The Essence Of Being A Teacher

There are two age-old sayings in Tamil that kept popping in my head last week while wondering - why am I doing what I am doing today?

Saying 1: Vaathiyar pulla makku. (A Teacher's child will be a fool.)
For the starter, I am not born to one but two Teachers. Perhaps that makes me double the fool that I should be. Quite true actually this saying and I fit in perfectly to this saying like a hand to a glove. I have always struggled with education, have always found myself being dragged into learning things I never wanted or often felt never needed to. I have always resisted learning than being able to see any possibility through education. I have often seen it as a tiresome, worrisome and wasted investment of time, energy and money. I am still allergic to chemistry and maths. I take a much longer time to understand things and wonder if I would be labeled a 'retard' if I did take the proper psychological tests. I try to understand and communicate concepts in the most simple way even until this day - not because my students are dumb but because I can't understand it otherwise.

Saying 2: Vuk'cuth'tha'vun Vaa'thi'yaan (The incompetent becomes the Teacher)
Holds true too (in my case at least). I have never been able to handle the politics and associated nuances required to survive the field. Very often I wonder if that is what brings me back to the comfort and safety of classroom walls from where the utopia can be dreamt in absolute complacency. No one can criticize me more than I can about my incompetency to put an end to fraud, malpractice, hypocrisy and pseudo-goodness often projected and existing in many organizations and institutions I have worked for - many times holding a leadership position - which if some else had held, might have perhaps used to do wonders. I have been the most incompetent in many ways especially when it comes to applying what I teach and am wonder stuck when I see many of my students, on the other hand, do a much better job than what I probably can or will ever be able to do. Perhaps if anyone must use a name more casually to establish the truth in this saying, they should feel free to use my name as a living example.

Mentioning these, if that is what makes a Teacher, well then the role I play fits me well and perhaps that is why I adorn and play it happily.
Yet, beyond all these, there is a happiness that I manage to reach by doing what I do that cannot be kept a secret - a happiness that unfolds and moves me everytime I see the brightened glow on a student's face if s/he has understood a concept when explained in a simple way - perhaps in a way that this incompetent fool has managed to understand in the first place - not because of the presence of ample intelligence yet the gifted absence of it.
May every Teacher - otherwise bright, wise and clever - and still the rest, have a 'Happy Teacher's Day' today. God save the world...  

How I Lose Interest In The Academia

Age-old wisdom regarding pedagogy that I realize to be true being in the academia: "Unless hungry for knowledge, it is unwise to feed a (pseudo) learner who is there in front of you out of compulsion sans aim."
I also am a little bothered about the 'thanklessness' of some learners. Earlier, I had one person send me a mail asking me to provide a reference with a note, 'do it asap.' I wondered if the kid had so lost it  that she forgot that I had an option to decline a request too(?!) or if I was expecting too much by expecting just a little politeness from her part. Most of these references I provide for people, takes time and effort - something I could have rather invested in feeding a cow instead; often after this pressure to provide reference and recommendation, there is seldom any follow-up done by the other to let me know about the progress of their application - which of course I am interested to know (why else would I have referred or recommended their case in the first place?!) Anyways, once their work is done, who bothers...
Another incident that demonstrated the absolute 'sloppiness' of another bunch recently - after providing support (this in the case of research), the gang jumped to the conclusion that their task was now an issue for the guide to deal with and it is his burden to complete their research - as they waddle in the muck of their care and concerns in their personal affairs (which I would rather care a rat's arse about) a burden they expected well shifted 'if' the guide was a fool as they expected him to be. You point out to their issue and they walk away with a whiff of stray attitude - determined to showcase where they come from more than anything else. Often concern shown in many such situations for students are taken for granted in many academic corridors.

This sloppiness, clumsiness and total thanklessness, not only tests one's patience and compels one to lose trust yet also makes one wonder how far they would go with such attitude? This is when you realize that it is time to withdraw certain lenient space provided earlier and draw those lines of restriction and distance and build those walls of resistance to safeguard one's sanity. Distance seems the better option.

For an endnote, this is not an issue with most of the students yet there can be no denial that these situations do show up in a minority and it does have collateral damage. This is when a little enthusiasm when shown by just a little bit of students to learn, is like seeing an oasis of faith in a desert for a teacher - even if it is only a mirage.