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Guest column: The second innings
My friend, Wing Commander Jaswant Singh Bhalla (Retd), applied and was shortlisted among 75 such volunteers. He was assigned to a government school. His reporting date was the first week of November 2016. He had prepared a talk on some defence topic, but the class unanimously requested him to explain about demonetisation, which had happened the previous night. Thus
In August 2016, the director of education, Chandigarh, through an advertisement invited applications from lawyers, doctors, retired defence personnel, bureaucrats, etc. to volunteer for giving lectures in government schools for the benefit of students. It was a noble initiative.
My friend, Wing Commander Jaswant Singh Bhalla (Retd), applied and was shortlisted among 75 such volunteers. He was assigned to a government school. His reporting date was the first week of November 2016. He had prepared a talk on some defence topic, but the class unanimously requested him to explain about demonetisation, which had happened the previous night. Thus, his second innings commenced as a teacher in November 2016. However, some of his colleagues left within a few weeks. One of the army officers shared with him that it was boring as the students were disinterested.
Initially, Wg Cdr Bhalla was assigned classes 7 and 8. He requested the principal that he be allowed to teach senior classes like 11 and 12, but other teachers resented. Somehow, he started teaching Class 11. He would prepare his lesson plans well, due to which the class results improved the very first year. There was no looking back, and he taught Class 12, and the results kept improving. This also came to the notice of the DEO, who sent him a letter of appreciation for his dedication and hard work in 2019. The principal announced about this appreciation letter to the entire school. Once his principal remarked that the government saved almost ₹1 crore in wages, had there been a regular teacher.
Wg Cdr Bhalla not only taught political science but also prepared children to take part in debates, dramatics and plays. Once he prepared his students for a street play which was enacted at the Sukhna Lake for eye donation. He encouraged students to give talks on Republic Day and Independence Day and he delivered talks on defence subjects. When his school team was part of an inter-school debate where 49 schools participated, his school team comprising a girl and a boy were declared first in the competition. The boy in question has migrated to Australia and the girl is doing her MBBS at Chandigarh. She will graduate in 2027 and has requested her mentor to be present at her graduation ceremony. Such are the success stories of his students.
Generally, government schoolchildren also belong to poor families who cannot afford books. Wg Cdr Bhalla has been providing books and motivating his friends to donate the same for needy children. In summers when fans were not repaired because of paucity of resources, he got the fans repaired at his own cost. He also motivated his friends to donate fans for the school.
During Covid, he started taking online classes. There were some children whose parents could not afford a smartphone, so he tried to help such deprived children. Some weak students even came to his house for private tuitions. His wife, who resented his absence from home initially, reconciled and is proud that he is doing a commendable job. His teaching passion also earned him recognition socially and he was also honoured by the Lions Club.
Today, his second career is a double bliss. He not only has self-satisfaction, but it also keeps him mentally agile and physically active despite being in mid-eighties. He is a shining example of devotion to a social cause and inspires others to emulate him.
