It is 6:30 in the morning, and six-year-old Monica John is in hyper excitement mode! While usually, going to school is a task for her, the toddler’s excitement makes it obvious that today is a special day. Monica’s first to get ready before her elder brother and parents and urges them to hurry up. She cradles her bag holding her handcrafted present carefully and picks up the brightest red roses she can spot at the flower shop en route to school.
Once dropped at her school gate, Monica runs to her classroom and joins a couple of other eager early birds in decorating the class and blackboard.
Soon, the rest of the class arrives and the moment the teacher enters, a chorus of gleeful ‘Happy Teacher’s Day!’ fillsthe air as Monica and her classmates surround her with gifts, flowers and love.
For eons, we have respected the guru, abided by their teachings and celebrated them on Teacher’s Day, however, with changing times, the celebrations have changed too. MetroPlus catches up with some of Bengaluru’s teaching professionals and students on how they remember the birthday of the second President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Monica, who studies in an institution in Frazer Town, blissfully says it’s one of the days she thoroughly looks forward to.
“If the day falls on a Sunday or on a holiday like this year, we celebrate it a day ahead or the next day. What’s most important is we do our best to behave well in class, at least throughout that week,” she giggles and adds: “And make sure our teachers are happy!”
The celebrations are usually a gala affair with no classes but special programmes organised by students for teachers through the day. Twelve-year-old Natasha Kumar, studying in a school on Residency Road, says gifting trends are a bit different now. “While most students still stick to traditional flowers and greetings cards from gift shops, a lot of us take time to plan a special present for our favourite teacher. The girls in my class got together to design our own greeting card with special messages from each of us. We also handcraft paper flowers, paint mugs and even make special photo frames with photographs with our teachers. They’re easy to learn online and add a personal touch to the gift.”It’s a happy occasion for the kids too.
Sonia Kiran, a teacher in Koramangala, says: “We get to be entertained them and some of them even imitate us. That’s the one day we don’t scold them and, in fact, encourage them to be their creative best. Some of the students even organise a mock beauty pageant and crown us with a range of honours. We also discover their hidden talents when they surprise us with their performances. It’s also fun to not have classes and chill in school,” she grins.
It’s also a time for fun and games. While the boys and male teachers have an afternoon game of cricket or football, the girls and their teachers usually play throwball or badminton. Most importantly, we get to socialise with them and bond with them. The student-teacher relationship really blooms in September.” For Debbie Thomas, an instructor in Indiranagar, it’s the thought that counts.
“More than the gifts and the flowers, it’s a sense of appreciation from the kids that we’ve done a good job educating them. It’s that gratitude and love that they shower on us that makes our day. We know this will carry forward to the entire year.”
However, 70-year-old Jairam and his wife Rani who retired as headmaster and headmistress at schools in Tamil Nadu share that times have changed.
“The education system has transformed. Disciplining a child can lead to grave consequences even though it is done for the good of the child. And, on the other hand, teachers are also not like they used to. The profession has taken quite a hit with new laws and milder curriculum,” opines Jairam. However, the couple’s eyes light up when they recall the experiences they’ve had in school.
“It’s always an honour when we get a phone call on Teacher’s Day from a student who now has kids of his own and he thanks us for teaching him. There’s no happiness equivalent to that satisfaction. It’s the same when one of our students meets us on the road and says ‘remember me ma’am and sir? You used to carry me across the street from school when our town was flooded and I was too small to go on my own.’ We may not remember all of them, but these kids will always remember their teachers throughout their lives. We hold a special place in their hearts and that means the most to us,” sums up Rani with an infectious smile.
