Mrs Mathen's Shankar (Shangar) Stories!

I've often wondered if Mrs Mathen that very lenient and sweet teacher of ours was in the wrong job! I am not saying this because she was not good at hers; she was very sincere and was extremely nice to us. I am saying this because more than all the things that she taught us I only remember her Shankar Stories! Most batches who were in the main school in the 80s and the 90s were entertained by her Shankar stories. So who is Shankar and what are these Shankar stories? Here's what I can remember - Shankar was a super undercover cop almost in the same league as an undercover agent like James Bond and pitted his wits against the evil Dr Wolf (Sounds like a Bond villain alright). Mrs Mathen usually started the Shankar stories right from the time Shankar was a little kid and then followed his trials and tribulations! The early part of Shankar's life was like a total Bollywood flick - Boy's parents are killed and how he decides to avenge their murders! And then from Bollywood or Kollywood style story telling it progressed to James Bond kind of stuff once Shankar becomes a cop.  Its amazing how she could spin all those yarns standing in the class with no reference point and also maintain the continuity of the plot! She usually used to get into Shankar Story mode when she felt we needed a break or she needed a break from the Geography and English routine. Most times it would be after we pleaded with her to start her Shankar Stories! It was like reading an adventure comic with weekly or fortnightly updates. In our case she managed to sustain the Shankar stories and all his escapades and adventures for a whole academic year! Its a pity she did'nt put it all together in a book. Who knows she might have become the next JK Rowling!! Thanks Mrs Mathen for the wonderful moments when we could escape from the sheer drudgery of our school routine to a different place. We might have sniggered at some of the stories; maybe we were too cool or smart for some of them but all that matters is that we enjoyed the Shankar (She would say Shangar) ride and kept asking for more! An indelible part of the DB Egmore nostalgia!