?All the teachers that someone has had in his life must have contributed in one way or another to the development of that person. This is why we should always have some deep gratitude for the teachers who have stepped into our lives after our parents. A teacher is someone who educates us, makes us become better, enriches our knowledge and more importantly opens the door of a bright future. There is a saying : ?However great you become one day, you will always be small in front of your teacher.? This always applies to me whenever I meet one of my former teachers. Indeed I see myself so small in front of the ones who I consider have lightened my path. To draw a parallel to this, I believe that one cannot be better than one?s teacher just as the greatest intellectual will never be worth the most ignorant mother.

However, I believe the one who most impressed me and inspired me was certainly Claude Fanchette. He was my French teacher during my days at St Mary?s College. The first thing that struck me about him was the fact that he never used the board or the chalk. He was the one who had the greatest influence on our intelligence that he used to stimulate and provoke so well. He would never read a text for us in class. In fact, he would ask us to prepare one of the chapters of the text for the next day. On that next day, he would dissect and scrutinize the text while he would put himself in the shoes of the characters that we were studying in detail.

It was a pure moment of intense psychology for all my class mates and I. Claude Fanchette?s explanations filled us with wonder. Moreover, it goes without saying that Claude Fanchette taught us how to philosophize, to reason and to rationalize. Apart from the pedagogical aspect he had, he was also a great ?chroniqueur?. His articles published in ?Le Mauricien? mesmerized and subjugated me. They were a great source of inspiration for me. I must also add that the various extra curricular activities enriched my teenage life. Furthermore, has inculcated values within us that have made us good Mauritian citizens. For example, I understood very well facts about the Bible and other issues related to Catholics? lives. Last Saturday I went to a radio station as I had been invited to comment on the arrest of the journalists, as soon as I walked in, Claude Fanchette came to my mind with nostalgia as he was the first person to take me to a radio station a long time ago. At that time, there was a radio station called the ?Studio d?Art Sonore? in Rose-Hill.

In terms of unpleasant memories, I have two. The first one that comes to my mind is a very ironical one. When I was at the college, everyone knew about my family background. As a result, everyone knew that I was extremely poor and that I was motherless. Despite this, I would always try to come to school well-dressed and looking neat. Once a teacher made a comment referring to me, he said: ?Zis la cok ki ris!? Of course at the time I was affected but got over it. Poor people are really sensitive and they should not be treated as such, but that teacher did not seem to know this. Later on, when I was studying at tertiary level; we met because he was studying in the same class as I was. He was terribly weak in economics. I let him cheat by giving him all the homework I had done?maybe because I am not vindictive. (Laughter)

Then, another sad episode was when I was called by a teacher in front of the class, and the latter started slapping me for no reason at all. Coincidently, later on I heard sad news (that I would not like to comment on) about that teacher.

As I said at the beginning I am still grateful towards every single teacher I had. But if I pick the teacher who most influenced me, I will stick to Claude Fanchette who always inspired uswith lots of confidence. He would motivate us to express ourselves. We would make the most of it by indeed expressing ourselves while respecting our own limits. When I recall that time, I realize that he was my model. It is thanks to him that I started writing in the newspapers, and he inspired me to embrace that noble job which is teaching. Maybe I have emulated him?I hope so, as I am one of his products.?