In an exclusive piece for MediaBrief commemorating Teachers’ Day 2026, Rahul Doss, Director – Growth Marketing at Instamart, reflects on the four teachers and mentors who have shaped his life in profound and distinct ways. From relationships and self-worth to curiosity, education and the courage to chart one’s own path, he revisits the lessons that have stayed with him long after the classroom. Read on.
I’ve been lucky to have many teachers through different stages of my life — and not all of the lessons came from a classroom. Four people, in particular, shaped me in very different ways.
My “Tuition Uncle” taught me very early that relationships, gratitude and respect can never be transactional. You can’t buy people over — you earn relationships by showing up, caring and having the right intent.
Dhanalakshmi Ma’am, my tuition teacher in Ejipura, taught me self-worth, humility and the importance of continuing to move forward even when the world pushes back against you.
“Without them, I’m sure some of these lessons would have taken me many more years to learn, if I learnt them at all” – Rahul Doss
Mr. Eslyn Hart changed the way I looked at education itself. Through physics, he showed me that learning isn’t about memorising theories and concepts — it is about understanding how the world works and seeing education in everything around you.
And later, Dr. Rishikesh K.B., my college professor, taught me perhaps one of the most important lessons: be comfortable being who you are, explore freely, and pursue what genuinely matters to you. No matter how unruly we were, he always met us with composure and encouraged us to find our own path.
I’m incredibly grateful that these four people came into my life when they did. A lot of what I value today — relationships, self-belief, curiosity and the courage to follow my own path — comes from lessons they taught me. Without them, I’m sure some of these lessons would have taken me many more years to learn, if I learnt them at all.
“That’s the strange privilege of great teachers and mentors: sometimes they may never know how deeply they shaped you, yet a part of them continues to live through the way you think, act and move through life” – Rahul Doss
To all four of them — thank you. I’m terrible at keeping in touch and haven’t spoken to some of you in many years; for two, I don’t even have a photograph, only a memory. But that’s the strange privilege of great teachers and mentors: sometimes they may never know how deeply they shaped you, yet a part of them continues to live through the way you think, act and move through life. These four people will always have that place in my heart.
