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Saturday, September 6, 2014

On Teachers Day


How the teaching changed over time! There was a time when children were sent to ‘gurus’ for education. Even the princely had to abandon the life of riches to live in ‘gurukul’ where they were taught by the gurus. Most of us have read about ‘Dronacharya’ the famous teacher who taught the ‘Kauravas’  and ‘Pandavas’ in the epic Mahabharat.   He was chosen as the teacher by ‘ Bhishma’ who was the grandfather of Kauravas and Pandavas after he had performed the feat of collecting  a ball from the well where the children were playing by his ring and blades of grass, using them as spears! The great teacher had a soft corner for Arjun the warrior and thus asked ‘Eklavya’ to severe his thumb as ‘guru dakshina’ as he had learnt the skill of archery from Dronacharya on the sly!

Parshuram was another great teacher known for his fiery temper who had vowed to annihilate the “kshatriyas’( warriors) who lived in the times of Ramayana as well as Mahabharat. He was the teacher of Dronacharya as well as Lord Rama! Parshuram and Agastya are considered to be the father of  ‘Kalaripayattu’ the oldest form of martial arts.

Teaching is a noble profession and the credit for grooming the future generations goes to them. In countries like United States, the best universities hold all the teaching fraternity in a very high esteem. The close coordination exists between the industry and the top universities to pursue the research and results thereof are well known! The annual event of Nobel prizes is dominated by US and western world where the academic accomplishments are not only recognized but given the due place in society.

There was a time when universities like Nalanda (near Patna) and Taxila(near Rawalpindi) were considered to be world renowned seats of learning.  With the passage of time commercialization has taken over everything else in our country! Those who can afford prefer to send the children to schools that have air conditioned classes and buses to provide comfort to the students! The engineering and medical degrees can be virtually purchased at a price and likewise for other professions. The only saving grace is that small number of government colleges for professional studies still go by merit for selecting the students. Other shops only sell education to the highest bidders who in turn want to recover their investment in double quick time when they have acquired the degree.


I have lovely memories of the time spent in school that had the best of teachers who inculcated the deep desire to learn, read and write! I was fortunate to have never attended a single tuition class besides the time spent in school! It pains to see even the tiny tots attending such classes after school what to say about those preparing for entering portals of higher education! Somewhere we have forgotten to strike a balance between the need and desire. Our generation is fortunate to have seen and heard the great teachers like Dr S Radhakrishnan and Dr Zakir Hussain. Hope the address of the new prime minister to the nation fosters the spirit of learning and herald a new era in education! 

PS: Image Kind Courtesy Google

28 comments:

  1. I too loved school although I had a bad time there but that was entirely different issue.. I am what I am today because of the lovely teachers I had and the amount of time and effort they spent on me ..

    Thankfully no tuitions for me too.. but todays world has changed a lot its all about getting that 99.9 marks out of hundred.. or is it 99.999999 marks

    Bikram's

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    1. Teachers help in shaping us for what we are to a great extent!

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  2. I didn't like school but am grateful to my teachers who helped me grow and get a good education.

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    1. True, Lady Fi! Teachers are instrumental to make us understand things!

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  3. I wish they do something about the pay scales and pathetic conditions so that more youngsters gravitate towards teaching.

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    1. Exactly Alka! The teaching job should attract the talent to deliver better!

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  4. Loved reading the stories of great teachers from our Texts. And indeed, times are changing super fast - tuitions have become a fashion and what to say of the pressure - competition bit. Reminds me of how lucky I have been and I thank my teachers, and my parents for it.

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    1. Thanks a lot Arti for your comment! We are indeed lucky to have had good teachers!

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  5. Sometimes I wish I could go back to school:-) you write good as always.

    Regards from Tania

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  6. most of us realize the contributions of our teachers in our lives late in the day

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    1. True Mr Chowla, but then it is better be late than never:)

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  7. I had some great teachers… and some horrible ones. But I turned out ok… I think :-)

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    1. You sure did turn up fine, Agnes:) Thanks for reading!

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  8. Talk of that speech Rah ul. I read about schools in the capital issuing circulars on tests to be conducted on the contents of the PM s speech :)

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    1. Yeah Jaishree.... people go on overdrive for no particular reason:)Thanks for reading!

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  9. I have very fond memories of my school days too. Most teachers were good and self motivated. But look at the strains on the teachers now. Low pay, too much work, and very little motivation to make a difference. I wish that these issues were addressed a bit more seriously.

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    1. Wish things change for better Rachna! Thanks for reading!

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  10. I have fond memories of my school and college days. Most of us realize the worth of our teachers too late in life, Rahul.

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    1. So true, Rachna! Most of realize the contribution of our teachers a little late in life!

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  11. Ahh! I wish I could go back! I wanna grow up once again :D
    Loved your post, Mr. Bhatia! :)

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    1. I too feel that way, some times, Radhika! Thanks a lot for liking the post:)

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  12. Wow! sometimes we want to drop all the life's tensions and go back to learning days at school. That was a nice post

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    1. Thanks a lot Bindu! Learning is always fun at any age:)

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