?I was at John Kennedy College in the sixties, with the likes of Rama Poonasamy, and when I think about him, I recall all the fights we have been involved in alongside each other. I was there from around 1964 to 1971, therefore, during the colonial time as well as just after and traditions and discipline were the orders of the day. However, since the early days, John Kennedy College was reputed for being non-traditional and non-conformist. In fact, there were different kinds of teachers within the school ? some very bright and competent and others who, while being very intelligent, were very critical about various things such as society, different systems and so on. Meanwhile, we (students) would benefit from this situation, as they enhanced our critical thinking.

But the one who most impressed me is without question, Anand Mulloo. He was my history teacher, and quite rightly, he knew how to give us a critical approach towards the different subject matters. Indeed, he would encourage us to do so, in line with the non-conformist spirit of the college. It was tremendous because we would challenge or question what we were learning. Then, we would question things about the organization of the school and on local society. As far as I remember, one of the things I always opposed to was the elitism. At that time, there were four laureates.

The other major fight I had and that begun at college was against communalism. In this regard, Anand Mulloo was the ideal teacher to have to develop that critical view towards such things. Not only he would encourage us to see things with a critical eye, but he would also transmit all his knowledge and would push us to aim for excellence though remaining non-conformist. In a way, it was a bit paradoxical to aim for excellence while looking criticizing the laureate system but it was very effective.

When I recall time, I realize that he accompanied that process of becoming critical. Thus, he would encourage us to read critics and motivate us to think in a deeper way. So much so, that I went for my further studies in France, I managed to keep this Marxist outlook and use it there. Thereafter, in France, I remember having a great lecturer called Emmanuel Arghiri. He suited very well with the evolution of my critical mind. In fact, he he was very rigorous especially in the way he analysed things. He could, impressively enough, easily analyse a political speech in minute detail.

But coming back to Anand Mulloo, what I really appreciated with him was his extrovert personality. So, he was very open to any kind of conversation with any of his students. Actually, with time, a kind of friendship developed between us. I will always be grateful of having come across such a teacher. Of course there were other teachers who were good either because they had the similar assets or other assets. But since I have to focus on my best teacher, I choose Anan Mulloo because he had the biggest impact on my overall development.?