Teachers’ Day 2024: Let's hear it for Delhi-NCR's gurus, guides, mentors, and more!
Ahead of Teachers' Day, an eclectic mix of teachers from the NCR talk about their special teacher-student bond, and what makes this day memorable for them.
Guide, mentor, friend, confidant and much more — all rolled into one. Such is the role of a teacher who can't be defined by or get limited to any one compartment. Leaving a lasting impression on our minds, these souls are revered throughout our lives. Here’s an eclectic mix of teachers from NCR, who prove why their profession is invincible!
‘Teachers, do not undervalue your profession!’
Saloni Khanna, assistant professor, Sri Aurobindo College, Delhi University
Back in school, when she was assigned the role of a principal, she played it so well that that, “At the end of the day when my teacher hugged me, I had flashes of all the bullying and botheration that we as students make teachers go through! From that day onwards, I started appreciating their job and realised how important is the role of a teacher,” recalls professor Saloni Khanna.
Today, as she mentors several youngsters inching towards their career growth, the one message that she gives them is, “I want to tell the students to make as many mistakes as they want... It’s okay to make mistakes as everything can be rectified. And to the teachers, I want to say that do not undervalue your profession, which is very powerful. Being a teacher is significant enough and more empowering than being any Bollywood celebrity because it’s a teacher who can guide young minds and nurture an entire generation to work towards the growth of a nation.”
‘A teacher can accomplish what no ChatGPT can!’
Mamta Gupta, Principal, Brain International School, Vikas Puri
It was her dream to become a psychology teacher so when in class XII she played the part of one, who was “very close to” her heart, Mamta Gupta did nothing short of the best! “My teacher hugged me at the end of the day and said, ‘You would be a great psychologist’. It truly touched my heart and and enlivened my spirit. My life truly transformed as I took up this subject as a teacher, and it has since been 28 years,” says Gupta, who believes how “teaching is a mammoth task and a teacher is not only the one who teaches a particular subject but also the one who instills the way of living in students. He/She teaches the young, how to carry their life throughout their journey of school, college and in the coming years as well.”
Mention the word teacher, and Gupta is soon to add, “Teacher is the oxygen in education, and without this oxygen, no learning can survive. So I would like to say to the teachers, who are nation builders that they are like a potter who have everything in their hands to shape the students the way they desire. The tasks that a teacher can accomplish, no ChatGPT can replace it! Because a teacher is an ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom.”
‘A teacher is the perfume whose fragrance lasts a lifetime’
Minu Bakshi, Retired Assistant Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
Some teachers are not just role models, but also rockstars for their students. That’s how the pupils of Minu Bakshi refer to her multifaceted personality. An artiste and author, Bakshi was a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and later joined the varsity as a teacher and still continues to teach, long after her retirement, as she specialises in interpretation. “Teaching is a constant learning as teachers play many roles – all in one. They often become role models and inspirational as well. I’ve been touched deep down, by not one but quite a few teachers whose memories are etched in my mind. Sometimes just a sentence they’ve spoken stays with you and guides you throughout your life,” she says recalling her student days.
It’s been four decades since she has been a teacher now, and has donated her entire pension fund for the creation of JNU's MB Language Lab that is devoted to teaching the art of interpretation. She says, “I believe teachers influence students more than the parents. The way to be a good teacher is to love your students, be patient and nurture them like a mother, discipline them like a father, love them like a sibling, accept them like a friend, teach and impart knowledge to them like a master. Be the perfume whose fragrance lasts a lifetime. That’s when the teacher in you will last long after you’re gone!”
What keeps her going even now is the feeling of bumping into an old familiar voice, which turns out to be from a soul whose life she impacted years ago. “It’s an absolutely amazing feeling when after 20 years, somewhere in some part of the world, you’re walking on the street and you hear your name called out by a student who you taught 20 years ago. You don’t remember them, but they never forget you if you’ve impacted their life even a slight bit. That’s your reward! For me, thus, everyday is a Teachers’ Day and every day is Students’ Day as over the years my students have become like my children. My students have taught me as much as I have taught them.”
‘Teachers shouldn’t forget ethics and lose morale’
Racchna Saddi, Principal, Sumermal Jain Public School, Janakpuri
Vouching for “compassion, love, and care” as the most important ingredients that make a teacher, Racchna Saddi strongly believes in the “Talisman – rule the heart of the kids and you will be a winner!”
Recalling the time when she was in Std II, she says, “Mrs Joshi, my school teacher, realised that I didn’t have a brother and hence made me tie rakhi to one of the boys in my class, who didn’t have a sister. Though it was a small incident, but it shows how my teacher spotted the lacuna in my life as well as in the life of my classmate... Her love and compassion was so impressionable that I still hold her in high regard.”
It's been 34 years since she has been teaching, which includes 21 years of serving as a principal, and today she feels that a lot of individuals are taking up the profession “not by choice” but due to the “convenience” it offers. She adds, “Teaching has certainly become challenging over the years, but that doesn’t mean we should forget our ethics and lose our morale... In the Mahabharata, Krishna was the teacher who led Arjuna to win the battle. Even the Kings used to go to gurukul in the ancient times because the enlightened path could be shown to them only by teachers. Today, the children are very fragile and and if the teachers play a strong role in their life then only you can motivate them. It’s important to understand their psyche and handle them in a way that even an average child does wonders. So a teacher has to be a mother, guide, philosopher, as well as a counsellor. If we become this, half of problems of mental health today will be resolved and the world will be a much happier place.”
‘Being a teacher comes naturally’
Rohini Ahluwalia, Chairperson, Ahlcon International School
Just a mention of Teachers’ Day is enough to revoke the love that teachers shower on students, and Rohini Ahluwalia shares, “I studied in a convent and was in class VIII when one day all my teachers dressed in school uniform to surprise us! They were wearing hats, and we couldn’t even recognise them at the first instance, but it always stayed as a positive memory in my mind and I’ve tried to carry forward the same love for my students.”
In this profession for last three decades, she has been motivating teachers to build a strong connect with their students, and adds, “A teacher is not just a teacher but a guru who is also a guide and at times even a parent. So whatever he/she says should be from the heart because the care that teachers bring in, puts the students in the right direction... As teachers, we need to mingle with students, and I always emphasise how a teacher can never be a teacher by learning a degree. Being a teacher comes naturally; like being a parent. If it doesn’t then you can only teach a subject academically but can never impart the values because it’s also through your day-to-day conduct with students that you develop an emotional bond with them.”
'Commitment, passion and dedication of teachers uplifts students'
Purnima Gupta, Vice Chairperson, PP International School
It’s not just academics that helps in sculpting students’ careers. “I was in grade V when my class teacher, impressed with my random poetry, not just selected my poem to be published in the school magazine but also got my interview published in the same. It was so validating to see my creative pursuits featured in the school magazine that it inspired me a lot,” recalls Purnima Gupta, who has been instrumental in encouraging creativity of youngsters for the past seven years.
As the world celebrates Teachers’ Day, she is reminded of what she calls, “beautiful mosaic of growth and knowledge”. She adds, “Teachers, students, and support staff are like the dots in a carefully crafted pattern — each one unique, yet essential to forming a cohesive, supportive, and dynamic learning environment. Together, they shape the future of our students, turning them into individuals who are truly extraordinary! I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our dedicated teachers for being the guiding force behind this transformation. It’s the commitment, passion and unwavering dedication of teachers that inspires and uplifts students, moulding them into the leaders of tomorrow.”
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