25 YEARS OF TEACHING.. AND LEARNING!!

 25 YEARS OF TEACHING.. AND LEARNING!!

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all” said Aristotle.. and this to me, has always been the essence of teaching!

Let’s flashback to June 1987 when I applied for admission to both, Sophia College and Nirmala Niketan for the Post-Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education (aka Nursery Teacher's Training).. I got confirmed admission to the course at Sophia but begged and pleaded for admission to Nirmala Niketan (because it was so close to home) and I didn’t want to “commute”! My soon to be) HoD Mrs. Mahadevan was incredulous when I said that – she told me quite disapprovingly that there were girls who commuted to and from Borivli, Ghatkopar etc.. and that travelling from Churchgate to Breach Candy was hardly a commute!

To cut a long story short, the kindness of her heart ran away with her (as it often does) and (probably) against her better judgement, she agreed to take me in at NN! Imagine my utterly sinking feeling and sense of shock when in the first lecture of the course, she told us we had signed up for a two year course condensed into one year.. that we would have no social life.. no outings.. no fun.. basically no LIFE! Additional stress that I HAD to be in the top 3 students.. WHAT was I stuck with??

Good teachers help to develop a love for the subject and learning and I was blessed that all three of my teachers – Jana Mahadevan, Nalini Chugani and Nandita Jhaveri (all of whom are dear friends today) were all BORN teachers who had an unmatched love and passion for the children in preschool classrooms! It was a year when I worked harder than I had ever worked before, loved what I did.. and enjoyed every bit of it! Predictably, I crumbled under the pressure and wanted to quit halfway.. but they motivated me, believed in me and made sure I completed the course ranking second in my class.. for which I am indebted to them for life!

I started as Teacher-Supervisor at Nirmala Niketan at the handsome salary of Rs. 1000 per month – the principal has told me it would be 800.. but then called me to say they believed I deserved more! It was so exciting and enthusiastically came home to declare that henceforth, I WOULD PAY for all the fruit that came into the house!! The biggest “high” for me was that Mummy STOPPED asking me where I had spent my money.. because I was earning my OWN money!!

My journey as a teacher (rather, as a facilitator of learning) has been colourful and varied.. within the patchwork of pre-school education, I got opportunities to attend AND conduct teacher workshops.. be a resource person and lead refresher courses for teachers.. develop content for teaching computers to young children.. do a motivational training workshop for staff at an NGO that works with street children.. RUN the same NGO full-time for 2 years.. teach at a truly experimental nursery school.. run a more structured one.. work at a school that had a lot of parent participation (at times parent interference).. plan and design a full curriculum for Nursery and Lower KG for a countrywide school chain.. I am overwhelmingly blessed to have had so many opportunities in different setups within the same sphere.. and correspondingly grateful for the same as well..

 When you work with children in the pre-school space, you wear a lot of hats.. you are Mummy-substitute.. sheet anchor.. bandaid-applier.. tear-wiper.. reassurer.. disciplinarian.. coaxer.. counsellor.. occasional referee.. and a plethora of other things! You develop eyes all around your head and accept that truth IS INDEED stranger than fiction.. especially when you see the kind of things that children do, say, imagine and create!

You learn sympathy, empathy, tact, diplomacy, commitment, devotion to duty, how to keep a straight face when you’re dying to laugh, how to laugh out loud (even if you’re sad), how to shed your inhibitions and make a complete fool of yourself to entertain the children.. how to be firm but kind.. and how to stretch boundaries without breaking them.. Above all, you learn to ACCEPT.. children.. parents.. colleagues.. and staff.. for exactly who and what they are (and aren't) !

Teaching is a profession that gave me SO MUCH.. confidence.. faith in myself.. clarity of thinking.. strength of purpose.. amazing friends.. organizational skills.. soft skills.. a LOT of FUN.. and as Daddy used to say..

 “From 0 to 25 – you learn..

From 25 to 50 – you earn and

50 onwards – you RETURN”

My humble offering in return to the profession has been a set of 21 workbooks designed for children who are 4+ years old.. AND two years when my friends Ami Thakker Alefia Zoomkawala and I went to our NGO Salaam Baalak Trust and taught conversational English to a motley crew from 6 to 18 years of age! Those really were the days.. we were completely out of our depth.. but once the class took off.. it just TOOK OFF!!

Someone far wiser than I had said long ago that “Attitudes are caught.. not taught”..and also that “Children learn what they live with”.. and to this end, I have tried inside the classroom (and outside it) to lead by example.. to be as humane.. gentle.. funny.. forgiving.. accepting.. generous.. patient.. grateful.. and as human as I possibly can.. because that’s what I caught and learned from all the wonderful people I have worked.. laughed.. learned.. and taught with!!

With a heart full of love I just need to name a few people here.. Roshan Billimoria.. Anu Thyagarajan.. Renu Haksar.. Sadhana Khagram.. Vaishali Mehta.. Dinaz Stafford.. Zarine Gupta.. teachers who I adore.. and Vibhav Mariwala.. Tasneem Zaveri.. Aviva Jogani.. and Aman Shah.. children I will NEVER EVER forget!!

thank you.. Thank You.. and THANK YOU.. for being a part of my journey!!