I know Mr. N.K. Venkateswaran for these several years both from the angle of a chief and from that of a friend, and I have read the greater part of his writings his Glimpses of Travancore a book of vignettes sketeched with a light touch his Dreams of a Teacher a modest professional document containing much wise thought, and his numerous contributions to periodical literature which are highly interesting and useful. Mr. Venkateswaran is certainly a teacher of distinction having a native insight into teaching which he constantly reaffirms and develops nby careful reading and observation and by experimental work of new and promising quality. He is sufficiently gifted to understand the springs of juvenile conduct and he easily establishes wholesome intimate relations with his pupils. Always active and lively himself he readily transmits these qualities to them and what is supremely important teaches them to learn for themselves. His smiling manner and aptitude for anecdote and story conduce to an invigorating atmosphere in his classes, without which any really educational work must be severely handicapped. He has no need to retail information and his impulse to help and accelerate young personalities in the right and proper directions is noteworthy.
Mr. Venkateswaran's latest book, `On Teaching' not only contains the results of some of his studies and experiments but also recaptures certain aspects of his ideals as he practises them from day to day. Small of volume as it is the book covers an ample compass. Coming from a teacher to such very good credentials it richly deserves close attention from teacdhers. It deals in a lucid and practical manner with most of the problems connected with their work. The book has also an equal value to every one otherwise interested in teaching as Mr. Venketeswaran interprets teaching in terms of fundamental educational principles. Both the style and composition of the little volume possess a flavour of originality and are decidedly stimulating.
I have great pleasure in recommending `On Teaching' to all those who are interested in this great and noble profession.
Nallur Krishnan Venkateswaran
Nallur Krishnan Venkateswaran, born in 1891 in Nallur, a small village near Trichur, was a bright student and the community, in which he lived, recognizing his potential, encouraged him to obtain a B.A. degree and qualify as a teacher from what were then the most prestigious institutions in the South _ St. Joseph's college, Trichy and Presidency College, Madras.
He entered the Travencore Education Service as an English teacher and worked in North Parur near Alwaye for ten years before he was transferred to Trivandrum. He stayed on a Trivandrum except for some brief stints in schools at Marthandam (now in Tamilnadu), Nedumangad and Kottarakara. His talent as an interesting and innovative teacher led to his being promoted over the heads of many of his senior colleagues as headmaster _ a position which he held at the time of his retirement in the late forties. Being rather radical and unorthodox in his teaching methods, he brought novelty and excitement to the classroom through methodologies that encouraged self-learning, family believing that "education was not filling a bucket but kindling a lamp." Thinking deeply on education, he kept in touch with leading educationists of his time, both in India and abroad, attended the All India Education Conference in 1928 and delivered a very well received talk on "Child Nature and Education." As a gifted writer, he authored three books on Education _ The Dreams of a Teacher, From a School Window and this volume, simply titled, `On Teaching', besides three other books titled `Tales Retold from Shakespeare `Gautam the Buddah' and the `Princess of Hastinapur, published by Oxford University Press.
He kept himself engaged all his life as a time gournalist and photographer artists, pholosophers and writers from India and overseas, frequented his house. He even covered Viceroy Lord Irwin's visit to Travancore for some leading newspapers of his time. He was a regular contributor to the Times of India and also wrote for several other newspapers and journals. Mr. Venkateshwaran passed away in 1949, shortly after his retirement. Catholic to the last.