ON TEACHER'S DAY

Have you ever thought why we are taught what we are taught in school. Yesterday, I took a plunge into the sea of my memories, and waded onto an island named school. I walked past the painted glass windows of my preparatory class and saw my friends trying their best at modelling clay. We all ended up with our versions of an elephant and I thanked God that he created everything alone.

As I continued walking, I saw myself sitting on a desk, head bowed as if in prayer... writing nonsensical things was a passion for me even then as it is till now. My history classes were boring except for when Mr. Williams would say, "Ok, Squeaky, squeak". That was my cue to read the next chapter. It helped in many ways... kept me from falling asleep, gave me a voice and enriched my vocabulary.... even though at that time I was thankful only for the first of the three reasons.

Mathematics was very easy. I DID NOT KNOW (and as fate and my efforts had it) AND I DID NOT LEARN. When I passed every year, my faith in the existence and mercy of God kept increasing. Another subject I must mention was Geography. It taught me that the earth was round not flat. Many people had been persecuted by the church for this belief earlier. It was not exactly round but like an orange, my teacher would say. Ok. It moved around the Sun in a circle called a revolution. Well, not a circle but an ellipse. Ok. The solar system is made up of planets which are shown as spheres, well, but as you heard earlier not all are spheres, but slightly deformed. So, round was not round, and circles were not circles and spheres were not spheres. That to me was higher knowledge and as I grew older, I understood what she meant.

Now after thirty odd years, when I see the students of today, with their smart boards, and calculators I wonder even as the resources and information are changing are the children of today different from the time when I sat in their chairs. I think children never change. They rebel, they try to find ways to avoid studying and go against the teaching and learning methods. Sometimes me and my friends discuss whether if we had resources like computers and internet back then, would we have been better trained and or learnt anything more worthwhile. I think the answer is no. Education is taught, but knowledge is self gained. There has to be a desire, a quest to know, and that desire needs to be channelised. I thank God and my teachers who taught me what I needed to know to pass my examinations, and channelising my desire for knowledge to make me the person I am today.