The Man on the Rajdoot

Mr. King Kristo Kumar—affectionately—and perhaps inevitably—known as KKK—was our tutor at Pandya House, Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar, Tamil Nadu, back in 1973. We were in the seventh grade then.

He was a devout Christian, and he taught us hymns. The one I still remember is We Shall Overcome…

The Math Teacher who Made Me write

While he was our tutor, he made me write essays on varied subjects -relentlessly. At the time, I hated every bit of it. Looking back, those exercises were likely the seed from which my writing skills grew during my years in the Indian Army and later, after migration to Canada. To say I hated writing then is an understatement. To say I am grateful now is equally true.

When were were in Grade 10 & 11, he taught us Calculus and explained the intricacies of the subject in very simple terms. I remember to this day him explaining integration and differentiation with the help of the volume and surface area of a sphere.

• Volume of a cube  = 4/3 πr³.
  Peel it like an onion and you will get smaller spheres up to it center – each with a surface area of 4 πr².
  If you differentiate 4/3 πr³  with respect to r, you get 4 πr².
• Now put back each layer you peeled beginning with radius zero to r.  That is integration.
  If you integrate 4 πr²  with the value of r from zero to r, you get 4/3 πr³.

The Sportsman

KKK was an outstanding sportsman. He coached us in basketball and played a fine game of tennis himself. In those days, he owned a steel tennis racket – a prized possession, a mark of distinction.

His Signature Arrival

Most teachers in the school campus rode bicycles. The exceptions were Mr. PT Cherian, Mr. AKR Varma – and KKK. His arrival was announced long before he appeared: the unmistakable sound of his Rajdoot motorcycle, a signature that preceded him everywhere. It was the sound of authority, of style, of a man who was, in every sense, a class apart.

Decades later, I remember that sound. And I remember the man who taught us that we shall overcome – not just in hymns, but in essays, in sports, and in life.

Rest in Peace Mr King Kristo Kumar.