We, the Golden Decaders, came of age in the rollicking 60s & 70s. Some of us crossed the “Seven Seas” from East to West, for the Universities and the cosmopolitan cities in the New World – excited and anxious to take on challenges, fulfill family dreams and honor self-made promises. Others crossed from West to East, to the Mountains and Plains of the Old World – idealistic and eager to serve and discover, like my husband Bob! Some made the transition from student life to corporate America, some from student life to parenthood as did I.
The India from which I had embarked on this journey was thriving with new beginnings, hopes and developments- Madame Indira Gandhi had been elected the first woman Prime Minister of India, my alma mater, the Institute of Science, Bombay, had its first female director, Dr. Kamala Sohoni, and increasing numbers of women were entering higher education institutions, including in the sciences, medical and engineering disciplines.
Bob, Peace Corps, Nepal Bob with Students and their Families in his village
The US that Bob left to volunteer with the Peace Corps in Nepal was in the midst of a dramatic cultural, educational, political and societal change – the streets of cities, the college campuses across the US, and the dinner tables of families were active centers of discourse, discussion and disagreements. There were antiwar protestors, civil rights & women’s rights activists and flower children in the streets, avenues and parks from New York to San Francisco, and Niagara Falls to New Orleans!
The decades of the 60s & 70s were filled with optimism and hope as we met and faced life’s joys, challenges and celebrations. As an undergraduate student at the Institute of Science, Bombay, India, I experienced a life-altering event and a miracle! An organic chemistry lab experiment I was doing exploded and severely injured my face and both eyes. The leading eye surgeon of the time, Dr. Homi Banaji, told my parents he was hopeful about being able to save my right eye with at least 50% vision but that there was no hope of vision in my left eye. After several weeks of intensive treatment, pain, and uncertainty, came the miracle -I had perfect vision in my right eye and partial vision in my left eye! In the past 5 decades since then I have had several problems with my eyes including retina tear, PVD from the retina, fractures of the eye cavity & cataract surgeries, but the miracle continues– I have vision in both eyes! After two months of being away from college, I walked back into my classes, my labs, successfully earned my BSc in Chemistry and Physics, went on to graduate school and earned my MS in Organic Chemistry, ranking first in the University. Then came the next stage of life’s journey – marriage and a new life in the US, which brought my greatest joys- my flowers in the garden – Lina and Vikram.
On the other side of the world, in a small village in the plains of Nepal, Bob was discovering his newly unfolding adult self, as he taught science and math in Nepali, in the village high school for four years. Bob lived, taught, learned, discovered, and embraced a life, a culture and a people with whom his heart, mind and intellect would resonate for the rest of his life. In his village, where he lived in one room of the home of a family, he became one of the family and still is to this day. There was no electricity, no running water, no tiled floors, but there was grace, generosity, integrity and respect. As his original two-year commitment with the Peace Corps was coming to a close, Bob signed up for two more years, teaching science and math to high schoolers, planning and funding the digging of an artesian well, and teaching adults in the village to read and write Nepali, using a book that he himself wrote and printed .
Student Ram Kumar, son of host family, Bob, & parents Hazel & Ted Loser on 1973 visit
Four Decades later Bob & Reva at Bob’s Village High School Ceremony honoring Bob Ji with former students, fellow teachers, and headmasters in attendance
As a Zoology undergraduate Bob had never considered teaching as his profession, and as an Organic Chemist interested in research I had never considered teaching as my profession. Thankfully, the Wise Universe had other plans for both of us – while we did not have the wisdom to choose teaching, we are both delighted and thankful that Teaching Chose us! We both found our calling in teaching, guiding, mentoring and facilitating learning in young adults, returning learners, career changers and life long learners! On his return to the US after four years with the Peace Corps in Nepal Bob went to graduate school at Florida State University focusing on Adult Education and specifically in Instructional Design.
Bob spent 7 years at the US Senate Computing Center and then three decades at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) planning and designing innovative online courses, pioneering NOVA’s journey into web-based learning, developing and customizing instructional technology, and inspiring and guiding hundreds of teaching faculty across multiple disciplines in incorporating and practicing the science of learning in their courses. He retired at the end of 2015, and was recognized by being named Professor Emeritus by the NOVA Board.
My early years in the US were spent happily raising my two children, volunteering in various areas in their schools, teaching Chemistry at NOVA as adjunct faculty, and also earning a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech. In 1989 I joined NOVA as a full time faculty with a dual appointment in Chemistry and Computer Science
For more than three decades I taught tens of thousands of students Chemistry and Computer Science. I believe that teaching is not about “covering material” – It is about helping to uncover, so that students can truly discover! My students told me that because I held them to a high standard, expected them to work hard, to succeed, to take risks without fear of “making errors”, encouraged them to find passion and joy in learning, listened to them, because they trusted that I believed and cared about them, they started expecting much of themselves. I was a member of US-wide faculty team that designed the first Chemistry DVD “Discover Chemistry” and I developed the first Distance Learning Chemistry Course for Science Majors in the US. I developed two more online Chemistry courses, and taught both online and face-to face courses until I retired in 2017 and was recognized by being named Professor Emerita by the NOVA Board.
Bob and I are in our 4th Quarter, our Golden Quarter, slowing down yes, but still Dancing. The game has changed, the field has changed, the rules have changed, and we have gratefully, gracefully, and gloriously changed too. We have been volunteering within our community, with the Fairfax Library Foundation, with Fairfax County ESOL classes, Virtual Peace Corps projects, NOVA Food Banks, and happily “putting one drop at a time into the ocean” as we can. Our newest initiative is establishing an endowment at NOVA for the Loser-Savkar PaTHS Award. It is $2000 award for an outstanding student who exemplifies academic excellence, passion and vision for learning and discovering, dedication to service and social justice and equity. We have named it PaTHS in honor of our four parents Prabha, Ted, Hazel and Shrikrishna and their commitment to education and social justice.
Hazel & Ted Loser Prabha & Shrikrishna Gokhale
Meelod Waheed, first recipient of the Loser-Savkar PaTHS Award
