THERE'S MUCH MORE TO LIFE THAN MARKS




“You don’t drown by falling in the water;
you drown by staying there.”

Ed Cole

I have spent more than four decades teaching college students. In fact, I loved teaching so much, that I started teaching, as a hobby, right since my F.Y. B. Com days. 

 I have told this many times before… and, I want to tell it again, today: I was hugely influenced by my own teacher, Prof. B.S. Raman, when he came to our class to teach in F.Y. B. Com. Before that, I was clueless about what I was good at. Now, watching my teacher (He was an outstanding teacher, author and, above all, a fine disciplinarian and idealist who believed in utter simplicity), a silent revolution had been set ablaze in my soul… I was restless, I couldn’t wait… and, hence, I started helping (teaching) my own friends after the college hours… just because I was so full and it made me the happiest. When they said, “Gerry, you teach so well,” I was on top of the world! That’s the beginning of my self-confidence journey… I had discovered the world I wanted to live in… The rest, as it’s said, was my history!

But, strange it looks to me as to why I chose to be in the field of ‘coaching classes’ - where one’s success is, always, measured in terms of the ‘results’ – the percentages, marks, merits, ranks and everything that goes with it. I have been right in the middle of it, yet, never allowed myself to be rated by the outcome of my efforts. I loved teaching… I loved my subject… I emphasized on the sound basics… I strove to ignite in my students the love for the subject I taught… I insisted on their outlook towards life, their attitude, their passion for life… I kept reminding them, that while the marks were important, they (marks) were not everything about them… that, true success and happiness never depended on how much they scored in the exams… But, on what they chose to do in life with their  ‘score’ and how they chose to live…

Thus, alongside my Commerce teaching, I have, always, been focusing on the development of students’ personality… The Dawn Club, my books, the PD programmes, my blogging – yes, all these are an extension of the same primary mission I had embarked upon, over four decades ago.

Interestingly, at hindsight, it doesn’t look like a mission to help others… That’s just incidental. The mission was to help myself by exploring my full potential… When my own personal growth began to fall in place, it touched others… That’s about my mission, my success!




Yesterday, the results of ICSE (10th) and ISC (X11th) results were out. Several parents and students proudly posted on social media about the success. There were many others, who chose to play it down. To whichever side one belonged, the success in the exam has, always, been a great moment in the family. So, the pride and the happiness are understandable… Justified!

But then, soon, one will realize, that there is much more to life - success and happiness in life - than our exam results. Yes, the young students, who have done well, will realize this truth along their journey ahead…

By the way, ‘much more to life’ – what’s that?

Well, that’s one education, best left to be self-explored!






GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic's.: pixabay

Video: The Brainwaves Video Anthology

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