My first colleauges in the profession |
When I took up my first
teaching job in Shillong, it was more because I needed a job than because I
wanted to be a teacher. I had already attempted a career in hoteliering and
failed. My first days at St Joseph’s School in Shillong didn’t turn out to be very
promising either. The people were good but I wasn’t quite sure whether I was on
the right turf.
The people were too good,
in fact. The headmistress was a nun who went out of her way to make me feel
comfortable at the school. She even took the trouble of finding me an accommodation.
The colleagues were the unassuming Khasi tribal people whose geniality was very
disarming. St Joseph’s was a convent school and my students were all girls
which made the job all too easy.
I don’t think I was good
at the job initially though I had some experience in it earlier as a tutor at
an institution in Ernakulam where I did my graduation. The truth is that I didn’t
like the job really. My first Teacher’s Day was just a couple of months after I
joined the school in 1986 and I felt rather embarrassed when my students
offered me a gift. I thought I was in a wrong place.
Eventually, however, the
job became less unappealing. In fact, I began to enjoy it as I mastered the
tricks of the trade. I came to be known as a good teacher and the reputation
went to my head. Since my colleagues as well as students were a convivial lot,
my conceit didn’t show itself too much.
Joining St Edmund’s
College later as a lecturer in English was the biggest mistake I made in my
life. It undid me entirely. The management, staff and students there conspired
with my own conceit to make me feel as out of place there as they could. I
began to hate the job. I hated myself, in fact, so much so I would have
destroyed myself had I continued there. Fight or flight was the only option I
was left with and I chose the latter having become incapable of the former.
Delhi’s Sawan Public
School revived my spirits soon enough. It was a boy’s residential school and I,
like all other staff, stayed on the campus in constant touch with the students.
When those students voted me for the Best Teacher’s Award after a few years of
my circus there I was both amused and amazed. In fact, my Edmund’s experiences
had shattered not only my conceit but also my self-respect so much so that
anything good happening to me was like a gratuitous miracle. Sawan was quite a
miracle, in fact. It presented me a renewed love for life. I enjoyed my job
once again.
Good things don’t last,
however. As Narendra Modi rose to power in India, a godman transgressed into
the school campus. Within a year the godman’s women ensured the demise of the
school. Those two women were teachers by profession but witches at heart. I
learnt from them what a teacher should not be.
Now I work in a village
in Kerala. I know I’ll put an end to the career soon not because I don’t like
it but because I feel I belong to my own private world more than anywhere. I
find myself withdrawing from the active world, the world out there. Solitude
enchants me.
Teaching is one of the
noblest professions and I am blessed with some of the finest students who offer
a stiff resistance to my longing for solitude. The profession has taught me
more lessons than I have taught my students. The profession has been my
teacher. My students have been my teachers, in other words. Maybe, I should
wish them Happy Teacher’s Day!
Happy Teachers' Day Sir!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteHappy Teachers' Day _()_
DeleteGreetings
Thank you, Rupam.
DeleteHappy Teacher's Day, Tomichan Matheikal!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteHappy Teacher's Day Sir
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteIt was really good to go through your experience and journey, very honestly penned.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found it interesting.
DeleteI am glad you were able to make a success of the profession, and enjoy it too. I can fully relate what you have described.
ReplyDeleteMy father was a teacher in Sainik School, Thiruvananthapuram. Though he didn't like it much, he used to say that the good students made his work enjoyable and successful.
Though I am in the media industry, I have been visiting colleges to interact with students helping them understand the fast changing media landscape.
From these occasional experiences of mine as a teacher, I can say that it's an extremely satisfying job. It is a great feeling to be of help to someone who is looking for guidance.
Wish you (a belated) Happy Teachers Day!
And wish you the best in the years to come!
Thank you for the wishes and greetings.
Delete