Two weeks ago when I was chatting on the phone with my sister in India our conversation veered to a topic of great interest to both of us. Teacher’s Day. Ah, yes. This is a special day and came into being way back in 1962. It was decided that we would celebrate our teachers’ contribution to society by designating September 5, birthday of the second president of India Dr. Radhakrishnan, as Teachers’ Day.

So, there you have it, this is how we started to celebrate and honour teachers in India. We would come to school that day as usual, excited at the prospect of no classes we were in great spirits. One year the teachers performed on stage. Students filled the auditorium, for we were now the audience, and enjoyed the show showing our enthusiastic support by clapping wildly after each performance. Then there were speeches from the student body thanking our teachers for their constant support, dedication and love towards us.  Other times students performed skits, sang songs, recited poetry – all in honour of our respected teachers.

My sister, a teacher by profession, tells me this tradition of dedicating an entire day to celebrate teachers is carried on to this day. How wonderful!

Pondering on this I understand how important it is to continue with this special occasion. At the same time I am reminded of the other ways, not in a classroom setting perhaps, but simply living through life we come across people who have been great teachers to us at one time or another – in my case, my former boss being one. I remember he had once said it was the sense of adventure he found in me that actually inspired him to hand me the reins thus effectively allowing me to manage human resources, on my own.  I have always looked outside the box and this was the opportunity I was waiting for, so when I got it – guess what? I scooped it up, fashioned it to my perception of responsibility, duty, compassion, community building within staff, answering questions about company policy, and everything else related to building a strong and vibrant department. Following my boss’s example I advocated a human touch to policies and procedures thus gaining staff confidence.

During those years I had the added opportunity to work alongside volunteers, mostly new Canadians, exchanging ideas, learning from each other. It was a humbling experience when one volunteer proudly said to me one day that she had started writing a journal. She had taken my suggestion that at the end of the day she choose five alphabets, write one word beside each alphabet incorporating the day’s activity, then write a short description of that activity.  This helped her to learn new words, confidence to actually put her thoughts on paper thus increasing the skill of writing (getting over that initial fear, to her mind insurmountable, was the first conquest of a hurdle), and share her experience with others.  When she thanked me I accepted it as a precious gift. From her I learned to be patient, have faith in myself and never fear to ask for help.

On the home front we have our parents who are life-long teachers; we may be impatient with them at times while growing up – for honestly, who wants to listen to words of advice from a parent? However, we keep returning to them for more. Funny but true.

Same with siblings, for growing up in such close proximity some of their personal character is bound to rub off on each of us. Keeping this in mind the older ones do have a responsibility to behave in an appropriate manner. Little ones are watching! And, learning!

Then there are our friends – to me they wield a mighty influence on our lives, whether we are aware or not. I have a friend who is forever cheerful, always out there to offer a hand in need, great story teller and listener (the two don’t always go together but in her case it does), and pushes me to take chances. Now, the last is something I sometimes rebel against for I may not wish to do it. But, my friend knows me well and also what I am capable of, somewhat like my former boss. She has taught me several important things chief of which is when the going gets tough simply get up, dust off and keep going. And, to always remember there is a friend to talk to, sound off ideas, laugh over mistakes, and keep learning about life.

I find I even learn from young people, our youth, and perhaps they are the best to learn from in terms of self-confidence, ambition, opportunity, and caring for the environment or thinking green. Yes, they are great teachers, and in my opinion, adults need to recognize this fact. Mistakes are made, certainly, but that’s not the end of the world. Youth and adult, both are teachers.

So you see, in life we can inspire each other to go that extra mile, go above and beyond the call of duty, and, we teach other.

Keep Well…..Keep Smiling

Purabi Das

Purabi Das is an emerging writer and poet living in Pickering who finds inspiration for her stories and poems from life in general. To find out more visit Purabi on www.facebook.com/purabisinhadas