Keep calm and remember the little things
Ashwini Subodh Pathak
As a school teacher teaching grades 8 to 10, every minute in school is energetic, exciting, and demanding. It demands alertness, attentiveness, patience, and endurance. No matter what, teachers can’t lose their calm.
Students might not be attentive, might not do their homework, might cause mischief in class, and might disturb you and the other students, but the teacher has to remain calm and carry on with her work. No matter what the child does, the teacher can’t scold them, beating is out of the question, no punishment, no harsh words; so under the guise of being calm, the teacher has to be stoic with an ice slab on her head. The rules, regulations, media, and parents have made the teacher cold and stolid.
So, what keeps me going? What keeps me calm and able to carry on? Is it the paycheque? The yearly, monthly, daily planning? The experience I have gained? The orders of my seniors? My determination? Yes, all of these do help, but they can’t help me carry on calmly. I often meditate to introspect what keeps me going.
As I close my eyes, I can see a student who says, “Teacher, it was fun learning today.” Another one smiles and exclaims how lab work was exciting, a third one says what I taught helped him do all the sums in the class, a shy student speaks very well in the assembly after a lot of practice. It is the confidence on their faces, the ‘sunshine smile’. It is when alumni return to school and say, “Ma’am, we remember your teaching; we miss it.” Small gestures from students, like giving a flower or card saying ‘we love you’, help me carry on. Batch after batch, I’ve learnt many life lessons, which help me keep calm and carry on.
In any given situation at school, I always think – if it was my son, what would I do? The empathy, love, affection, and heartfelt blessing that my child should succeed, be good, overpowers all other emotions. When a child misbehaves, talks disrespectfully, I always think, maybe he has a problem at home; she didn’t mean what she said, she didn’t mean to talk back; perhaps he is not in a good mood, maybe he hasn’t eaten his breakfast, he might be sad… so this motherly care, love, and understanding about every child and the wish that my students deserve all good things in life keep me calm.
Come what may, I never curse them. How can a mother curse her children? This drive, this emotion, keeps me calm. So, in today’s materialistic world, when my children are exposed to various temptations at their fingertips, their innocence, childhood, and dreams at stake, how can I let go off their hand? I must keep calm and carry on.
Ashwini Subodh Pathak is a chemistry teacher at DSK school, Pune. She has a good rapport with the students and has a keen interest in their academics, projects, careers, and overall wellbeing. She can be reached at ashwinipathak17@gmail.com.
