the awe that I have for him is never going to wane away.

I am currently having a terrible allergic cough. Actually, symptoms started showing a month ago when there was a wide-spread swine flu mania, all around! BUT! Not to worry.. I cough only when the dust is looming around. So lets keep the flu at bay! Anyway, I remember myself coughing heavily in one of his classes on a  Monday morning, and what made it all the more noticeable was the fact that I was sitting on the second row, first seat. As he was going on about his lecture on Accounting suddenly he changed tracks by mentioning how people are falling ill a lot these days due to lack of proper fitness and nutrition. There he tells that and I notice all heads turning towards me  :). He told how important it is to be healthy and to play often. As he said that I suddenly felt ashamed of how low health was on my priority list. At the same time,I felt so special. He had actually noticed that I was ill. Often, it takes a classroom lecture to teach you what your parents cannot! I blamed myself rather than blaming the hostel food. I was so engulfed with tests, assignments and classes, I at times skipped breakfast and followed such erratic sleeping schedules that my fitness had started dwindling. Play till you sweat, he said! Yes sir, I shall follow it with renewed vigor from the beginning of this term. I hope my roomies aren't reading this :P

Regarding my performance in his paper, it's better left untold. But now that I mentioned it anyways, let me tell you that he threw a googly and I was bowled out! My balance sheet did match but it showed a figure which clearly looked manipulated, something which Auditing Standards would never approve of :P . And this is happening to me when I am planning to major in Finance! God save the world.

Some of his quotes which shall remain etched in my memory forever:
"Accounting is all about know-why and know-how"
"The horse will fly"
"Never anticipate profit but provide for all losses"
"MBA is all about managing yourself"
"......ACTUALLY" - This word almost ends every statement of his and the particular tone he uses this word with is just inimitable.

Sir,
The pearls of wisdom you have shared with us shall continue to adorn our lives forever.
Thank you for your unending supply of quotes.

Looking forward to more of your classes!