14. Meet Prashanta Sir

In one of his initial classes, our group had to position Prashanta Sir's class during a presentation.

Riju had come up with the term,

'Experience Based Learning.'

The positioning couldn't have been more appropriate.

.

I had second thoughts before I started to write this post. And that's exactly why I am writing it.

Teachers are interesting personalities. They are all so different from one another and all the same at the same time. And we students, don't like them much. Anyone of them. Sometimes, I feel like it's a universal rule; in order to be a good student, you can't like a teacher. If you do, something is wrong with you and the whole student society will disown you.

I have always been rigid about my principles and not liking a teacher was something I believed in from the very beginning of my life. Teachers never liked me and the feeling was mutual. I never hated them but I didn't feel the need to like them either.

But it was after the first class of fifth semester that my foundation of this strong belief was shaken. Thanks to Prashanta Sir.

Six months ago, Wednesday morning, at 10:30 exactly, a teacher entered a class with a big smile on his face. He was wearing a white plain bottom up shirt and a black pant. I looked at him from top to bottom. The way everyone else were doing, my eyes judging him.

My prejudice got good of me. I made up my mind instantly, he was the kind of teacher who is going to be all too friendly and smiley at the first day but as days pass by, he is going to want us to respect him, believe his theories and his understanding on the subject matter.

He looked at us and smiled. I wasn't going to fall in the trap of his smile. I was too intelligent for that. I didn't even smile back. I acted hostile towards him and he hadn't even begin to speak.

He finally spoke, I still remember the first sentence he had said but I don't want to disclose the words here. I wouldn't want to ruin the fun and surprise of being in the class of one of my favorite teachers. His sentence changed everything. With his very first sentence, he earned himself an admirer. I started to think otherwise about teachers.

For the next one and half hours, I rested my hands on my chin and listened to him talk. I let my prejudice aside after few minutes. I read him again, this time based on his talks, words and stories. At the end of the class I was engrossed in his stories, so much that I couldn't come up with the conclusion as to what I felt about him. My thoughts were in disagreement with my beliefs. I was having an episode of attitude dissonance.

"He is not like every other teacher, you see. He is like a big brother. He tells stories" I finally concluded after the second day after his first class, in conversation with my best friend.

Despite the conclusion I had come up with, I wasn't expecting much from his second class. As a good student, I had learned to set low to no expectation from a teacher. Maybe his first day energy will drain up or worse what he was like in the first day was just an act. It was natural of me to have second thoughts and doubts.

He was however, successful to keep his first impression intact.

Throughout his classes for six months. I never felt like talking to a friend in the middle of the class. I would pick a discussion with him instead. I didn’t always agree with him and he didn't have a problem with it and that's what made him a good teacher.

He would listen to us. Let us know when he disagreed, cleared out misunderstandings (if any) but he never imposed his thoughts upon us. Unlike most teachers, he agreed to the possibility of having more than one right answer to a question. 

Not only was he a good teacher, he was also helpful as a person. We would go up to him with a problem and he was always ready to help. He would give us ideas and options to tackle through the problems. The fact that he made us feel comfortable enough to share our problems with him says a lot about him as a person. He helped us with the problems which didn't even have to with marketing.

Having said all these, most important questions however remain unanswered. Did he really meet the major objective of being a good teacher and did I really learn in his class? 

Most of what I learn ends with the final semester examination but this is not the case with marketing. I remember values whenever I see an old motorcycle. I remember offerings when I come across the post of motivational speaker. I remember trade off when I have to choose between chocolates. I remember the Omega watch. I remember the 'late night chats'. I remember the importance of experience. I remember the neon lights. I remember that just because I am different doesn't make me important. I remember all of his examples.

I try to understand why certain advertisements are made certain way and not the other way. Every time I turn on my TV, I try to figure out who the target audience is. I understand why some commercials are so colorful and others so dull. I understand why a certain personality is brand ambassador of a certain brand and not the other brand. I understand why Wai Wai came up with the 'Is your child a Wai Wai kid?' promotion strategy.

I am someone who had zero bit interest in marketing and despite that I have taken away a lot from his class. He is an amazing teacher and I feel, he fails to understand it at times.

Second page of our marketing textbook quotes one of the marketing directors of P&G Company,

"If one were to make a bet, smart money is on building relationship with the customers."

As an educator, that’s exactly what Prashanta Sir did and I would like to say he was successful in building good and strong relationships with his students.