The audio of a former student who is a radio jockey, calling and thanking his teacher who taught him on the last Teachers’ Day, went viral.
Hearing that, my friend Jomon was thrilled and decided to call and wish his teacher. He procured the teacher’s phone number and dialled it. The teacher picked up the phone.
Jomon said, “Teacher, I am Jomon”.
“Why have you called me, Jomon?”, the teacher asked.
Jomon said, “Thank you teacher, whatever I am today, is because of you”.
The teacher replied, “Sorry Jomon, I tried my best”. Jomon hung up the phone.
Whether we are in a big position or a small one, our teachers have tried their best for our good. Not only doctors and engineers, but every person who lives well, owes a lot to their teachers. Our teachers have not only given us knowledge, but also the formula for living well. That is why Alexander the Great said: “I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well”.
There is no other job in the world that gives us as much satisfaction and happiness as teaching. A few years ago, a teacher named G Bhagwan of a government school in Veligaram, Tamil Nadu, was transferred. When he arrived at the school to say goodbye, a video of the children hugging him and crying out that they would not leave him, went viral.
Because of the tears of the children and the protests of the parents, the government had to cancel the transfer of that teacher. Because he went from the textbooks to the hearts of the students, he became an expression of the living God in the hearts of the children.
Today, teachers are not gods, they are scared. This is the time when students are grading teachers. In this day and age, when domineering parents snap even when their children are being taught well, teachers have become like lions who have lost their bite.
It seems that our society is going backward in respecting teachers. Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yathi said that if a teacher feels that the child in front of you is not yours, you should leave the class at that moment. It seems that this is why no one is interested in teaching now.
Today, I saw a newspaper report that B.Ed and TTC seats are lying vacant. Many schools have started importing teachers from the North East. The truth is that no matter where a teacher goes in the world, no matter what kind of trouble he gets into, there will always be a student to save him.
Some time ago, a teacher and I went to the housewarming party of a common friend. When we got lost, we thought we would go to the house we saw nearby and ask. It was too late to ask if the housewarming was taking place. From the top of a nearby tree, we heard a man say, “Sir, that is the house where the housewarming is taking place”. Then the young man came down from the tree. He asked the man who was with me, “Sir, do you remember me? That’s when the teacher’s old words about the students he taught came to my mind. The truth is that no matter what hell you go to, there will always be a student to help the teacher. That is the greatness of the art of teaching.
When I thought about what baseline a teacher can give, an old Milma advertisement came to my mind. It had a picture of a child drinking a glass of milk and the caption was like this. This child is also one of our customers. Similarly, the baseline that every teacher should say is that this child is mine too.
Once, when I attended a parents’ meeting at school, the class teacher told the parents- We will scold and scold your children, don’t worry about that… because your children are ours too.
It is a blessing from God that such teachers still exist. But parents who are able to understand this are missing. You can see stickers on the doors of some houses saying that the wealth of this house is the grandfather. Similarly, the wealth of every school is its teachers. Not the management. Because when teachers dedicate their lives to the children, children become excellent.
Guru means a person who removes darkness. It is God who leads man from darkness to light. Teachers are those who do God’s work on earth. That is probably why it is said that Guru is God’s expression.
Happy Teachers’ Day to all the teachers who forget to live amidst lesson plans and the demands of their parents, and who carry their children on their heads instead of their own homes.
By George Kommattathil
George is a journalist, copywriter and public speaker. He holds a degree in Journalism, Psychology and English, a degree in Philosophy and an MA in Mass Communication and Journalism, which he passed with a second rank. He cleared UGC Net (still kept on the shelf) and worked with Jelitta, IMC, Radio Mango and ucanews.com. The MD of a top creative agency and the Editor of www.keralacatholiconline.com, he is supported AND distracted by wife Sherly and two naughty boys.
