Teachers* Now and ThenThis post has been published by me on the occasion of the Teachers' Day as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 2; the second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.
*The word Teacher in this post does not mean Teachers per say of school or college but all those older or younger who have taught me along my life's way. Also, this post is not going to mean Teachers now and Then, it is whom I consider as Teachers Now and Then.
Most of the qualities I possess today and proudly so, though I love to call it individualism or my identity to boost my ego, I owe to the people whom I have regarded as Teachers, particularly a few of them in my life.
Teachers teach us, that is how they got their name, didn't they? Our teachers in school have taught us what we had in text books, but more so, taught us quite a lot of things unconscoiusly. They teach us through example.
This post is about two important people in my life, whom I recalled immediately when I thought wirting this post.
The first person was a my high school teacher:
Call a spade, a spade.
This is a important quality that I noticed in a teacher of mine. Be it her favourite student or her most-despised one, a mistake was a mistake and the punishment remained the same. If the best performance came even from the last bencher or the most notorious one, or the one who disrespects her in every way, the reward and praise remains just the same. Now, if you thought that this quality came free with that profession, then you are miserably mistaken because there have a quite a handful of teachers I have seen, who don't have this.
Accept a mistake gracefully.
My mom recently recalled, at an age of about 6 or 7, whenever I made any mistake in class, solved a Math problem wrong and was questioned, I told my teacher, "My mom taught me that way". During primary school, many teachers said this by rote, in almost all PTA meetings. Towards high school, this quality of mine was identified and corrected by this same high school teacher of mine. Every time I have gone through situations where I have accepted such mistake of mine gracefully, I remember the chiding she used to do to imbibe this habit in me.
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The Teacher in our lives did not come to an end when we finished school. At work, our managers or mentors as we call them are our teachers. This manager of mine taught me this quality and he was the best example of walk the talk. Thanks to the corporate culture, unlike the school times' teacher-student relationship, we share a more friendly bonding with our managers, today at work life. The second person was my reporting manager at work.
Make people around you feel good.
There is a saying that goes "People remember not what you did to them, but about how you made them feel". This manager of mine despite his busy schedule always had time whenever I went to him with problems both with respect to work or with respect to the feel-good factor at work. He always took time to appreciate and made me feel good about any work well-done. He shielded and always defended me when it came to any crisis times with other teams. Despite moving high up at the corporate ladder, he still makes it a point to check on me about what I am doing or still spare time for a phone call to make me feel good or still thinks of me when something that I might find interesting comes up and lets me know about it. He is one person who felt that my quality of "Trouble the trouble" is something that makes me special while most others used to feel that I should stop doing that and not disturb things when they are at peace :). He is a perfect example when you talk about making people around you feel good.
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Today, I aspire to be atleast an iota percentage of all that these two have been in my life. Apart from these two people, every person whom we meet in our everyday life touch us in a special way and teach us a thing or two. It is upto us to not be a in hurry all the time and self-absorbed but to watch out for such people and learn from them.
Many of our teachers, emotionally told us, at some farewell or some touching lecture that their best reward is when they see us successful in lives. This post goes as a special dedication to the teachers mentioned in this post, whom I hold as dear role-models or many others from whom I have learnt unconsciously. This is also to let you know, that I am living a happy and contented life , holding all the values you displayed (more than the ones you preached) dear to my heart. You asked more often, what I intended to be in my life and depending on the many stages in life, I have given many answers. But let me tell you today, I may not have gone where I intended to be, but am sure is where I need to be.
Happy Teacher's Day!
The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton are Vipul, Rajalakshmi, Dhiman, Ranee[1], [2], [3] , Avada, Indian Pundit, Sojo, Aneet, Pramathesh, Aativas, Sid, Pra, Ajinkya, Lakshmi, Govind, Shilpa, Bharathi, Shankar, Azad, Pawan, Pankaja, Saimanohar, Guria, Shruti, Vishnu,Nasrajan and Richa. Click on their respective names to read their posts on Teachers : Aaj Kal. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.
hi :)
am new here! Saw you as the fellow blog-a-tonic!
i like your template very much!
""The word Teacher in this post does not mean Teachers per say of school or college but all those older or younger who have taught me along my life's way""
You are right! we learn from everything! Neatly written!
All the best!
keep smiling!
Cool! You added a new dimension of Managers being Teachers! True, true...so very true!!
In fact Managers are the guides in the big corporate world! A subordinate wants to trust and find comfort in his presence ... someone to help him, teach him, guide him, to run to and complain to when things go wrong.
In that sense, Manager is the Teacher in our adulthood!! :)
Every person we meet in any walk of life teaches us something! That is to your credit that you can learn! Your teachers have been what I call "Inspirers" :)
Good post!
All the best for Blog-a-Ton!! :)
Hey first timer here.. you have a very nice post here on this topic.. Yeah the best reward for teachers is their students becoming successful in their life.. so true.. very nice! Do read my take on this topic :)
A very different point of view.. My two pence on your post.. :)
Very true our managers are our mentors and infact I feel in corporate world you get a chance to become a "teacher" once you have the experience which you do pass on to the newbies ...
Neatly written. It's very true that everyone we meet teach us something. It's really upto us to take the time and observe what can be learnt. Everyone is a teacher if you are a good observer.
Hey first time here...saw u are a fellow blog-a-tonic.
Great post.
""This is also to let you know, that I am living a happy and contented life , holding all the values you displayed ""
Thats all that matters in the end.
Cheers and check out my blog-a-ton post.
nice post.. finding teacher in people who teaches something knowingly or unknowingly .. and liked the dedication part. Felt genuine.. !
- Lakshmi Rajan
www.gingerchai.com
You're so right--neither teaching or learning remain confined to educational institutions and teachers come in all shapes, sizes and professions!
I liked your post a lot.
Ranee
Nice post! I agree with you that having a quality to 'call spade a spade' is very rare to find and really makes a difference!
A really great post.. I too have a similar thinking.. keep writing.. great stuff like this
Managers as teachers is indeed most of the blogger missed out. In corporate life, indeed they r d teachers now while those from bygone school/college days are Teacher then:)
Nice straight frm the heart post. Really likd it. tc..