The Road Not Taken

Back in those days when I didn’t have to take a final decision, when I could declare to the world --“I want to be a doctor” only to change that declaration to “I want to be a dancer” the next year; I wanted to become quite a many people then- a journalist, a teacher, a writer, a designer, a researcher, an RJ… and God knows how many more.

After years, I found myself in a Teacher training institute; you know what they say- ‘Life happens when you are busy planning it!’ Absolutely no regrets! I had some of the best times of my life, learnt from some AMAZING teachers in the world and even from the worst, saw the best and worst faces of people, made friends for a lifetime. Most of all, an episode that is and will be etched in my mind forever would be, my Internship.

Conducting a Kabaddi match

A humble school in a tiny little village in Andhra Pradesh, which took in kids from impoverished families. You must be wondering how and why did I end up doing my internship there! That is a story in itself but I will not go into the details. The gist of it would be that, I studied in The Regional Institute of Education under the NCERT. The institute takes in a set number of students from each of the states in the South of India. For the internship, we are taken to a school from the state we came from. For the next 45 days (unlike other B-Ed institutes where it takes just 10-15 days) we rigorously work hard while staying in that town for the whole period. Since it was a residential school, in my case, I stayed in the same campus, which made those days even more special and memorable.

Until then students were too familiar with canes and painful pinches and had taken rote learning and note making to be ‘learning’. Then we happened. A bunch of young, energetic ‘madams’ who taught with a smile, who showed them wonderful experiments,

Listening to a child explaining a science model :) *bliss*

who showed them movies, who took them outside the classroom and made "TH" tell the age of a tree, above all, who made them speak and not just answer!

We won their hearts! Just by carrying out what we were taught, even with our limited knowledge and experience, we won their hearts! 

 The unforgettable morning that we boarded a bus from that campus, a crowd of boys, practically the whole school, enveloped around us along with their teachers- few of them Pure Gold! From the little ones with bleary- just out of bed eyes and toothbrushes sticking out of their mouths to the older ones- all of them stood around us. “Madam, please don’t go.” “Madam, we’ll miss you”. From our seats, we saw some of them crying. The sight of the little ones wiping their tears was heart breaking.

As I sat looking at them, tears rolling down my eyes, I felt all my doubts about the career I was to take up, dissolve into nothingness.  I sat there with absolute conviction that this was my destiny; this is what I was born for.

A couple of years of post-graduation later, I flew to the Gulf with my husband. I got my First job ever in a school here. Though deeply disheartened that even with my PG degree, I was given Grade 2, I was still anxious in a nice curious way to know the feeling of being a full-fledged Teacher. Little did I know that I was actually walking into a pressure cooker! A mad house where everyone ran around like their rears and heads have caught fire, where we taught less but made and updated a 100 files, marked the ‘levels’ of every kid, didn’t even have a proper lunch break, answered e-mails that kept coming all day.. blah blah blah and in return only heard never-ending complaints from parents and superiors alike.

I RESIGNED!! NO—I DITCHED THAT NIGHTMARE OF A LIFE!! I broke down but then lashed out on my superiors and said goodbye to that mad house! I couldn’t be more relieved!

A year later, I heard that more and more number of teachers are having nervous breakdowns in the UAE-

 I wasn’t surprised.

Now, I have been blessed with a job that gives me peace of mind. I am now an administrator in an Australian piping company. Yes, at times, it tires me, getting up early in the morning, cooking, and commuting for one and half hours just to reach office, is in itself a challenge. However, I don’t have to run around like it’s the end of the world, nor do I have to carry my work home. Apart from working, I also have fun here, there is time to sit down, talk and breathe. There is time to have a proper lunch. The best part, I am given respect and patience. My colleagues here just cannot fathom exactly why I am so positive about being here...well folks- I have seen the worse! Yes, I am happy.

..But not fulfilled- with the career part of my life that is. You know why? Obvious reason, I am not where I am supposed to be. I am not using ANY of that wonderful knowledge that was given to me. I strongly feel that there is something in the field of education that is destined for me, or is it my wishful imagination?

I don’t know…but I can’t die peacefully without fulfilling my purpose…without having given anything back to the society, to the country that has made me whatever that I am today. Dear Life, unveil my purpose when the time is ripe J