A TEACHER ON TRIAL

 

“Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them;

they remember who you are.”

Jim Henson

 

Today is Teachers Day… As usual, the ‘Happy Teachers Day’ greetings start pouring in right since the daybreak… Feels nice. Yes, it does.

When your ex-students, current students and their parents shower kind words on you, you truly feel blessed, even humbled. It also takes you back to your own teachers… the ones who you have not remembered enough, thanked enough. The truth is, in life we all are students of many teachers, and we also are teachers of many students… Living this life calls for both these roles… We all keep learning; we all keep teaching…

The label, that ‘I am a teacher’ is, therefore, irrelevant… Every teacher is not on a payroll… Many are just ‘honorary’…

One of the greetings, early this morning said, “Happy Teachers Day… Miss you, Sir.”

I had taught this young man and his twin brother more than twelve years ago. They both gave a lot of heartburns to their parents, particularly their mother. Father was without a job, and mother had tough time making the two ends meet… They had no house of their own… I had kept a very nominal fee for the two kids, which she was unable to pay, even. I let go of it, and let the kids learn. The last time I heard from their mother was a year ago… She was hunting for a rented house, and the situation was almost the same as twelve years ago…

“Do take care of your parents, dear… They have gone through a lot to raise you and nurture you two. Please give it a top priority. The rest is not important.”

What did I mean by “The rest is not important”?

Had I finished teaching these two young men?

Just as I haven’t finished learning in my life, I haven’t finished teaching, too… Teaching and learning are two sides of the same coin, you see…

So, the greetings, today, go to each one of us, here… the paid teachers or just the honorary.

Another young man from one of the top Commerce colleges in South Mumbai, and hailing from a well-off family, wanted to learn from me online (Class 12). A very dear family, where I had taught parents as well as their children, had recommended my name to this young boy and his mother. The only time slot when the young man could connect was from night 8 to 9. I was told, that his class 11 basics were poor…  and it was already September, and I was already 65 – with more than 45 years of teaching the same Debit-Credit stuff… So, if I said ‘Yes’, I had to be prepared to deal with it for the whole year.

What was my motivation to say ‘Yes’ at this point of my life? It was the love and respect of the family which held me in high regard. 

Before I could come to any conclusion, came the condition from both mother and son… “We want two or three trial classes before we can say ‘Yes’!”

I was asking, “What is my motivation, now?”

Is this ‘trial’ worth it?

“Do take care of your parents… They have gone through a lot to raise you and nurture you,” I had replied to another young man, when he wished - “Happy Teachers Day… Miss you, Sir.”

Jim Henson’s quote says, “Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them; they remember who you are.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s.: 1. Pixabay/ Rita E 

         2. Pixels

 

Video: Scent of a Woman/Bill Xie