There are two
teachers who have left indelible marks in my psyche. They are not my teachers in any traditional
sense of the term. They came occupying
certain eminent positions in the school where I taught for well over a
decade. That school had been taken over
by a new management, a religious cult, and these two ladies belonged to the
cult.
Together they
taught me some of the greatest lessons of life which nobody else could have
taught. One of them, an elderly lady
with a beatific smile on her attenuated lips, tried to teach me English as soon as she
took charge as the manager of the school.
She began editing a report I had written for the annual sports day of
the school. Every now and then she
looked at me contemptuously, without losing her beatific smile, as she
massacred my report and gave it quite a shape that I couldn’t ever have. My education under her began that day and the lessons she taught me will stand me in good stead till my last breath.
She had been a primary school teacher all her
life apart from being a close aide of a godman in Delhi. The latter position catapulted her into the
manager’s chair in my school which had earlier been occupied by far worthier
personalities. What the godman wanted,
however, was someone who could kill the school slowly. She did it with enviable efficacy within two
years.
All the while
she gave the impression to everyone that she was doing everything for the
welfare of the school. She organised
workshops and seminars for teachers as well as students. People perceived as inefficient were sacked
without mercy. Criminal charges were
framed against those who dared to question her.
The beatific
smile never vanished from her attenuated lips whatever she did. In case it
threatened to leave her, she assigned charge to her assistant and vanished from
the office.
The Assistant
was quite a contrast to the beatific smile.
She appeared formidable with a physique that towered above all normal people
on the campus and a nose that promised to look down upon everyone. She was a self-professed educationist who was
a co-founder of a self-financing teacher training college. One of the first things she remarked after
taking charge of our school was, “You people are paid much more than me!”
She made us do
all kinds of work in order to justify the pay we were taking home. She gave us assignments. Of all sorts.
This week’s lesson plans on MS Word.
Next week’s on PowerPoint. And
the next on MS OneNote. Then Excel. And so on.
Overnight we became curriculum developers, test developers, ADHD
experts, and even laptop experts.
We learnt to
use the laptop given by the new management quite usefully. WiFi connection was provided in school. The Assistant “shot” mails every hour assigning
new tasks and homework for the teachers. [‘Shoot’ was her word for sending a mail, very
appropriate too.]
We learnt a
lot about using a laptop and the internet, so much so that I became a hyperactive
blogger.
Before my love
for teaching was smothered totally, the school stood in ruins. But I learnt the most in those two
years. About life and its peculiar ways
especially when religion comes too close.
I am sure I will never come across such efficient and effective teachers
in my life anymore.
PS. This is written specifically for Indispire Edition 134: The teacher you wish to meet again, at least once. #Teachersday
Intriguing. And in some strange way utterly plausible, universally speaking.
ReplyDeleteWith some development, maybe the help of the very same "capable" teachers, this could make an enchanting short story.
This is truth.
DeleteAwesome, yes that attenuated smile that religious cult which brought nothing to education but abhorrence to the profession and its dedication.
ReplyDeleteWhere a school was now it's a drain land a parking lot for 6-8 wheelers all for education has been crushed under d wheels and that smile
I'm glad you are making more frequent appearance here.
DeleteI visited that place in April and left with a pang in my heart. They converted the school into wasteland, T S Eliot's Waste Land where women come and go talking balderdash.😣
Superb satire.
ReplyDelete