She didn't have to worry about facing the worst yawns or blank stares from students. (Other professors of course had no choice but to tolerate this.) History classes as you know, can turn out be really boring, even if you choose to study the subject out of interest. Lectures can go on and on until they make you fall asleep. In fact, most of my friends always considered history lectures as the perfect sleeping pill. Obviously it gets worse when professors are old and you can barely hear them. But Prof. Chadha was different. She was one of those rare ones. Old and wise, she commanded respect wherever she went. Chadha ma'am, my history professor during undergrad days has been my all time favourite. If 'American history' and 'Ancient India' lecturers were victims of mass bunking, Chadha's classes meant full attendance. Fortunately, the old lady taught us 'Medieval India' for two years - a subject I enjoyed learning, purely because of her. You know how, some lectures mean a filled back row and an empty front row; Chadha's lectures were just the opposite. Always punctual, she would come to the class greeting everyone with the brightest smile possible. The class would smile back and wait for her to speak with utmost patience. In rapt attention, we would listen to her talk about Mohammad bin Tughluq, and of course Akbar, her favourite. How days turned into months and ultimately a year, no one knew. Towards the end, everyone was lost in the world of medieval Indian history. We were part of the Delhi Sultanate. Some were living in the Mughal period, some in the Tughluq and some in the Lodhi period. But perhaps what made this professor very appealing wasn't just the way she taught. Her door was always open to us, no matter what. She wasn't just a professor. She became a mentor and a friend, guiding us all throughout, to prepare us for the outside world.