Sir,
Dr. S. Dandapani (who passed away in Bengaluru on Apr. 18) was a great teacher, inspiring mentor and a role model for a whole generation of top teachers produced by Regional College of Education (RCE), Mysuru. As a young man in late sixties, he used to be the first man in the morning to arrive at RCE on a Java motorcycle (250 cc). As a classroom teacher of Educational Psychology, he revealed not only his erudition but also his sensitising, understanding of young students. His letters/articles in SOM and other journals were examples of brevity, wit, scholarship peppered by his wisdom. As a professor he has left for posterity a definitive book on Educational Psychology. He never left the smallest opportunity to inspire his students to pursue higher studies and research. To conclude, I must say that in his own life he exemplified what he preached as a guru — a teacher must intensely cultivate an unquenchable yearning for learning. The last three words are an extract from a title of one of his articles in the Education column of The Hindu. Mysuru is now poorer with the loss of another Mahamahopadhyaya.
