If I were a Teacher
When I was young, I was fond of playing the role of a teacher. I would imagine
a class of children in front of me, a black board on the wall and myself - an
ideal teacher. Everything was imaginary except the ruler in my hand.
If I were a teacher, I would give greater importance to example that to
precept. I would make the children understand the worth of polite speech and
decent behaviour. I would never go late to class, i would avoid taking casual
leave as far as possible.
When I would enter the class I would bid them the time an expect them to bid me
in return. ‘Good morning, children’ would be the beginning of the day. I would
plan the lesson well and ensure that every child had understood the day’s
topic. I would give special attention to the weaker students, unlike some
teachers who only care for the clever children and neglect the below average
ones. I would consider it my duty to analyse and solve the problems of every
child without any partiality.
I would not approve of learning by heart. I would try to make every lesson
interesting by giving practical examples from every day life. The children
would be encouraged to collect information from newspapers and magazines. I
would encourage the children to participate in games, sports and cultural
activities.
It would be my principle never to make any personal remark which would hurt any
child’s feelings. I would never tolerate selfishness, rudeness or dishonesty. I
would encourage them to love their home members and their friends, and make
them happy.
Throughout my career as a teacher, my air would be to instil in every child
real and noble values of life and mound him into a responsible and productive
citizen of the world.
My Favourite Hobby.
A hobby is a kind of amusement, an interesting pursuit which fruitfully
occupies our leisure hours. There are many kinds of hobbies like collecting
things, games and sports, photography, painting, reading or even gardening.
Hobbies may be constructive, lucrative or even useful, but what really matters
is that they provide constructive and interesting recreation.
My favourite hobby is collecting stamps. I have a lovely album in which I fix
the stamps. I have separate pages for each country. I also have separate pages
for stamps on birds, animals, great leaders, historical movements, etc. I have
about 4000 stamps in all. My friends and relations who are not stamp collectors
collect stamps for me. This has helped me to collect stamps from all over the
world. I also exchange stamps with my friends. Whenever I get two or three
identical stamps, I immediately try to exchange them for one that I do not
have. I have managed to collect some very rare and old stamps. Whenever the
postal department issues a new stamp or a commemorative stamp I see that I buy
them.
There are many benefits from stamp collecting. The birds, fishes, dresses,
people, buildings and other emblems on the stamps tell us about the various
countries, their culture, the lifestyles of the people, etc. It thus broadens
our mental horizons and gives us a peep into history.
Whenever I glance through my stamp album and look at my rare stamps. I am
filled with a sense of pride and joy. My hobby fills my leisure hours with
interest and keeps my mind well occupied. My hobby will continue and with the
passage of time, I am sure that I will have an extraordinary large, stamp
collection.
Lets Stop Child Labour
A newspaper report the other day mentioned that the Child Labour Act 1986 is
only partly effective. The Act does not prohibit employment of children below
the age of 14 in several hazardous industries that exist in the unorganised
sector. At present, the Act bans the employment of children in only 25 present,
the Act bans the employment of children in only 25 hazardous processes and
occupations. It is estimated that there are around 44 millions child workers in
India of whom nearly 85 percent are involved in agricultural work. The
hazardous occupation listed in the act include beedi – making, carpet weaving,
tanning, construction work, and manufacturing of match sticks, firecrackers and
state pencils.
But there are several other unknown, small industries which are hazardous but
whose existence is unknown to the public. The artificial pearl – dyeing
industry in Bhiwandi is one such unit. Around 300 small workshops, each
employing around 20 children and women have sprung up in several slum
localities. The children work for nine hours a day in a small room filled with
fumes of toxic chemical. Their daily wages is Rs.15/- The fumes of dyes and
toxic chemicals is so strong that a 10 minute visit to any of these units
leaves one coughing and breathless.
Let’s stop this child labour. Many social workers sincerely feel that if the
Government enforces free and compulsory education, this exploitation of
children will stop. But while the Government must take this step, we also can
assist them. Let us report cases of child exploitation wherever we see them.
