Guiding lights

   Cruel Teacher                 l               Kind Teacher

On Sept.5, Indian students paid tribute to their teachers, who have always been their guiding light. I too take this opportunity to thank all my teachers for being my inspiration and encouragement.

Teachers are very important for children. They teach children who in turn become the leaders of next generation. They spend their entire life just to teach and help children gain confidence. Teachers have their own ways of teaching. Some might be grumpy, but most of them are supportive with a good sense of humour and teach in fun ways. Yet they all understand their students very well.

One of my favourite teachers had said, “If a teacher shouts at you that means, it means that she loves you. She wishes to see her students become famous leaders of the next generation.”

I trust her, because, at times we feel bad when a teacher shouts at us. But as we get promoted to the next grade, we miss her. We want her to be promoted with us too.

After spending a year with the teachers, the student–teacher relationship scales a new height. It graduates to a relationship similar to that of a mother and her daughters. Teachers are the second parents for any child. Just like parents, they too encourage you, boost your confidence, and stand by your side. They help you cope up with studies. Like parents, teachers too can easily understand the feelings of a student. When their students achieve good grades or marks, their happiness knows no bounds.

I have had an amazing experience with my teachers. Be it complicated maths problems or difficulty in understanding a scientific formula, they have always been on my side. They never gave up hope.

Unfortunately, this student–teacher relationship has been portrayed in a negative way in Bollywood movies. Blockbuster film, 3 Idiots, shows the principal as a grumpy man who never tries to understand his students. Aamir Khan in Taare Zameen Par represents a supporting teacher. But his advice are turned into jokes. No one believed his advice. And Rishi Kapoor’s character in the film Do Dooni Chaar shows that a good teacher would remain poor throughout his life.

I just hope that Bollywood starts showing positive sides of the profession and present teachers as role models, as I see them.

(Published in The Gulf Today on September 6, 2014)