A teacher affects eternity - Chitra Prasad

A teacher affects eternity 

- Chitra Prasad 

The greatest joy one can derive is from turning lives around. Nothing is as exciting and rewarding as being the cause of somebody's success. Only a teacher is bestowed with this unique gift. 

One correction, one advice, one kind word, one warning, a helping hand, one reassurance, one suggestion, one opportunity, one pat, one appreciation, one smile, one hug... 

That is all it takes to turn a child's life around. 

To me, teaching is not a profession, but a calling. I say this because I resisted this profession so much, and yet I found myself doing exactly that. Even before I could realise it, I started enjoying myself thoroughly al a teacher. Now how do I explain this? I was literally eating, breathing and living school 

A teacher not only teaches a subject, but also teaches the students how to live life. She h& the rare privilege of touching lives and rnakinc a difference. 

I experienced unconditional love for the first time. Being with children day in and day out was an exhilarating experience It created a reservoir of energy in me and I stopped aging! Every morning when I enter school I could feel the rush of adrenalin. There was a new found excitement in life. I keep asking myself - 'What next, what more and what else'. I wondered why / had evaded this profession for so many years. Now that I was into it, I decided to give it my best. So I focused on taking education beyond academics. 

I truly believed that a school is not only a 'Temple of learning', but most importantly a 'Temple of Transformation'. So no opportunity was missed to provide my children holistic growth. I felt that a_ feeling of love and gratitude should also be inculcated in the younger generation, who are being pampered with an overdose of material comforts as a compensation for time. 

They seemed to understand love only in terms of material things like PlayStations, XBoxs, iPods, iPhones, mobiles, computers etc. Many of them hardly had any communication with their parents as they were either lost in the company of their friends or immersed in technology. So I decided to create an occasion for the students to express their love and gratitude to their parents. 

Love that is born out of the womb of gratitude is irreversible. We decided to celebrate Children's Day as 'Thanksgiving Day'. The significance of it was explained to the entire school, but a few adolescents were ego involved with their parents. So it was necessary to make them realise their parents' worth, their unconditional love, dreams for their children, the selfless struggle they undergo to give their children good education and comfort, etc. 

As I finished my talk. I saw their eyes well up and knew they were ready to make amends. The next one hour the whole school was busy making the best 'Thank You' card for their parents. Feelings of love and gratitude unfolded through poems and paintings. On November 14th, the parents were least prepared for what was to come. 

When the children gave cards to their parents, they were taken by surprise. There was a range of emotions. Parents could not contain their joy on reading their children's feelings for them, and they hugged them and wept with joy. Parents and children realised that it was no more difficult to say 'Thank you' or 'Love you so much'. There was more openness in their relationship and most importantly, they were able to connect better with each other. 

As a teacher I found a new meaning to the purpose of my life when my students came back to school and narrated their experience in overcoming the mental barrier that they had in demonstrating their love to their parents. There was a deep sense of satisfaction that / could be a catalyst in their life. Indeed teachers are God's chosen ones. God creates and a teacher recreates My experience validated the saying, "A teacher affects eternity. She never knows where her influence stops." 

Teachers are GOD chosen One's.

GOD creates and a Teacher Recreates