Gurus in my Universe
Time has whooshed past like a giant whirlwind taking me with it on a roller-coaster ride, experiences of myriad colours, emotions, sizes swallowed up my little world, leaving me a tad dazed. Now months later I've somehow found a foothold for some moments,or so it seems, and I make a dash for the keyboard, the pen's rich cousin.
During the time of my last post I was teaching little ones...this year I'm back to teaching young adolescents, Middle School. The morning rush remains the same. The only change being that the little kid at home now gets tagged along with me to my school. The school bus is larger, the attendance list longer, and as you would expect,the minutes spent on admonishing and monitoring have increased.
The classroom dynamics have changed. Instead of the unself-conscious hugs and "Good Morning Ma'am' tugs at the dupatta,the morning greetings are now more like a friendly exchange of news and information to begin the day. These pre-teens love every bit of space I can spare them...coming back only for some advice, support or guidance. They take up responsibilities with ease and make each class enjoyable with their pointed questions and unique responses.
My little ones still come and meet me during break and bring a bit of their sunshine along.They say it is their "Meeting Ma'am period".
As year after year the faces of those I teach change,some things remain constant. The eternal unspoken bond between the teacher and the taught, the roles so very reversible; the satisfaction of seeing a student moving on without the teacher's help, quite independent,displaying all the skills you wondered he/she would ever learn...the list I'm afraid, is rather long.
As I plan my lessons to fit in a few more concepts, a couple of more skills and rack my brains over what is the learning outcome of this lesson going to be...the morning prayer reverberates in my head. "Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo, Maheshwara..." and I begin to think of all the Gurus who have made a difference in my life ,the faces of those splendid individuals rise before my eyes....All at once young faces, candid remarks, words of wisdom spoken by ones mature before their years, jostle for space amongst the sage, old teachers I had.We are your Gurus too, they say. Haven't you learnt some lessons from us?
It hardly takes me more than a while to figure out an answer. All of you who have been part of my life's experiences are my Gurus , big and small. Each one of you who's journeyed with me a few steps along the way, I've picked up some bits of wisdom from you, too. Even the little one on the school bus in the morning, asking, " When will school come? I'm missing my Ma'am.." even you, my little one, turned into my Guru for a moment, today.
During the time of my last post I was teaching little ones...this year I'm back to teaching young adolescents, Middle School. The morning rush remains the same. The only change being that the little kid at home now gets tagged along with me to my school. The school bus is larger, the attendance list longer, and as you would expect,the minutes spent on admonishing and monitoring have increased.
The classroom dynamics have changed. Instead of the unself-conscious hugs and "Good Morning Ma'am' tugs at the dupatta,the morning greetings are now more like a friendly exchange of news and information to begin the day. These pre-teens love every bit of space I can spare them...coming back only for some advice, support or guidance. They take up responsibilities with ease and make each class enjoyable with their pointed questions and unique responses.
My little ones still come and meet me during break and bring a bit of their sunshine along.They say it is their "Meeting Ma'am period".
As year after year the faces of those I teach change,some things remain constant. The eternal unspoken bond between the teacher and the taught, the roles so very reversible; the satisfaction of seeing a student moving on without the teacher's help, quite independent,displaying all the skills you wondered he/she would ever learn...the list I'm afraid, is rather long.
As I plan my lessons to fit in a few more concepts, a couple of more skills and rack my brains over what is the learning outcome of this lesson going to be...the morning prayer reverberates in my head. "Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo, Maheshwara..." and I begin to think of all the Gurus who have made a difference in my life ,the faces of those splendid individuals rise before my eyes....All at once young faces, candid remarks, words of wisdom spoken by ones mature before their years, jostle for space amongst the sage, old teachers I had.We are your Gurus too, they say. Haven't you learnt some lessons from us?
It hardly takes me more than a while to figure out an answer. All of you who have been part of my life's experiences are my Gurus , big and small. Each one of you who's journeyed with me a few steps along the way, I've picked up some bits of wisdom from you, too. Even the little one on the school bus in the morning, asking, " When will school come? I'm missing my Ma'am.." even you, my little one, turned into my Guru for a moment, today.
Nice to hear that your are Guru for the teens. This is the important phase of a students life and you are a capable person....You are also not blogging frequently, teaching teens must be more hectic!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ravi for introducing me to blogging...it's been an outlet for many a thought for some time now. Yes, you're right. Teaching has become hectic these days, what with planning lessons elaborately and the endless programmes that keep us on our toes. But I sure am enjoying every moment of it because there's never a dull moment with these kids,and it's one job where I seem to be growing academically as well as a person each day. More than a job, really!
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