I am in shock to hear that my mentor Dr Leena Sen passed away this week. It took a lot of strength for me to not break down when I called her house and spoke to her son.
This post is as much about me as is it about Mrs Sen. I met ma'am in 1996 when I was a first year Bachelor of Commerce student at Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Vile-Parle. She wasn't my Business Communication professor but I approached her as she was the professor in charge of the English Literary Association. I presented her an essay on 'Secularism in India' that I wanted to enter in a national competition. She ripped apart the 3000-word essay with remarks in red ink on every single page.
At 18, I could hardly write and the biggest book I had read at that point was an abridged version of Tom Sawyer. Over the next three years, Ma'am worked hard to turn me into a good writer. It was process that started with me reading the books of V.S. Naipaul and Salman Rushdie. Naipaul was her favourite writer and soon became mine as well.
I won the English essay competition at the University of Mumbai's youth festival and several prizes at national level competitions and my college rewarded me with the Best Writer Trophy two years in a row.
Thanks to her training and encouragement, I developed a love for literature. Books are an essential part of my life now and I am a much more knowledgeable human being. Since I graduated from college, I went on to write a travel guidebook and continue to work as an international journalist for more than 8 years. Ma'am was indeed proud of my achievements and sense of adventure but I am sure she was prouder of the fact that I stuck to my ethics all these years.
I don't think I expressed enough gratitude to her for teaching me how to write and how to appreciate literature and poetry. I sat for her English poetry lectures in college, even though I didn't take English literature as a subject. Those were the most enlightening lessons that I ever had. She brought the magic poems of Keats and T.S. Elliot to life and helped us understand a lot more than just the text.
She definitely had the carrot and stick approach when dealing with me. I was an "idiot" for not recognising Sardar Patel on a billboard and I was once "banned" from being the public relations officer of the literary association as I didn't notice someone writing 'it's' instead of 'its' in a letter. I was also reprimanded for writing 'yours sincerely' instead of 'yours faithfully.' These are precisely the things that made a better writer and frankly a better educated person. My pet peeve for insistence on correct grammar and proper usage of the English language developed when I was under her training.
Dr Sen was my coach, my guide and my inspiration. I owe my career as a journalist/writer to her. There will be greater success in my life ma'am. When we do meet again, I am sure that you will be proud of all that I managed to achieve.
Thank You for Everything.
This post is as much about me as is it about Mrs Sen. I met ma'am in 1996 when I was a first year Bachelor of Commerce student at Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Vile-Parle. She wasn't my Business Communication professor but I approached her as she was the professor in charge of the English Literary Association. I presented her an essay on 'Secularism in India' that I wanted to enter in a national competition. She ripped apart the 3000-word essay with remarks in red ink on every single page.
At 18, I could hardly write and the biggest book I had read at that point was an abridged version of Tom Sawyer. Over the next three years, Ma'am worked hard to turn me into a good writer. It was process that started with me reading the books of V.S. Naipaul and Salman Rushdie. Naipaul was her favourite writer and soon became mine as well.
I won the English essay competition at the University of Mumbai's youth festival and several prizes at national level competitions and my college rewarded me with the Best Writer Trophy two years in a row.
Thanks to her training and encouragement, I developed a love for literature. Books are an essential part of my life now and I am a much more knowledgeable human being. Since I graduated from college, I went on to write a travel guidebook and continue to work as an international journalist for more than 8 years. Ma'am was indeed proud of my achievements and sense of adventure but I am sure she was prouder of the fact that I stuck to my ethics all these years.
I don't think I expressed enough gratitude to her for teaching me how to write and how to appreciate literature and poetry. I sat for her English poetry lectures in college, even though I didn't take English literature as a subject. Those were the most enlightening lessons that I ever had. She brought the magic poems of Keats and T.S. Elliot to life and helped us understand a lot more than just the text.
She definitely had the carrot and stick approach when dealing with me. I was an "idiot" for not recognising Sardar Patel on a billboard and I was once "banned" from being the public relations officer of the literary association as I didn't notice someone writing 'it's' instead of 'its' in a letter. I was also reprimanded for writing 'yours sincerely' instead of 'yours faithfully.' These are precisely the things that made a better writer and frankly a better educated person. My pet peeve for insistence on correct grammar and proper usage of the English language developed when I was under her training.
Dr Sen was my coach, my guide and my inspiration. I owe my career as a journalist/writer to her. There will be greater success in my life ma'am. When we do meet again, I am sure that you will be proud of all that I managed to achieve.
Thank You for Everything.
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