Memories of Ms Janaki

Janaki Iyer taught history at my school Greenlawns off Bhulabhai Desai Road (formerly, Warden Road), Mumbai. I was in class IX and facing adjustment problems with peers. So was another classmate. Ms Janaki seemed to understand that we needed some TLC. She took two struggling teens under her wing in her gentle way. She invited us to her home to learn yoga from her. This was definitely exceeding her brief as a teacher!

I can never forget her warmth and support during one of the most difficult periods of my life. My mother was seriously ill. My grades in school were slipping and I felt socially isolated. I would go to her home for a one-hour yoga session almost every day for a few months. I certainly benefited from the yoga, but more from my interaction with this remarkable human being.

On one occasion, I remember her urging me to overcome my shyness and take part in a debate. I recollect being tongue-tied at the debate. But her concern and compassion for me have become indelible memories.

Several times when I visited Mumbai later in life, I had this urge to meet her. But I did not know her address. I could have contacted the school, but I didn’t. My memories of that school were not very happy ones. Except my memories of Ms Janaki. They still bring a smile to my face though it’s been 44 years since I knew her.

Recently, I learnt that Ms Janaki passed away on September 16, 2006. After teaching in Greenlawns for 14 years she moved to Hyderabad in 1983 when her husband retired. Once a teacher and compassionate human being, always one. In 1989, she co-founded an organization called ‘Ananda Bharathi’ that sought to provide education to the girl children of migrant labourers and girls who worked as domestic help and so could not attend school.

This venture was born in the verandah of the YMCA premises in Tarnaka, a suburb of Secunderabad. According to the 2006 Ananda Bharathi newsletter that reported her demise with sorrow: “The aim of setting up the organization was to reach out to girls aged 5 to 15 years who had been denied access to schooling; teach them the three ‘R’s, give them knowledge of health, nutrition and vocational skills; instil awareness of their rights, and sensitize them to care for their environment in a holistic way.”

Ms Janaki nurtured a group of teachers and was the catalysing force to bring people together to support and participate in the growth and consolidation of the Ananda Bharathi effort, says the newsletter. The organization she founded still exists but the nature of the good work has changed. It now works with government for the education of the underprivileged girl child.

Fondly called ‘Janaki Akka’ by most people and just ‘Ja’ by close friends, Ms Janaki (to me) was born in 1930 in a traditional family in Tamil Nadu. Her father was in the Railways and her mother was a homemaker. She did her schooling in different places in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. College was from Queen Mary’s in Chennai. She got married to K.N. Iyer in 1951 and in 1960 moved to Mumbai. Once her two children, now in the US, grew up she did her B.Ed and subsequently started working at Greenlawns School.

The Ananda Bharathi newsletter says that during her tenure at the school she was involved in innovative activities such as the ‘Environmental Studies’ method for learning, ‘Response Club’ to discuss current events, and promoting English drama. Her deep knowledge of history and her passion for teaching made her a very popular teacher and several students kept in touch with her. Unfortunately, I was not one of them.