Spice of life | Teachers’ Day messages and joyous reminisces

To be loved and respected, a teacher does not have to belong to the same religion or to speak the same language as her students

This Teachers’ Day, I am eagerly waiting for messages and wishes from my students and colleagues living in different parts of the world. The list keeps growing each year, thanks to the social media platforms! I am swathed in around five decades of memories and I am certain that I enjoyed every moment of being a teacher. My students gave me immense joy and lovely memories, which I cherish even today, at the fag end of life. But for these beautiful recollections, life might have seemed dull at this juncture.

A bond of mutual trust between the teacher and the taught must be formed for creating a conducive environment for effective learning. Love and compassion are the forces by which every person can be won over. (HT File)

Heading a high school at Dimapur in Nagaland at the age of 24 was a beautiful initiation into the rewarding profession, courtesy Shashi Sharma, a college friend from DCB Girls College, Jorhat, in Assam. The position had been offered to her, but since she was selected for a government job, she recommended me to the then public works department (PWD) minister Azu Newmai, who had started the school in the memory of his late brother.

The interview, if it can be called that, was wrapped up over the phone. “Madam, I know Miss Sharma for quite some time and trust every word of what she has told me about you. She speaks highly of you and even before meeting you I know that you are the principal we are looking for,” the minister said. The next day, I was sitting in the stiff chair meant for the principal of Huthunbo Memorial Christian High School at Dimapur.

I was apprehensive about shouldering such a major responsibility, but my fears were allayed when Newmai assured me that I would be given a free hand in running the school, and all the help needed for discharging my responsibilities. It was his non-interference in the school affairs and his trust in me that allowed me to run the school successfully for a couple of years. If not for the allure of a government job, I would have not have left the place which gave me a start in life.

I left Nagaland for Arunachal Pradesh as a more enlightened person. Apart from gaining teaching and administrative experience, I learnt that to be loved and respected, a teacher does not have to belong to the same religion or to speak the same language as her students. It is her sincerity towards her students and dedication towards her profession, which wins hearts. A bond of mutual trust between the teacher and the taught must be formed for creating a conducive environment for effective learning. Love and compassion are the forces by which every person can be won over.

Till today, I find myself humming the hymns I sang with students in the church attached to the school.

aswantkaur@yahoo.com

(The writer is a Tarn Taran-based freelance contributor)