DIE HARD
That pedagogy is such a demanding and treacherous pursuit, sadly dawned on me only after a few pathetic disasters. The beginning of every term brings with it the energy and cheer that often inspires me to inject enthusiasm into my wards, thanks to the leisure life that comes with holidays. The model teacher that I am..!!???, I make a cheerful entry into the first session of the term with a grand display of all thirty two members of my not-so-impressive dentures.(Oooops! Here I have to confess that God Almighty has forgotten to bestow the two most important members of the clan, especially important for a teacher�the wisdom teeth!) Not to be disheartened by such trivial deprivations, I beam around all the same like a 1000 watt bulb.
And what do I receive in return? Looks. Looks that speak volumes�some that pierce through me with the intensity of a CAT scan, some that blink in apprehension, some that could kill..what I call dagger glances, some totally bored looks that couldn't be bothered by something as mundane as a teacher! My LASER speed brain searches with blinding speed in the dark labyrinths of my mind to spot the reason for such amicable response.
That is when a kind soul among the students, develops an unknown sympathy for my predicament and hints falteringly�"Ma'am ..our papers..". Oh! How forgetful can I get. Of course they are waiting to see their scores for the last term exams! As I tried to articulate and communicate effectively the message that I still had not totaled the marks in their papers, I prepared myself for the next onslaught of looks. But nothing could have prepared me for the virtual impaling on the stakes that I experienced. "How could you?" and "How Dumb!" resounded all around me ..if looks could speak, theirs were shouting! So much for my enthusiasm and zest!
Being the die hard that I am, I proceeded to convince them that the new lesson was good enough to be nominated as the "Intrigue of the Year" and that I would lead them into a zone of hi-tech prowess through the art of computer programming. A few gullibles sat up and took notice while the remaining population screamed indifference.
Since the language I proposed introducing them to was C, the mother of all languages, I tried opening the topic with a popular quip that goes (in Tamil) "edhai marandharkum job undu
Job illai C yai marandharku." (a lighter adaptation of the Thirukkural - the famous couplets rendered by the wise poet Thiruvalluvar, meaning- a person who forgets anything may land a job but the one who forgets C never will!), least knowing that in the previous period, their Tamil teacher had distributed their evaluated answer sheets and that many had fared poorly in the subject! I couldn't have timed it better! Facial contortions of a thousand kinds made me the epitome of embarrassment!
Frantically gathering the smithereens of my damaged dignity, I somehow delivered the contents of the lesson to an audience who showed as much enthusiasm in programming with C as a hungry lion would show on a withered cabbage!
It is then that it dawned on me � to be an ideal teacher it is not enough if one is cheerful and prepares well for the class, but something more important than these was acquiring the skill of feeling the pulse of the students and meeting there emotional needs. The possibility that this endeavour might prove to be another comedy of errors does not discourage me from trying once more�the DIE HARD that I am!
-Indira Kanagasabai