OUR TEACHERS IN UNLIKELY AVATARS AND UNLIKELY CLASSROOMS









Yes, today is Teachers’ Day. One of the earliest greetings I had received was from Sunitha, a dear student of mine some 30 years ago. She had forwarded this popular quote to wish me:

“TEACHING: THE PROFESSION THAT CREATES ALL OTHER PROFESSIONS.”

It was early in the morning… and, imagine: who wouldn’t feel flattered and pumped, when someone, from hundreds of miles afar and scores of full-moons later, puts into your head, “Hello, this world exists because of your profession.”?

Well, that’s exactly what went into my head early  this morning… That, we teachers are the ones who give birth to all other professions…  

Teaching is, therefore, the mother of all professions…

And, I am the father!

Let me be serious. Teaching is one of the most empowering professions in this world.  However, teachers are not found in classrooms alone. In fact, we find some of the finest teachers outside our school and tuition premises. Our parents and grandparents, our siblings and relations are the most underrated teachers in our lives. Our bosses, colleagues, friends and even our enemies… yes, are they not there, in our lives, only to teach us some very valuable lessons?

Nobody teaches us life-lessons as intensely as our enemies do. “They have come in your life to make you a fine human being,” a well-wisher said this to me, some years ago, referring to one of my tormentors, “Thank him, bless him, every morning.”

Well, such advice sounds more like a clichĂ©. When we hear it, we even become irritated… the thought that your enemy has come into your life to teach you some priceless lessons and make you a refined human being… yes, it may not be easily palatable…

But, then, after years of involvement in Life, I have come to agree with it completely…

Yes Sir, our best teachers appear in the most unlikely avatar and in the most unlikely classrooms!

So, as hundreds of greetings keep pouring in, today, I keep reminding myself not to get carried away by the fanfare and glory… While I agree that teaching is the profession that creates all other professions, I, also, remind myself, that the teachers come to teach us both inside and outside our schools, and, they come all through our lives…

One of the most powerful movies about students-teachers relationship is ‘Dead Poets Society’ (1989). John Keating, a progressive English teacher, (Played by late Robin Williams ) tries to encourage his students to break free from the norm, go against the status quo and live life unapologetically. It’s an amazing story and nobody should miss this movie. As a teacher, often, I see myself playing that role in my classroom… But, before the thought turns into an ugly thought of self-importance, I get off that pedestal…






My students are my best teachers… I get it… I get it!

When the sun goes down, we teachers have to return to our respective homes… And, Life has taught us to drop our teachers’ robes before we ring our doorbells when we reach home.  My wife has already wished me today with this forward greeting:

“Please give roses to your own wife, today…

It is Teachers’ Day.

You may not have heard so many lectures from anyone else.”

And, I have promptly replied to her with this:

“No dispute on this one, dear.”

A happy Teachers’ Day to all those amazing teachers, both, from inside and outside my school… and, my most sincere gratitude, too.


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Internet

Video: YouTube


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