Teachers Day Special- My Three Months Of Teaching

TEACHERS DAY SPECIAL- MY THREE MONTHS OF TEACHING

My first assignment was as a teacher also called lecturer in an Intermediate College immediately after completing my M. Com. I was also a class teacher for the 12th class of commerce faculty. By all means, it was a senior position allotted to a recruit and therefore an object of envy too. It is another issue that I was only a temporary teacher which I learned a month later.

I always wanted to be a teacher. I had a fanciful idea of this profession as a student who alternated as a tutor to make some extra pocket money. It gave me ample opportunity to revise the course material. It also gave me the feeling that I knew more than my pupils and they depended on me for their success. More importantly, I thought I was making citizens of tomorrow.

However, this fantasy was shattered when I was to teach the senior classes of 11th and 12th grade who would be aspiring to graduate in commerce and then continue their life in the vast world of business and commerce. It was no more a fantasy, it was now a responsibility. The would-be chartered accountants and commercial professionals were looking at me as a friend, philosopher, and guide.

I should not fail them. I must answer each of their questions to their entire satisfaction or else they will lose faith in me. I did my homework before I faced them in the class. I re-read all that I had read some four years back. I consulted books other than those prescribed as textbooks by the school.

I could say they had invested their faith in me and even the most inattentive of them took my class seriously. I was ready and preparing myself to give the best candidates to the world of commerce.

And then after one month, one fine morning I came to know that my appointment was purely temporary and could be terminated at any time without notice. I asked the management what it meant and they said it was normal and I need not worry. Some knowledgeable souls told me that someone connected would be appointed in my place after one year and I had no chance of getting confirmed.

I was down but not done. Meantime, there came an offer from the leading industrial group through my alma mater, and after the formal interview was offered a much more lucrative job in their organization.I submitted my resignation at the college, which surprised the management and they did everything to keep me, but I was firm. They had no choice but to relieve me. I won the battle with unscrupulous management.

But I lost the war. I failed my students. I preferred a better-paying job to the job I liked. I did not put enough fight to stay. My work and popularity with the students could have justified the management to confirm my job after one year. The entire 12th class stood at the gate to say bye and six of them came to see me off at the railway station with garlands. Their gift of Mother Saraswati's photo mounted on a glass frame still adores my Puja room.

 

Honestly speaking I wanted to be a teacher and move ahead in the same line but destiny was different. The main reason was the salary I was getting as a teacher.185/- per month in 1963 with no prospects in the future. So I joined an Industrial organisation and ended up as a Marketing professional.

 

Dear Shri Viswa,
As you may know, way back in 1963, my salary was Rs. 185/- per month. As a student, I was spending Rs 150/- a month. It is only now that teachers are well paid. Back then, teachers were paid very low as well as the policemen, one responsible for making future citizens and the other maintaining law and order. The result was -teachers spent more time in private tuition and police taking bribes.