been a teacher?
“How water has been filled into a coconut?” “If Earth is round, won’t the people on the other side fall down?” “Why the animals do not wear clothes?” “Why can’t I touch the sky if I reach the peak of that hill?” “Won’t it itch the beak of a bird when it eats up a caterpillar?”
If you are near and dear to kids, you must have faced such questions or something similar to them. They have a sea of questions in their mind. They have a sky of curiosity in their hearts. Their queries are unending. Their doubts are surprising. Are they students or teachers? William Wordsworth might have answered in a single breath: Child is the father of the man!
Let it be aside, have you ever tried to answer the innocent questions of the kids — in a manner which satisfied them? Have you ever tried to give the correct answers in a most convincing manner, being it a difficult concept to understand for a grown-up? If so, you must be a teacher.
“Why the exams are so difficult for me?” “Why I am not able to mingle with my peers?” “Why I cannot speak well on a dais?” “Why my parents do not allow me to go for a course which I like?”
Have you ever heard of such questions from some of the teenagers? Had your answers solved their doubts completely? Then, you must be a teacher.
“How should I strike a balance between my work schedule and my family time?” “How can I be a good father, despite being a company manager?” “Why should I have more (higher) studies, after having a good job?”
Have you ever heard of such murmerings from the thirty plus? Were you been able to give them a few satisfactory responses? Had they appeared to have relaxed a little with your suggestions? Then, you must be a teacher.
“Why the youngsters are neglecting me, as if I am a redundant object?” “Why my son is not taking care of me like earlier, after his marriage?” “Why my memory power is so weak? Why I cannot control my own thoughts nowadays?”
Had you consoled the aged ones ever before after hearing their apprehensions? Were their faces glowing with a smile after hearing your words? If so, you must be a teacher.
Yes, the word ‘teacher’ is not being referred here to someone who is ‘a qualified teacher,’ that is the one with formal qualifications to become a teacher in a school or a college. It refers to somebody who can answer the questions — the questions of all sorts- in a manner which makes the person feel that he has got answer.
For Aristotle, education was the process of asking more questions; for Mahatma Gandhi, education was the process of bringing out the talents; for Swamy Vivekananda, education was the process of lighting up an inner lamp; for litterateur Shivarama Karantha, education was a phenomenon that provides answers to the questions of life. But, all of them had never left out the role of a teacher in the centre of their definitions.
“Why 2+2=4? Why it should not be 6?” a I standard student asks. And the answer of the teacher is very straight forward- “It is so”. For most of the questions from the young students, the answer of our ‘qualified’ teachers is- “It is so; we cannot ask why.”
“Why one should tell - ‘I shall’ and ‘they will”, why he should not ‘they shall’ and ‘I will’?” If a student asks in the grammar class, the ultimate answer most of the time he gets back it - “It is so. It is being followed traditionally”.
Teachers are at the centre of the whole society throughout the history of human civilisation. They always command respect for their unimaginable role both in the past and the future. Hence, a small mistake of a teacher becomes an issue of greater discussions for the society. He is always second to God and mother.
When such a honour can be obtained by becoming a teacher, why can’t everybody try to lend an ear to the questions/doubts/problems of others? A teacher not necessarily should teach; he can console, convince and influence.
It is unquestionable that one should always be a student throughout his life, but why should not one become a ‘teacher’ of this sort? Perhaps, that must be the only way to offer a proper tribute to the great teacher Dr S Radhakrishnan, the first Vice-President of India, on whose memory the Teachers’ Day is being celebrated.
If you are near and dear to kids, you must have faced such questions or something similar to them. They have a sea of questions in their mind. They have a sky of curiosity in their hearts. Their queries are unending. Their doubts are surprising. Are they students or teachers? William Wordsworth might have answered in a single breath: Child is the father of the man!
Let it be aside, have you ever tried to answer the innocent questions of the kids — in a manner which satisfied them? Have you ever tried to give the correct answers in a most convincing manner, being it a difficult concept to understand for a grown-up? If so, you must be a teacher.
“Why the exams are so difficult for me?” “Why I am not able to mingle with my peers?” “Why I cannot speak well on a dais?” “Why my parents do not allow me to go for a course which I like?”
Have you ever heard of such questions from some of the teenagers? Had your answers solved their doubts completely? Then, you must be a teacher.
“How should I strike a balance between my work schedule and my family time?” “How can I be a good father, despite being a company manager?” “Why should I have more (higher) studies, after having a good job?”
Have you ever heard of such murmerings from the thirty plus? Were you been able to give them a few satisfactory responses? Had they appeared to have relaxed a little with your suggestions? Then, you must be a teacher.
“Why the youngsters are neglecting me, as if I am a redundant object?” “Why my son is not taking care of me like earlier, after his marriage?” “Why my memory power is so weak? Why I cannot control my own thoughts nowadays?”
Had you consoled the aged ones ever before after hearing their apprehensions? Were their faces glowing with a smile after hearing your words? If so, you must be a teacher.
Yes, the word ‘teacher’ is not being referred here to someone who is ‘a qualified teacher,’ that is the one with formal qualifications to become a teacher in a school or a college. It refers to somebody who can answer the questions — the questions of all sorts- in a manner which makes the person feel that he has got answer.
For Aristotle, education was the process of asking more questions; for Mahatma Gandhi, education was the process of bringing out the talents; for Swamy Vivekananda, education was the process of lighting up an inner lamp; for litterateur Shivarama Karantha, education was a phenomenon that provides answers to the questions of life. But, all of them had never left out the role of a teacher in the centre of their definitions.
“Why 2+2=4? Why it should not be 6?” a I standard student asks. And the answer of the teacher is very straight forward- “It is so”. For most of the questions from the young students, the answer of our ‘qualified’ teachers is- “It is so; we cannot ask why.”
“Why one should tell - ‘I shall’ and ‘they will”, why he should not ‘they shall’ and ‘I will’?” If a student asks in the grammar class, the ultimate answer most of the time he gets back it - “It is so. It is being followed traditionally”.
Teachers are at the centre of the whole society throughout the history of human civilisation. They always command respect for their unimaginable role both in the past and the future. Hence, a small mistake of a teacher becomes an issue of greater discussions for the society. He is always second to God and mother.
When such a honour can be obtained by becoming a teacher, why can’t everybody try to lend an ear to the questions/doubts/problems of others? A teacher not necessarily should teach; he can console, convince and influence.
It is unquestionable that one should always be a student throughout his life, but why should not one become a ‘teacher’ of this sort? Perhaps, that must be the only way to offer a proper tribute to the great teacher Dr S Radhakrishnan, the first Vice-President of India, on whose memory the Teachers’ Day is being celebrated.
(The article has been published in Deccan Herald dated September 1, 2007)
