Teachers Will Teach

Note: This post by no way is intended to hurt or ridicule the Teacher-fraternity. I thought I'd rather be good sharing this anecdote (which Aai had told me some time back) than writing a preachy post on account of Teachers' Day.

_______

A friend of Aai's, who is a teacher, had once asked me - "How can strangers after spending only five minutes with me come to the conclusion that I'm a teacher? Teachers are human too: they talk in the same language and look like any other normal person". She certainly didn't seem very pleased about it. I'd no answer to her question that day; but a few days hence, after hearing this from Aai, I could understand the difference and the answer to her question to a certain extent.

This friend didn't seem very happy. I couldn't stop laughing when she told Aai the reason of her annoyed look - She has a son of a marriageable age and since he couldn't find a partner for himself, as a mother it was her duty to arrange for a suitable partner. The parents of the eligible bachelor like all good parents advertised in a leading newspaper and various marriage bureaus, and as a result they received some particulars from 'suitable' girls. They shortlisted a couple of them and a meeting (baghnyacha karyakram) was arranged between the families of the eligible bride and groom. She gives English lessons to school children. Now when the girl's brother handed over the bio-data (not the most pleasant word but by her description, that is what I came to calling it), the teacher in her took a pen and to the shock of the guests made circles around the words and sentences which according to him were not grammatically correct or were spelled wrong! When she was correcting, the girl's brother, the poor guy sheepishly said, "I made this bio-data, my English is bad but my sister can write very well. She fortunately/unfortunately didn't reveal the result of the marriage proposal (and Aai of all I know her, would have been least interested in knowing it). Unknowingly, she herself had given the answer to her query.

There are certainly some differences between teachers and the rest of humanity. When they are not in the classroom, the whole world is a classroom. Teachers cannot ignore an incorrect spelling or bad manners, or a mispronounced word or a bad habit, etc. They won't think twice before they lecture on the importance of cleanliness to somebody who throws a piece of paper on the road. It might lead to a traffic snarl but they won't let him go till they are finished. To make sure that people understand their point they give examples and demonstrations in social gatherings. While other people normally mind their business, it is difficult for a teacher to keep quiet when they see a guest's child jumping on the sofa even if the house and the sofa is not theirs. More often than not their advice is ignored but this doesn't deter a true blue blooded teacher... and then after so many years you realise that that was for your own good. Probably this is how people can differentiate between teachers and an ordinary mortal.

A Happy Teachers' Day to all those lovely and great teachers I've had :-)