Varun Kumar P
B.Com (Hons.) 2012-2015, Brindavan

I was fortunate to have been Ruchir sir’s student at Brindavan. Having been in his Accountancy classes in the first and second year of the B.Com (Hons.) course, I had experienced his expertise in the subject, his penchant for numbers, and most importantly, his strictness when it came to punctuality and discipline. In my 3rd year Ruchir sir was teaching Advanced Accounting as an elective. I was aware of his expertise and passion for the subject. Keeping this in mind, and not getting bogged down by the strictness of his classes, I opted for Advanced Accountancy, knowing very well the challenges that would come my way.

Needless to say, I enjoyed his classes and Accountancy even more, as he now had to teach only a handful of students and we were able to receive more attention. I was extremely enthusiastic to learn from him and would rush to sit in the first row during his classes. I had received borderline scores to opt for his difficult elective. The class would have been extremely challenging for a student like me. However, I opted for it only because Ruchir sir was teaching it. I thoroughly enjoyed the class.

During the last semester I had another opportunity to sit in his class on Investments. I was a bit tardy and I had to attend most of the classes standing outside the classroom. This happened to me as I was late to his class on repeated occasions. The strict disciplinarian that he was, Ruchir sir did not allow me to enter the classroom in order to teach me discipline and punctuality. In spite of these outstanding punishments (pun intended), I was incorrigible. Then one day he came to me and said, “You can come in. Because of I’m not able to get you to be punctual even after multiple attempts, I see that as my own failure rather than yours.” That remark struck me hard. I don’t remember ever being late to his class after that episode. Being such a great teacher, it demonstrated his humility in accepting my mistake as his. I can never repay the gratitude I owe him.