Teachers’ Day!

 

First of all, I extend my warmest wishes to all the teaching community of the entire country of ours. Gurur Brahma gurur Vishnu gurur devo maheshwaraha

Guru sakshat parambrahma, thamaai Shree gurave namaha.

(गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु र्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः I गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः || )…… the essence of this Sloka is O, Guru! Thou art the creator, Thou art the preserver and Thou art the destroyer. O Lord! We salute you. The Destroyer here means the destroyer of ignorance or the reformer of knowledge,  so Guru is considered the equivalent of the supreme God. Teaching is a divine process and learning is divinity.

 

This gracious day right now drives me over my memory lane to my good old days of teaching as well as schooling. Today's teachers are energetic, enthusiastic, have ample cognition and are ready to refresh their knowledge, whereas the retired teachers are thought to be old drying streams. whatever water of experience is left with them will be worth sharing,

 

At the outset, let me quote a few of the experiences I encountered as a teacher. It is not only my experience because almost all the teachers will have such ones in their lives.

 

Once I went to Amruta Hospital to visit a patient. After the visit, I came down to the compound. The Sun was at the summit of His brightness. Suddenly, a youth headed to me unfolded his umbrella and kept it over my head. I wondered who he must be. “ Ma’am, I am Vinod, you were my class madame and I was a bit naughty too,” he said. I remembered him. 

 

One day my spouse and I went to a daycare for my grandson. Suddenly the headteacher stood up from her chair, came to me, bowed down and touched my feet. She was my student. She was touching my heart at that time.

 

Some other time I was admitted to a hospital for my polyp surgery. The gynaecologist Dr. Latha  came to my room and said with concern, “ Ma’am, I read your name on the name-board, my instinct asked me to see if it was you.”

 

I was delighted at all these occurrences. There will be a good many numbers of such experiences, which are the real accolades or awards, we the teachers bag. 

 

The tale of Teachers’ Day in India starts in 1962. Teachers’ Day was born on this soil on the birthday of Dr. Radhakrishnan.  Dr. Radhakrishnan was the first vice president and the second president of independent India. He was a highly celebrated teacher, a thinker, a philosopher, a writer, a statesman, an academician too and above all a great scholar. He was the Vice Chancellor of two universities. In 1962, when his followers were about to celebrate his birthday, to salute him on account of his scholarship, he opined that the teachers should be honoured instead of his birthday celebration. So, his birthday, the 5th of September of every year happened to be Teachers’ Day. Our Mother India was lucky enough to give birth to an eminent patriotic son on the 5th of September 1888 and he bade farewell to the nation on the 17th of 1975.

 

We, the pedagogical community strive through a path paved for us,  which of late, is not so smooth as it was. The education process earlier was marinated with values and ethics,  somewhat till a decade before. But now values have vanished hither and thither. The teachers do not acquire as much respect as their predecessors used to. We feel a dearth of respect and concern now. But one cannot say that they have fully evaporated. Sparks of good behaviour loom in children.

 

The word teacher can be expanded thus talk, encouragement, action, care, help, efficiency and righteousness. Moreover, the teachers love, pamper, inspire, guide, correct, support and advise their students. They are noble and set examples for the students. They instil values in children and serve as role models for the students. Parents and teachers are the two categories of people who don’t envy the young ones. Teachers expect nothing but only the fragrance of hard work and its good upshot from the students. If teachers run short of empathy and sympathy for the students, they should enter into an introspection. The teachers and students should analyse the day’s actions every day and plan to settle or fix the lapses and falsities.

 

What can be the position of teachers in young minds, first, second, third or none? An easy answer you cannot pull out from the inner chamber of your mind. Your heartiness should shake hands first with your parents of course, who only take you to teachers, and second to the Gurus and then God. Math, Pitha, Guru and God(मात पिता गुरु प्रभु) is the maxim.

 

Siblings and kin are separate entities and they deserve their seat in your mind. 

Drive, determination, dedication and devotion are the keywords to attain the destination.

 

Students, you are brought in the form of fresh seedlings,  the teachers sow them in the classroom soil, water them with care, manure them with love and nurture them with knowledge and they grow and become beautiful blooms, ready to exhibit sweet smiles by the time they are about to bid adieu from the school. And in the now, you are capable of choosing a way which will carry you to a bright future.  The teachers are the sculptors, who mould young minds into mind-catching sculptures.

 

Along with love, trust, good conduct, peace, and non-violence, the students should listen, adapt and act with guidance from the teachers, you can reap gold and diamonds in your life.  The teachers help you directly or by expressive style indirectly to be noble, humble, and pure in behaviour. When you imbibe all these qualities you will become powerful and be able to conquer any heights of success.

  

Quotes from Dr. Radhakrishnan-  The true teachers are those who help us think ourselves. Teachers should be the best minds in the country. Knowledge gives us power, and love gives us fullness. 

Yes, these quotes proclaim the important role teachers should play in shaping the nation’s future. 

Teachers, please remember that it is the the students that make you the teacher and beloved students please understand that your Teachers make you students in your life.