Sep 5, Teacher's Day - a retrospective !

September 5. Teacher’s day in India. I was driving down home from ITPL, Whitefield with Balu, a friend and colleague beside me. I tuned the FM Radio. An ad sounded. A child’s voice. It said “East or West my teacher is the West” We laughed. I asked Balu “Has any teacher influenced you in your life?” He thought for a while and said emphatically: “NO” “Not at all. On the contrary I have had some bad experiences.” That jolted me. As a practice, on this sacred day, September 5th, we think, read and say good things only about our teachers. Now is it appropriate to discuss bad things about our Gurus? We have a saying ‘Mata, Pita, Guru Daivam” ( Mother, Father and Teacher – all are Gods) .

But I was bemused with Balu’s answer and asked “Like what?” .
He narrated a story. For Pre-degree he was in a Parallel ( that’s the name in Kerala for Private unaided college) college and while leaving the college he asked for a conduct certificate from the Principal, a Lady teacher. The teacher stared at him and said “You are not going to get a job; Never! so why do you need such a certificate?”. As I know Balu, he is a very quite person and in student days he must have been a well-behaved student. Otherwise he would not have asked for such a certificate. “Then what?”. I asked. “Immediately after that I wrote the Air force test and got a job” he said. There was silence for sometime.

I was just imagining how as a young man he would have received the teacher’s words. It would have been very painful for him. That’s the reason he still remembers it. Words have far reaching impact. We may tend to forget the physical abuses. But words -especially cruel and bad words - will create wounds that never heal. Teachers should abstain from using it.

I have always found urban school teachers more cordial than rural teachers. School teachers in small towns and villages ill treat their students. Fault could be on both sides. But children are innocent and it is the responsibility of teachers to understand that and behave properly.

Unequal punishments, a big punishment for a small offence, will also create a wound that lingers on in a child’s mind for long time. I thought of such an incident in my life. In Malayalam we write July as Joolaay. After the La there is an extra deergham ( a character to indicate a prolonged pronunciation !) So in a composition work I wrote the date with month name in English as Julaay. It was a direct translation of Malayalam Pronunciation of the month. But the Lady teacher got so annoyed she pinched me so ferociously on the tender inner portion of my arm – Near the arm-pit. It was so painful I still feel the pain there when I think of the incident. What an offence and what a punishment!

I thought of the question I asked Balu. Did any teacher influence me? I remember the face of one or two teachers who talked to me some kind words otherwise none. But I have no ill feeling towards anyone. We can’t blame them. Those were the times when people did things differently. Even our schools were different. There were no CBSE schools. Neither Shoe-tie-belt English medium schools. We walked all the way to school.

I remember my 8th Standard English teacher. He insisted that we put the shirt’s collar button. In the summer days without a fan we struggled. But to our utter surprise he often opened two or three shirt buttons. Since he did not wear a brief (baniyan) we often saw his nipples. He was quite a funny guy. He asked us to make sentences with ‘can pass through’, ‘received with pleasure’ etc. etc. When the girls start making sentences he will enjoy every bit of it. I remember an elderly girl saying ‘A snake can pass through a hole.” Then he would ask her to repeat it. Look, this sort of nonsense by teachers is remembered for a lifetime. Is any teacher listening?
Having said that, let me add, September 5th or 6th I respect my teachers.