Memories and Inspiration - Sister Victoria Nunes

Have any of you been super inspired by a teacher/educator, always being conscious of the enormous impact the person has had in shaping your life....Nevertheless being bogged down by worldly pursuits over the years, and hence losing touch...only to regret not having kept connected, till it was too late...far too late. I, for one, have been guilty of this. This specific teacher/educator(call her what you may), was Sister Victoria Nunes. She was the principal/headmistress of my high school in Guwahati and passed away last week.

I don’t believe it would be an exaggeration to say that Sister Victoria took the school by storm, when she took over as the principal/headmistress,  albeit a very good kind of storm ....a storm that causes the elimination of weeds, brings with it hope of a harvest and leaves behind only lushness and the opportunity for growth. She was ahead of her times...progressive...exuded positivity and had the uncanny ability to provide a sense of calm, even in the midst of turmoil. Most importantly she was a visionary leader. 

Just yesterday, I was having a conversation with my team about leadership skills and was emphasizing a key difference between a good ‘manager’ and a good ‘leader’. I was telling them how a ‘good manager’ sets good rules for a team, creates a framework to execute them and more often than not has his/her team’s back in terms of the execution path, but the focus is always on ‘execution’.....A ‘good leader’, on the other hand, is able to do all that a good manager does, while additionally being able to nudge a team forward towards a vision...is empathetic...is a good listener...accepts failures...is willing to inspect and adapt a vision, as essential...is fearless in having to change rules or the vision, all the while never letting go of the focus on his/her team and it’s needs. As I got out of this meeting/conversation with my team, I sat back for a moment, introspecting on what I had just spoken to my team about ‘managers’ and ‘leaders ‘....It was uncanny how my thoughts went back  all the way to my days in high school, when Sister Victoria brought about so many positive , progressive changes in school....to all the times when she listened with empathy to all students and not just listened, but figured out a way to do something about their concerns.  It was a revelation given it was for the first time that I realized my first lessons in leadership were not from a course I took in grad school or a book I read or a TED talk/Podcast I heard(believe me I have done all of these in abundance ). My first lessons in leadership, the importance of ‘emotional quotient’( much before it became a buzz phrase)  was from Sister Victoria Nunes... this serene, beautiful , progressive lady who I had the fortune of having as a teacher and who brought about some many much needed changes in school ...who led with so much empathy, positivity and vision. The nerdy nerd that I was in high school, she was one of the few who seemed to see something in me other than my academic merit. On multiple occasions, she nudged me to come out of my shell and do things outside my comfort zone. She encouraged/guided me and always had my back, as I took over as the head girl in high school. I believe she saw a spark in me that no one else did.  Above all, she nudged and encouraged me to write, and I will forever be grateful to her for enabling me to develop this therapeutic habit.

The kind of effect Sister Victoria had, particularly in my class of girls, was like the effect of a stone thrown into a lake. The stone disrupts the still waters of a lake and the effect is not only visible, but lasting. Ripples formed by the first plop of a stone in a lake expands until they can be felt all along the surface, and these ripples stop and die out only when they reach the shore. In Sister Victoria’s case, all the ripples created and propagated made all of us better in some way, I choose to believe.

Everyone , who’s known me since childhood, would attest to how I have evolved over the years ....In all of this, I am forever grateful for the lessons different people have taught me at different phases of life. I am often guilty of not expressing gratefulness, while there is still time ...and specifically Sister Victoria’s passing away drives home the point again about how unpredictable life can be, given I was planning to go see her in my next visit to India. But why do I have this feeling that had she heard me express this in person to her , she would just have had something witty to say, with that ever so serene smile, that would make all the regret and guilt go away in a jiffy. Perhaps it is because it was just the way she was....affectionate , beautiful, full of empathy and just happy about being able to contribute to the growth and progress of the youth, whose life she touched.

Rest In Peace dear Sister Victoria...and thank you...Thank You! I do hope my kids are fortunate enough to have at least one teacher, like you, in their lifetime.