I am a teacher ! I am a human being too ! In traditional Indian household, by and large teachers and police men get same respect. If any child behaves badly they are told they would be handed over to the policemen or a complaint shall be lodged with the teacher. By and large children develop a sort of negative feeling towards these professions. Imagine in a class of thirty odd students everyone's future goal is to become a doctor, engineer, software expert, scientist even Non Resident Indian but no one wants to become a teacher.That is the level of social respect attached to this profession.
Despite this there are some very pleasant moments when the students past as well as present along with their parents or close family members interact with you on a one to one basis.
Take my own case, after choosing to accept my job in Coimbatore, I travelled from my native place to seek the blessings of my teacher Ganga. She was my role model as she used to be a strict but affectionate teacher who showed great deal of empathy to under privileged and downtrodden in the class. At the same time she as well made each one of us very comfortable in her class and wherever we went along with us.
Our meeting took place in her home in a very posh area near sector seventeen in Chandigarh. As her husband was a senior administrator in the government she had that quarters allocated to their family. She could sense that I would be intimidated by such a grandiose set up. So I was welcomed extra warmly and made comfortable. She went through my appointment letter which I offered voluntarily to show her. She was happy which I could see from her facial reaction as there were frequent smiles. Then she offered me a valuable suggestion. She advised me to make the class room teaching from being monologue to dialogue. She also advised me to be a seeker of feedback frequently !! After she wished me well, I took leave of her fully satisfied.
Coimbatore, despite an alien environment for a Punjabi girl like me became a cake walk with Ganga Teachers blessing. I made it a point to talk to as many students as possible in English and Hindi. In that process picking up Tamil words !
Tina was one such student who was the darling student in my class 4 standard. The other day there was some discussion of local food and children's preference etc. Most of the boys and girls started telling Idli, Dosa, Uppuma, Parotha, Poori etc. as their favourite food. When the turn of Tina came she told " Bholi". I was not aware of that dish. I asked Tina to describe the dish. All that I could learn from her was that it was a sweet dish and flat like " roti" in shape. I could not persuade her to elaborate the same further. I left it like that and left as the class for that day ended.
Three days latter, I was sitting in the staff room correcting some assignments. I saw a shadow and Tina was standing near the door. She came to me and handed over a foil roll. She told me that she had asked her mother to prepare Bholi for me. There was a small note from her mother Mrs. Shantha narrating that Tina always narrated all that transpired in the class and she requested me to accept the snacks Bholi. There was another page the method of preparation.
Who told that teaching is a dull monotonous profession. With good students like Tina everyday is an interesting experience !!
Despite this there are some very pleasant moments when the students past as well as present along with their parents or close family members interact with you on a one to one basis.
Take my own case, after choosing to accept my job in Coimbatore, I travelled from my native place to seek the blessings of my teacher Ganga. She was my role model as she used to be a strict but affectionate teacher who showed great deal of empathy to under privileged and downtrodden in the class. At the same time she as well made each one of us very comfortable in her class and wherever we went along with us.
Our meeting took place in her home in a very posh area near sector seventeen in Chandigarh. As her husband was a senior administrator in the government she had that quarters allocated to their family. She could sense that I would be intimidated by such a grandiose set up. So I was welcomed extra warmly and made comfortable. She went through my appointment letter which I offered voluntarily to show her. She was happy which I could see from her facial reaction as there were frequent smiles. Then she offered me a valuable suggestion. She advised me to make the class room teaching from being monologue to dialogue. She also advised me to be a seeker of feedback frequently !! After she wished me well, I took leave of her fully satisfied.
Coimbatore, despite an alien environment for a Punjabi girl like me became a cake walk with Ganga Teachers blessing. I made it a point to talk to as many students as possible in English and Hindi. In that process picking up Tamil words !
Tina was one such student who was the darling student in my class 4 standard. The other day there was some discussion of local food and children's preference etc. Most of the boys and girls started telling Idli, Dosa, Uppuma, Parotha, Poori etc. as their favourite food. When the turn of Tina came she told " Bholi". I was not aware of that dish. I asked Tina to describe the dish. All that I could learn from her was that it was a sweet dish and flat like " roti" in shape. I could not persuade her to elaborate the same further. I left it like that and left as the class for that day ended.
Three days latter, I was sitting in the staff room correcting some assignments. I saw a shadow and Tina was standing near the door. She came to me and handed over a foil roll. She told me that she had asked her mother to prepare Bholi for me. There was a small note from her mother Mrs. Shantha narrating that Tina always narrated all that transpired in the class and she requested me to accept the snacks Bholi. There was another page the method of preparation.
Who told that teaching is a dull monotonous profession. With good students like Tina everyday is an interesting experience !!
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