Teach Some Learn Some

Teaching, whether a noble profession or not, is definitely a satisfying one. The impact a teacher can have on an individual is immense. I, fortunately, learnt this from experience.

When a charitable friend told me that there were vacancies at the local elementary school, I knew I had to give it a try. It was a small school set up in an old building with a few rooms located in front of the Syndicate Bank Headquarters.

We understand the importance of a good teacher when we take up the responsibility of being one. One of the many memorable moments I had during my brief period teaching art to elementary school kids happened on a sunny February day.

That day the class looked rather empty. The children who did show up hardly cared, they were indulging in a continuous flow of chatter which resulted in quite a lot of disturbing noise. I had been part of such a classroom scene many times but the change in perspective made it unbearable. To make it feel like a class again I made a final attempt.

“What are the neighbouring countries of India?” I asked them. “Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal…” they started and one student plainly stated ‘but Pakistan is our enemy’. Everyone shouted yes in complete affirmation. I had to do something about this. I asked them why they thought so.

‘Everyone says that’ they said. Then I made them sit in a group around me and gave them a hypothesis. I began by saying that they were all good children. They shouted again in affirmation (only louder this time). I told them that they were not the only good children. They agreed. I drew a rough combined map of India and Pakistan and pointed out identifiable cities and towns in India, telling them that there were other children just like them over there.They nodded. Similar schools with similar teachers all over, they nodded. Then I started pointing out cities in Pakistan (most names were new to them) and asked what they thought about children in those places.

After a few seconds, the same kid responded ‘same to same hi honge’. And all the others agreed that even Pakistani kids must be good children. What should good children be with other children? “Dost!” they replied. Completely satisfied, I mused to myself that I had taught them something worthwhile. But that wasn’t the end. There was something I had to learn as well.

After a while, I was asked why everyone was telling them that Pakistan is our ‘enemy’. I continued by saying that unlike them there are a few bad people too, who are bigger and who were lying to the good guys. And that these bad guys were present in both nations. A little dismayed, they fell silent. I had to assure them that the bad people were less in number. ‘What can be done with these few bad people?’ I asked. The answer they agreed upon by themselves was completely contrary to what I was thinking.

‘We should make friends with the bad people too,’ they concluded. ‘Only then will we be able to make the bad guys good, by making friends and teaching them.’

Maybe I had thought the same way when I was a child. It was such a simple and ideal thing to aim for. And the intensity of this short dialogue hit me. As we age we start accepting things as a form of mature thought, and more often we accepting things which would be unacceptable to an idealist.

Their juvenile idealism was full of hope. And as a parting gift the kids promised me that if they come across a person who said bad things, they would tell him about all the other good children around us.

If you ever come across an opportunity to teach children, don’t think twice, whether it’s an international internship opportunity or helping your local community school. It will be one experience that’ll leave you a changed person.

–Pranav Parashar for MTTN