Tags
childhood dilemmas, experiments with truth, gandhiji, Humor, M.K Gandhi, mindset, prejudice, school memories, teacher vs student, truth and dare
A school memory pops out of my amygdala.
Lil Sweety is in the 10th std. Unit test exam. Subject – English.
She receives a measly 0.5 marks for one particular 5 mark question. She anxiously goes through her whole answer and finds no fault with it. She approaches the teacher, proffers her answer sheet and politely enquires what went wrong with her answer.
The teacher peruses the answer once and jabs a triumphant thumb at the second sentence. “You wrote M.K Gandhi instead of Gandhiji.”
Sweety blinks in puzzlement and tries to establish her point. “Madam, M.K Gandhi is the same person as Gandhiji.”
“I know.” The teacher snaps. “But you cannot write M.K Gandhi. It’s insulting to the Father of the Nation.”
Sweety is even more perplexed. ”Why should he get insulted by his own name?”
“You wouldn’t understand. Don’t repeat the mistake next time.”
“Is there anything else wrong with my answer?”
“No.”
Finis. Sweety’s marks stay stubbornly steady at 0.5 out of 5.0
Needless to say, that is the end of her experiments with Truth. Since lil Sweety is not convinced by the teacher’s reasoning or reply, she decides that the best solution to this problem is to keep the entire M.K Gandhi chapter as optional. Not just for the Final exam, but Forever. 
P.S– It’s a true story from her childhood. Sweety is now grown up (relatively) but she remains as baffled as ever. What crime did she commit?
What would you do if you were lil Sweety? What would you do if you were the teacher?
In India, school teachers become “school teachers” because they fail to become anything else.
And quite naturally, “they” see to it that their students also follow the tradition.
India is a traditional country !!
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That is sad. Asking questions is considered rude in India, not a sign of a thinking mind. Whether it is teachers or parents or relatives, the most oft said sentence is ‘Don’t ask so many questions! Just do it.”
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Many Indian teachers cannot think beyond their mental boundaries. May be that is their training. In a hypersensitive society teachers want to remain within limits lest someone takes offence.
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I agree with your conclusion. Today’s world has too many ultra sensitive people ready to take offense at perceived slights. Maybe she was just sticking to safety than to my adventurous flights.
It would interesting to meet her today, after all these years and ask if she genuinely did it out of respect for MKG or out of a mental straitjacket. Thank you for your comment!
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It must be very confusing as a child. It’s sad we are taught not to question and accept things the way they are.
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The trend continues even as adults. All questioning adults are labelled as trouble makers & antinational 🙂
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I’ve seen this story repeated so many times and, as a teacher, it makes me so angry. Teachers hold entire worlds in their hands when they teach young minds. Something as simple as this can have far-reaching effects – life-changing or devastating…
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Absolutely! Sadly, most teachers themselves at so harried & bogged down by peer politics, by mountains of paperwork, by petty payslips and peevish parents, that they tend to lash out at those who cannot retaliate. I’m a medical teacher too, now – so I hope I refrain from letting my moods & manias reflect elsewhere.
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I have long since learned that for as long as a student wishes to learn I will teach them without judgement. Yes, I’ll assess their skills – but always with the intention of pushing them upwards and onwards. Never to condemn and crush them. To do so is despicable in my opinion.
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Vey well said. A patient teacher and an inquisitive student makes the best pair.
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