Celebrating the Teacher

Dr (Mrs) Vishiesh Verma
The world celebrates Teacher’s Day on October 15, but in India this important day is celebrated on September 5th. The day is sacrosanct as it was incepted to synchronise with the birthday of  Dr Radhakrishnan- once our foremost teacher elevated to be the Philosopher President of India. Since 1962, the fifth of September every year is observed as Teachers’ day with a view to cast fresh focus on the twin objective of making the society recognise the vital role of the teacher in building the budding generation into fine specimen of humanity and in awakening the teachers’ sense of accountability and dedication in their sacred profession.
About education, Dr Radhakrishnan said “Education is the real glow and beauty of a person. It is the greatest hidden account fulfilling the needs of body, mind and spirit, and also gives name and fame.” Further Dr Radhakrishnan added “Help the students to think rightly, make them to feel nobly, encourage them to possess the spirit of compassion, Universal love and brotherhood so that they can live together in a global village”.
Acquiring and imparting knowledge are like the two eyes of a teacher: said Dr Radhakrishnan. His heart should be a lamp of knowledge burning bright all the times. His conduct should be simple with noble ambitions. His river of wisdom should flow like pure rain water. He should work hard, be broadminded and innovative.
A teacher casts a most powerful influence on the lives of students more than parents. The students see the teacher not only as vehicle for transfer of knowledge but also as role model. Their performance in the classrooms, laboratories, and their behaviour everywhere in the educational institutions influences the students. A teacher teaches humbleness by being humane, truthfulness by being truthful and punctuality by being punctual etc. Alexander of Macedon said, “I am indebted to my father for living but to my teacher for living well”. A Japanese proverb says, “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is a day spent with a great teacher”. Knowledge may be gained from books but love of knowledge is transmitted only by personal contact. Here lies the place of a teacher in the process of education.
A teacher always grows in his students. When Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India was interviewed by Doordarshan soon after he was conferred the coveted honour of Bharat Ratna, he only re-collected his humble teacher, Sri Subramanium Iyer, who taught him in elementary school in his third standard. This teacher had instilled in the young boy of seven the quest for scientific temper that catapulted him to pinnacle as a great scientist.
In his poem, “The Best of School” DH Lawrence compares the relationship between the teachers and the taught to a vine that clings and cleaves to a big tree for its own support and growth. It is necessarily an interaction suffused with sentiments. The teacher communicates his own joy in learning and shares with his students best treasures of his mind and thus lights many candles which in later years will shine back to cheer him.
Noble Laureate Amartya Sen was at his modest best (December 17, 2008) while releasing a book of essays presented in his honour by two of his students. He attributed the credit of his intellectual achievements to his good fortune of having had a number of bright students. He said, “The huge proportion of my knowledge is the produce of students I have worked with and who have taught me even when I have pretended to teach them”. This is the expression for one of the most cherishing and charming human relationships between the teacher and the one who is being taught. For teachers the greatest reward is, that they can actually see the personalities crystallize and develop in a strange way, they feel that they are a determining force in laying the foundation of their students lives.
The core of the process of one lamp lightning another comes from the fact that teaching in essence is an act of joy. There is something unique about teaching. For a real teacher, teaching is an act of celebration. Teaching gives an extra ordinary pleasure to those who have right kind of aptitude and skill in teaching. Teaching is not a chore imposed upon someone; on the contrary it is a liberating and creative act, it releases something with in the teacher and gives him feeling that nothing is more rewarding than to be able to give.
When a teacher endures teaching students endure learning. What is enjoyed endures. Such a teacher returns home everyday with a feeling of satisfaction. The more a teacher gives the more he gains. With the limited needs and easier fulfilment, he chooses to remain a ladder upon which his students could climb and scale new heights for beyond the reach of their preceptors. Does not everyone need a ladder to ascend in life?
Teaching is regarded as an art like a piece of music or painting, it touches the heart, brightens the mind and gives pleasure to everybody concerned. It inspires and motivates the learner to go ahead on the road of exploration and discovery to open new vistas and to reach new horizons.
Now the role of teachers is no longer confined to teaching alone, they need to be thoroughly, fully equipped with academic standards pedagogical and practical skills and ethical and moral values. 19th century society emphasized teacher’s moral characteristics and conduct, 20th century emphasized accountability and use of proper pedagogical a technical skills, 21st century expects from teachers accountability and quality education. Dr Radhakrishnan said unless and until we have dedicated and committed teachers who take to teaching as a mission in their lives we can’t have good system. Teachers should be the best minds of the country.
True, the computer is the talk of the developing world today. From a student to a reputed professional, all are using computers to excel in their respective field of education. True the internet is the talk of the entire developing world today. From a student to a reputed professional, all are using it to excel in their respective fields. The computer has multiplied the power of man’s mind. So versatile is the device and so vast has its impact that it has found its place almost everywhere and made its presence felt. In fact they have proved to be a boon for schools. They can possess the knowledge given to them by experts and teach without loosing temper and getting impatient. Moreover lessons can be repeated if not understood. But there is no question of the computers threatening the future of teachers. The teachers will continue to remain an indispensable part of society. The teacher is the most enlightened picture of nobility. He alone is the symbol of today’s cultural and technological progress.
To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“Not gold, but only teachers can make
A person great and strong
Men who for truth and honour’s sake
Stand fast and suffer long
It is they who build a nation’s pillar deep
And lift them to the sky”.
(The writer is a former reader Coordinator of University of Jammu.)

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