Students weigh teacher in blood

AHMEDABAD: On Teachers’ Day, how will you reward a teacher who was a ‘father figure’ through your growing years? Perhaps you will do what these students of Jethabhai Chaudhary (89) did.
On Thursday, they weighed this former English teacher of Sarvajanik School in Mehsana in blood. Chaudhary’s 70 kg weight equalled 276 bottles of blood which were donated to the local blood bank.
Chaudhary Sir, as he is called, is now president of the Sarvajanik Kelavani Mandal that has 17,000 students. He was overwhelmed to see hundreds of his students — some current, most former — line up to give a part of themselves in gratitude to their beloved teacher.
Yogesh Bhatt (51), who runs a pharma factory and studied under Chaudhary in class XI and XII, said he was a rebellious student and seldom paid attention to studies. “I was always pushing the boundaries of discipline. . Instead of punishing me,he channelized my energies towards positive causes and helped me become a responsible man,” said Bhatt.
Chaudhary’s association with the school began 53 years ago when he joined as an English teacher. He rose to be the principal and then joined as secretary of the mandal.
Students remember him as the energetic selfless teacher who stayed back to help students with English grammar.
Ramesh Chaudhary (53), working with Syndicate Bank now, was Chaudhary’s student from 1976-79. “We were pathetic in English but Sir stayed back and spent hours helping us get the grammar right. Our gesture is to celebrate teachers like him,” the former student said.
Another student, Neela Trivedi (57), said, “Chaudhary Sir is not just a teacher, he was a father figure who could be approached with any problem.”
And what did the teacher have to say about his students’ gesture? “My students’ love has me overwhelmed. I just did my job. But today, they made me proud of how many lives I have touched,” said Chaudhary.