Today is Guru Purnima or TEACHER's Day. On this occasion I take the opportunity to salute all my teachers who have made a huge contribution to my life in shaping up my knowledge and character.
It is not just limited to the teachers in my school and college. My parents were my first teachers. Then came my wife, son, friends, relatives, acquaintances as teachers in various forms at different stages in my life. There is always something to learn from every human being, a prince or a pauper, a beggar or a sorcerer, an animal or an inanimate object. Life itself is the biggest teacher.
Decades ago there was this incident, when a sub-collector of Sonepur district in Odisha did this cowardly and shameful act of kicking a hapless school teacher, abusing him as a poor MASTRA (the way master is often pronounced in Odia, a term used in a derogatory sense for teachers back home).
I remember a cartoon related to the above incident which came out on a local Odia Newspaper with the following caption, (rhyming with our famous Sloka GURU BRAHMA, GURU BISHNU... :
GURU DEENA GURU HEENA,
GURU SAMANYA MASTARA;
KANDOOKA SAMAN GURU,
TASME SRHEE GOITHA MARA
ITI UPA- COLLECTOR
JILLA NAMA SONAPUR.
Transliterating in the same rhyme form to keep the theme intact,
"Teacher is poor, Teacher is mere;
Teacher is just an ordinary Master.
Teacher is akin to a football;
To be kicked for sure.
Courtesy Sub-Collector,
From the district of Sonepur."
I have heard folks asking in Odia to their children "KIRE MASTRA AJI KANA PADHEILA" meaning "Hey, what did the master teach you today". The English transliteration may not sound so bad but the way it is delivered in the native language is not a sign of great adulation.
My take is simple - a society which does not respect its teachers, can never prosper. Period. Great nations are made by great men. Great men (and women) are shaped by their teachers. HAPPY GURU PURNIMA to all.
It is not just limited to the teachers in my school and college. My parents were my first teachers. Then came my wife, son, friends, relatives, acquaintances as teachers in various forms at different stages in my life. There is always something to learn from every human being, a prince or a pauper, a beggar or a sorcerer, an animal or an inanimate object. Life itself is the biggest teacher.
Decades ago there was this incident, when a sub-collector of Sonepur district in Odisha did this cowardly and shameful act of kicking a hapless school teacher, abusing him as a poor MASTRA (the way master is often pronounced in Odia, a term used in a derogatory sense for teachers back home).
I remember a cartoon related to the above incident which came out on a local Odia Newspaper with the following caption, (rhyming with our famous Sloka GURU BRAHMA, GURU BISHNU... :
GURU DEENA GURU HEENA,
GURU SAMANYA MASTARA;
KANDOOKA SAMAN GURU,
TASME SRHEE GOITHA MARA
ITI UPA- COLLECTOR
JILLA NAMA SONAPUR.
Transliterating in the same rhyme form to keep the theme intact,
"Teacher is poor, Teacher is mere;
Teacher is just an ordinary Master.
Teacher is akin to a football;
To be kicked for sure.
Courtesy Sub-Collector,
From the district of Sonepur."
I have heard folks asking in Odia to their children "KIRE MASTRA AJI KANA PADHEILA" meaning "Hey, what did the master teach you today". The English transliteration may not sound so bad but the way it is delivered in the native language is not a sign of great adulation.
My take is simple - a society which does not respect its teachers, can never prosper. Period. Great nations are made by great men. Great men (and women) are shaped by their teachers. HAPPY GURU PURNIMA to all.
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