This (also) happens in India – part 1

The country of paradoxes …. where Mercs and bullock-carts co-exist on the road …. the feet of elders are still touched at home while calling your seniors by first names in the office ….. a country with a throbbing heart ….. a beautiful place that’s never short of surprises …. Here are a few that touched my heart….. this is my India …. The picture may not be representative …. But then who cares??

August 2009 …… 25the August 2009 to be precise, I read an interesting article that was published in the local newspaper. This was a real life story of one Mr V. V. Venkataraman who taught Tamil language at school for 41 years and retired in 1985. Throughout his life he stayed in a rented accommodation and as the years passed by even that was unaffordable on a schoolteachers’ pension….. It came to a situation where he had even leave that house ….. one of his students who had retired as a municipal commissioner heard this and was really upset …. He connected with around 500 students whom Mr Venkataraman had taught … together they bought a 1200 sq. ft of land and built a two-storied house to be handed over to him on 5th September 2009 – the day India celebrates as Teachers’ day in memory of Dr Radhakrishnan …

The story can be viewed from two viewpoints …. It’s a disturbing state of affairs for the builders of our nation – the teachers as they spend lifetime molding generations …. But there is also a story of the enormous goodwill that the profession evokes in today’s age of break-neck speed …..
Closer home I have seen my in-laws getting the respect from the most unexpected quarters and in the most unexpected places as they come across some student or other wherever they go …. More than happiness, there is a visible pride written on their faces about the success of their student (A pride due to someone else’s success – a feeling I guess that might remain alien to me!)
Generations today may not exactly behave in the same manner with their teachers as generations did a few decades before, but even today the good honest teachers invariably draw the same respect ….

While something has been done on the pay front (I believe) and a lot needs to be done on the capability building front for teachers, there is one obvious matchmaking that may change the world … The problem is that apart from some isolated incidents, even today there is no concrete platform where students can reach out to their retired teachers who may need help …. Remember I am talking about an era where there was no internet “to keep in touch” and possibly talking about the teachers who even today may not have an access. I am sure this will be a powerhouse of an initiative which will give platform to the students to offer “gurudakshina” (A concept where student pays for the knowledge offered by a teacher and the payment is always considered as token in proportion to the knowledge received!) – many will come forward to reach out and honour their teachers rather than making the teachers waiting for the “favours” from the government!