| By Hasita Krishna |
Come to college, and quite unknowingly our ‘teachers’ metamorphose into ‘faculty’. We no longer deem it necessary to greet them as they pass us by, or in a more flexible system like ours, attend classes. Sure, we have better things to do with our time, and “8am class kaun jaata hai yaar?!”
But at the same time, I remember a few of my teachers, not for how much of their subject they taught me. I remember them as people who slogged with me day and night, people who took that extra step that made all the difference in the world, and most importantly as people who believed in me more than I ever did. I miss being at school. I miss getting a sound thrashing for being a little late, I miss Iodex sprays on a bleeding wound (not kidding). And I miss believing that my teachers had a quick-fix solution to every problem.
When I look back at how and when that changed, I see that as time progressed, I never gave anyone else a chance to fulfill that role in my life. I guess it happens to all of us. But I genuinely wonder what it would be like if we gave our faculty that opportunity.
I mean, being prepared enough to teach for an 8am class isn’t an easy task, is it? And the way we mock them, being up there is not a joke after all. How about we attend a few classes, just to show them that we care about all the time they’ve put into preparing for it? Or how about a polite ‘good morning, sir’ when they pass us by? If you think classes are a waste of time, let me tell you, “Usko kuch nahi aata” is just a lame excuse for your laziness; and acting all indifferent to their presence is NOT cool.
Try talking to one of them once, and you’ll realize that they have a lot of experiences to share. Give them a chance and they will evolve into the role of a teacher, and do so happily. I’m not advocating teachers’ rights here. I’m just saying that it’s awesome to have opinions and perspectives-as long as you remember that the other side has them too.
