A day that gave me a great learning - both as a teacher and as a human. The school in which I taught was a co-education school. I was asked to handle class X D, a particular section. This was supposed to be a topper class, students who scored above 80% in their annual exams of class IX. Whether there should be a topper class classification or not is a separate thing that needs in depth analysis followed by informed decision.
I went inside the class that was allotted for me and found that the students were quite good in their ability to understand concepts. A couple of them were highly logical and raised lots of questions with an intention to understand better, a few of them were trying to be very smart and raised questions that tested my subject knowledge than an intention to learn, a few of them remained silent though they had questions, a couple of them felt uncomfortable among the group that is considered above average. On the whole it was challenging for me and I loved it that way.
Amongst the group of students was a girl named Preethi who was little fat. Preethi used to be very silent, but spoke only with a few of her classmates. She never used to ask questions. She never used to volunteer to answer the questions put forth in the class unless she is pointed out. Days passed on and I observed her behaviours constantly. Something was not ok with her. This was something that I actually felt about her. I slowly started appreciating her for her works. She never seemed to accept that appreciation full heartedly.
In the mean time I became one of the most admired teachers of the class and many students approached me for various things both academic and counseling. Amongst the students who approached me was Rita, one of Preethi’s friends. I discussed with Rita about the issues she had and then I spoke to her about Preethi. I had a chat with her in a casual way, but tried to collect some information about Preethi. That is when I came to know that Preethi was branded fat, soft spoken by nature and a person who tried to shy away from her friends especially the boys of her class. I understood a couple of things about Preethi from Rita and also from other students as well.
Days went on and slowly I was able to gauge a picture about Preethi’s feelings and the reasons for her behaviours. One day in the class I cracked a joke and all my students laughed enjoying the joke. This girl continued to laugh even after the laughter of the class came to a stand. But she was laughing with her mouth closed by her right hand. She realized that all her friends stopped laughing and tried to control her laughter.
That evening she and her friends met me in the chemistry lab to get their doubts clarified. I purposefully cracked a joke and waited for her to laugh. She and her friends laughed. I told, “Preethi, I really admire the way you laugh. You have got a cute smile and it brightens up your face”. Saying this I asked her friend’s approval and they did so. This brought brightness in her face and she seemed to be very happy from heart. I was happy too. I realized that she had an inclination for arts and crafts and encouraged her join a competition when it was announced. She said that she had not participated in any such competition till then and refused at first. But When I said, “Then let this be the first time. Why not you give a try? I wish you participate and enjoy your work. This is my wish. Will you do it?” She agreed with little hesitance. She did participate and bagged third place. She came running to me and said, “I got this because of you” for which I replied, “You deserve and hence you got it”. She was very happy. This was the real beginning and she became close to me slowly. She started approaching me and became more active in my class. She started asking doubts, answering my questions and became an active participant.
One evening after our evening classes, she happened to come with me in the same bus that boarded to reach home. We sat next to each other and I asked, “How are you feeling in chemistry classes? Do you think it is reaching you? How do your friends feel chemistry?” She gave her answers in detail and was talking all the way. I interrupted in the middle and said, “I am able to see a big difference in you. You are talking with me more now unlike in the beginning. I like this”. Preethi became suddenly silent for a moment and said, “Ma’am, everyone including my teachers used to call me fatty and I used to feel very shy in front of my classmates. I cursed myself for this. I used to shy away from gaining attention. Now I realize that I too possess lots of good things like beautiful smile, art work and the ability to express clearly in front of my peers. I am confident now. Now I am very happy and realize that I am no lesser or greater than my peers”. I was very happy and felt as though I had an energy drink. I was witnessing the tremendous change in her due to the confidence that she had gained. Five years passed by then now and even now she rings me and says quite often, “Ma’am, I love you” with her sweet voice which makes feel honoured. I think this is the greatest reward a teacher could get on her journey with her students.
I understood and learnt that “how branding children could influence one's self-esteem?” I am somehow not ok with the word high self- esteem for this appears to me as though this would lead to over confidence. On the other hand I would like to stand for Healthy self-esteem in our children. Physical appearance is something that could change if we work towards it or might not as well. But let us not allow the physical appearance to hinder the potential for our children in the name of branding.
I am still questioning, "How conscious are we with our words when we speak?"
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