WHY ARE OUR TEACHERS SO HARSH, SO MEAN, AT TIMES....





Pic.: Pradeep Nanda

Rest assured, we teachers will never keep our mouths shut. And, rest assured, that it is for a very good and very noble reason….

In my case, rest. also, assured, that I won’t stop ‘preaching', either!

Teachers are our friends, guides and philosophers… motivators,  mentors… the ones who don’t lose faith in us… the ones who don’t give up on us… the ones who see our tomorrows much before we do…

Our teachers are our cheerleaders… our best well-wishers…

But, then, our teachers are, often, too strict, too critical, too mean… Aren’t they?

I had, in my life, the sweetest as well as the hardest teachers, both… The teachers who seemed least interested except in their monthly salary and the teachers who did not care for their monthly salary and went out of their way to help us, shape us and inspire us…

And, I don’t think such mix – such reality - has changed or will ever change…


Why is a teacher so hard or harsh at times… even most of the times?

I had some teachers, who I had, always, dreaded to come face-to-face with. Yes, they were demons, to me… Then.

But, today, after being a teacher myself for close to four decades (counting from my FY B’Com days), I can look back on my ‘harsh and mean teachers’ and only smile with peace…


Today is Guru Purnima. I will bend down to touch the feet of my ‘harshest’ and the ‘meanest’ teachers first… It must’ve been tough… very, very tough for them to deal with us… I am able to say this, today, with all my honesty, because I know how it is to be a teacher… how to leave behind our home frustrations at home when we come to school… and leave the school frustrations at school when we go back home when the day ends… How tough it is to leave behind our own bitter childhood or youth… the impact some of our own harsh teachers had left on us… How tough our health can be… our drained our energy… how strained our relationship with our loved ones…

So, whose mistake it is?

Today is Guru Purnima… 
Let me not wait for the answer to the question… Let me bend down to touch, first, the feet of teachers who I had disliked the most when I was a student…

And, let me tell you one reason for this is: If I have ever harbored in my mind the feeling that I have been, ‘always’, a nice, sweet, tender and inspiring teacher… I know what a fools’ paradise I am trying to bask in! There ‘are’ so many, out there, for whom I must’ve been a harsh and mean teacher… a demon, a despot a frustrated sadist and all that….

I know how true that is… I am not saying this for an effect… Trust me.

We are teachers… Yes, we scream and shout, at the top of our voices… non-stop… with the hope to inspire our students to dream big… soar high in life… Today, I want to confess this: at my meanest and harshest moment as a teacher, too, I had done that only with the same hope…

I feel light and a lot relived when I confess this, today…

Today is Guru Punrima.


GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

anita Dsouza said…
A salute to all the teachers .Yes teaching is a vocation , a call . Thanks jerry for the beautiful message.
August 4, 2015 at 10:34 PM
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thnx Anita.... Hope, u had a great day on 'Teachers' Day'. Love
August 8, 2015 at 12:33 PM
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