I cannot be a GREAT Teacher (who cares?)

Year 1992

I was in class 6^th in a village (It was village that time but now a suburb) around 18 km from Pune city. My education was from a convent Marathi Medium school, and suddenly, due to unwanted circumstances, my family had to move to that village. I was admitted in a Municipal corporation school there.

Somewhere during the academic session 1992-1993

Vishal Ghatkamble, a guy from my class, short, dark but very agile in sports, suddenly became very popular amongst students and teachers. The reason for him being popular was the thing he did in that ‘1992 school’. He wrote a love letter to a girl named Yogita Parkhe saying that she was very beautiful and he loved her. Obviously, she was beautiful, and anybody would have fallen in love with her. (Here, understand that both the kids were in class 6, means hardly 11-12 years old). She wasn’t too serious about the letter, but other kids made a fuss out of this, and made it a serious issue. Our mathematics teacher Mrs. Tidke (a plum lady, in pace slower than the tortoise, but always carrying a stubborn look on her face) was the first one to know this. She had beaten the guy like anything. Other students, who were not on good terms with him, enjoyed seeing him beaten by teachers. Later, this issue went to the Principal (again, a man with very stern look, and no smile on his face since ages. A man who looked depressed because of his married life, or I should say sexual life). He also got very angry and punished him physically.  Vishal’s parents were called. His parents were the ones who used to work in other’s farm for daily wages. They were told about the ‘lafdaa’ done by their kid. They also beat him in the school.

Later, whenever any teacher used to come, he or she used to beat Vishal for any reason, but the actual reason was his love letter to a girl. Also, students used to beat him for no reason. The ‘gaavgundas’ (the students who belong to locality but their father or relatives are gundaas of the village) used to beat him while playing. They also wanted him to get punished not because he wrote a letter but because he belonged to the weaker section of the society. I had seen Vishal getting beaten throughout the year and more. The only crime he did was wrote a letter to a girl.

Year 2009

I was a teacher in an international school. During school’s graduation party (the party was given in a club), we teachers were allotted different duties. I, being the male teacher, was supposed to be at the entrance checking students’ bags. Almost all the students came prepared with beer and wine bottles in their bags. Imagine, students of age 15 to 17 drinking alcohol. I, even at the age 30, till now have now dared to do so, or will never dare to do so. A rare case of a guy, when I was checking him, I found condom packets in his bag. I couldn’t control my laugh. I confiscated those condom packets and asked him, “Where the hell will you find a place in this crowded and busy club to use these packets?” He replied, “Sir, chance pe dance karne kaa. We can find some or the other place or idea.”

At Present

The haunting memories of Vishal Ghatkamble are suddenly awakened by some events happening around me. I have been observing since many years as a teacher, that students fall in love with their opposite sex partners (thank God, at least ‘that’ trend is not publically visible). Teachers are discussing the same throughout the day with each other.

What’s wrong if someone loves someone?

Yes, everything is wrong. Because we teachers always called about morality, virtues, values, etc. We teachers never behaved bad or inappropriate in our life. We have never done anything like falling in love in that schooling age. We have never smoked or drunk (at least we say that publically, the reality may be something else). We have never had sex in our school life. We were and are simple the incarnation of GOD. We are simply the perfect example of purity and we have achieved Nirvana long back. We can’t see students breaking the educational and social barriers, because it hurts our ego. We can’t even answer a student his genuine query about academics, thinking that he or she is taking a dig at teacher.

I tried but couldn’t be and in the future will not be a ‘teacher’ in such cases because my friend Vishal Ghatkamble and his entire event is still in front of my eyes. Instead of understanding his age (which is hardly 11-12 years old) teachers beat him like a dhobi washes clothes. Instead of understanding whether he understands the meaning of the word ‘LOVE’, he was made to hate teachers for the rest of his life. Instead of handling the issue like a mature person, teachers behaved more immature than Vishal. Instead of considering this as an innocence mistake, teachers made him aware that he was a MATURE person and snatched away his childhood. I guess, Vishal, then onwards, must have lost his faith in the entire teacher community.

I can’t be like Mrs. Tidke who beat him when she came to know about the letter. I cannot be like Mr. Principal who called his parents and encourage them to beat their own child in the school in front of other kids. I cannot be like his father who without understanding the seriousness of the problem, took his frustration of poverty on Vishal and beat him. Vishal Gahtkamble was treated badly by everyone in the following years.

I don’t know and may be, I will never know in the future what an ideal teacher should be like or what a good teacher should do in this kind of situation. But I know that I am not supposed to do it. I don’t and will never do what other teachers have done to Vishal. I don’t want anyone to be Vishal Ghatkamble.