The Enlightened Mind: Lessons from GKM, the Maths Maestro
GKM was my Maths teacher. He was fair in complexion and always dressed in white Dhoti and Kurtha. With his light blue eyes, he could pass off as a European.
He loved to teach Maths. He was very bright and very sharp. He always believed that maths is an engine for all the other subjects and is easy to learn. I had never seen him looking into any book while teaching. He had a strange sparkle in his eyes when he encountered a complex problem. As a Maths student, you can imagine how scary it is if you do not know the fundamental concepts. According to him, all is in mind. Usually, one mental block obstructs the flow. All GKM would do is enable a person to realize the obstruction and the love for Maths would flow like a fountain.
GKM’s approach was always forward-looking. He was a strong advocate of positive psychology, working from each individual’s strengths. He keenly understood the difficulties each of us faced in the class, and his approach was always personalized.
While he was unaware of Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset theory or Martin Seligman’s Positive psychology, GKM was a strong proponent of both approaches.
I loved his teaching style; he had a unique way of dealing with the subject — for example, Quadratic equations. This lesson has six to seven types of problems. GKM would allow us to answer at least one hundred questions under each type. He would also give some practical examples for each model: a bus accelerating and manoeuvring a turn or the movement of a ball thrown upwards. GKM loved word problems. He would expect us to wear thinking caps and solve problems mentally. I remember him proving Pythagoras’ theorem using triangles on our football field. He encouraged us to apply the principles of Geometry to solve algebraic problems and vice versa.
While the textbooks had limited problems, GKM would source items from various books. Hall & Knight, Pierpoint, Kreyszig, and SL Loney were our household names, but many current Maths students may need to learn these names. He assessed our performance based on our thinking strategies and abilities to generate multiple ways to solve a specific challenge.
He used a star rating methodology for prioritizing difficulty. Our notebooks would show a single star, a double star, and a triple star on the left side of each problem. Three-star problems were dangerous problems with twists and turns that required attention. On the day of the examination, we reviewed only these specific items.
GKM was one of my favourite ‘Gurus’ of childhood. His teachings went beyond academics; they taught thinking, problem-solving, and resilience. I owe a lot to GKM, whose influence shaped my love for mathematics and learning.
गुरुर्ब्रह्मा ग्रुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः । गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः ॥
( Guru Stotram: Guru verily represents Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He creates, sustains knowledge and destroys the weeds of ignorance. I salute such a Guru.)