Alternatively let us promise that we will not employ child labour in our
factories and will persuade our friends and relatives, also to refrain from
doing so. Let us make a conscious pledge to allow each child to enjoy their
childhood in school and leisure activities only.
A Road Accident I Witnessed.
All men are human and this fact was driven home the other day when I waited at
the footpath to cross the road. An old woman stood a little ahead, and was
quite busy counting some coins in her hand. Suddenly, she turned and lost in
her own thoughts, she stepped on to the road. What followed is a nightmare that
is nearly impossible to describe. A jeep coming at high speed knocked her down,
and the old woman lay in a crumpled heap in the middle of the road.
She was badly hurt on her forehead and blood gushed out like a spring. With a
start, I realised that she was dead, and that death had been instantaneous. A
small crowd had gather, and the jeep owner was trying to prove his innocence,
but nobody was prepared to listen. They were all convinced that it was his rash
driving that had caused her death. Luckily for him, the police station was
quite near, and a constable soon appeared and took charge. Otherwise a physical
beating would also have taken place.
The ambulance arrived and the old woman’s body was carried away. Someone
mentioned that she lived in a nearby chawl and had two sons. They also said
that she was slightly deaf. Whatever the reason for the accident, I felt that
was an example of hoe the forces of fate also rule our lives. Logically, it was
her inability to look after herself but as a traditional Indian I felt that her
time on earth had ended. The accident was merely an excuse!
The Place of women in Indian
Society
Traditionally, there have always been two attitudes towards women, either it is
that women are weak, they must be protected, kept at home and looked after –
the daughter, the wife and the mother. The other is – she must be worshipped.
We see them as goddesses – Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati. The reality is that
Indian women are neither. They are not stone statues but they are human being
to be treated equally as man.
The place of women in Indian society today is an uncertain one. She has not
totally stepped out of the past exploitative role that the society had designed
for her. Today we have the constitutional guarantees, the legislation that
makes a girl equal to a boy, but social change is slow. We cannot brainwash the
parents and gender conditioning still treats women as the weaker sex. The New
Education Policy, the dream child of our late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi,
guided in an age of equal rights. Yet the thousands of young women who have
passed the institutions of higher have not caused a major revolution. The
question still remains – after almost 60 years of planned development, in what
way has the lives of women really changed?
Millions of women are still illiterate. They face dowry problems, malnutrition,
discrimination, offences of rape, violence in the home and outside. There is a
way to change this. Each educated women to whom knowledge has been given, must
now understand the value of being a committed citizen. They must question the
value of traditional practices. Above all, there must be a liberality of
vision, a caring spirit that would like to reach out and help the less
fortunate. All women must be prepared to be agents of change and instruments of
women’s liberation. Only then will Indian women find their true equal place in
society.
If there were no newspapers.
Newspapers are truly an
addiction. Every morning it is delivered to your door step and you spend nearly
half an hour eagerly digesting the recent happenings of the world, the country,
the city and the locality. If there were no newspapers, our daily routine would
be interrupted. The relaxed cup of tea would no longer taste the same. Indeed,
our very mornings would no longer be the same.
The next change would be that
we would be less informed about our current affairs, the political situation;
the new stock marked downs and ups, etc. teenagers would be very disturbed to
find that the entertainment column is no longer at their fingertips. They would
have to waste time investigating the theatres for movie of their choice. Stock
marked investors would miss their favourite page with the innumerable
quotations – the latest index figures of their blue shares. Others would miss
their favourite comic strip, and sports fan would cry for the lack of coverage
about the IPL series.
The T.V. and radio could be
seen as valuable alternatives. Both of them would try to offer many channels
and the latest news every half – an – hour. This would give us information with
live video coverage but the habit of reading would be lost for ever. For many
gown ups, the newspaper is truly a gateway to the world. So for these people, a
world without newspaper is a disaster that must never happen!
