my first teaching post ….part 2
Peace finally returned to my class and my best student too started making friends in class ...
once when I was narrating what my special students were doing outside the windows of my class to my dad ...he warned me that ….the law college I was teaching in is a place where the rich sugar barons of a neighbouring district sent their kids ….. and I decided to give all kinds of shenanigans a smile and no more attention ….the last thing I wanted at that point in life was Trouble with a capital T
once when I was narrating what my special students were doing outside the windows of my class to my dad ...he warned me that ….the law college I was teaching in is a place where the rich sugar barons of a neighbouring district sent their kids ….. and I decided to give all kinds of shenanigans a smile and no more attention ….the last thing I wanted at that point in life was Trouble with a capital T
as it is I had enough of fears dealing with faculty rooms ...till then I was always standing outside them and asking for permission to enter
I would get scared of the other profs and I would ask permission to enter the faculty room of the law college too ...habit from college … one lady Prof used to not like the Sight of me ...not one bit ….she would ask me questions in Marathi and I used to get upset at the tone of her voice and rude comments
there is a rule in All the States of my country ….a person like me can Never teach in an Arts College …ergo I have Never ever taught students specialising in Economics like me ….. I could Only teach in a commerce college where graduation was in English and economics was a compulsory subject that was Much Hated ...
now in Commerce stream too there is one division of students who can do a Bachelor of Commerce course in vernacular medium ...like students in Bengal can do this course in Bengali and Keralites in Malayalam ...and that meant 1-2 Profs per department who taught in Marathi in my city
I would get scared of the other profs and I would ask permission to enter the faculty room of the law college too ...habit from college … one lady Prof used to not like the Sight of me ...not one bit ….she would ask me questions in Marathi and I used to get upset at the tone of her voice and rude comments
there is a rule in All the States of my country ….a person like me can Never teach in an Arts College …ergo I have Never ever taught students specialising in Economics like me ….. I could Only teach in a commerce college where graduation was in English and economics was a compulsory subject that was Much Hated ...
now in Commerce stream too there is one division of students who can do a Bachelor of Commerce course in vernacular medium ...like students in Bengal can do this course in Bengali and Keralites in Malayalam ...and that meant 1-2 Profs per department who taught in Marathi in my city
where as in an Arts college ...the number of students doing their course in the Vernacular medium was higher and people like me and even my friends who are Maharashtrians could not teach in Vernacular ...
the terms for each economic concept is very different in Vernacular languages ….
however in ILS college I had to teach in Marathi and English ….ergo after peace returned to my class I organised them into groups with a mix of vernacular and English medium students and I researched and found terms to explain topics in Marathi ...and this was a rule I followed in each college I taught in make groups with a mix of students who had come from the vernacular medium with an equal number from English medium colleges at the Higher Secondary level
the terms for each economic concept is very different in Vernacular languages ….
however in ILS college I had to teach in Marathi and English ….ergo after peace returned to my class I organised them into groups with a mix of vernacular and English medium students and I researched and found terms to explain topics in Marathi ...and this was a rule I followed in each college I taught in make groups with a mix of students who had come from the vernacular medium with an equal number from English medium colleges at the Higher Secondary level
my students realised I was doing my best to help and the whole class got together to help me when I would get stuck with any word in Marathi
however that one Prof would ask me pointed questions ….to avoid talking in the staff room I always carried a story book with me and I Never looked up from the book ….the only friend I had was a Bengali lady prof who taught English and we would exchange notes about our class or talk about general stuff when we were free together ...she was very helpful
however that one Prof would ask me pointed questions ….to avoid talking in the staff room I always carried a story book with me and I Never looked up from the book ….the only friend I had was a Bengali lady prof who taught English and we would exchange notes about our class or talk about general stuff when we were free together ...she was very helpful
then one day all hell broke loose …..one lady Prof who would sit and read like me most of the time ...eloped with her 5th year student from college ….that day the Prof who did not like me went ballistic about how people who read have their head in the clouds and are Never to be trusted … she went on about bad mothers who dumped their kids and were highly irresponsible ….
I was so petrified at the mood in the staff room ..and that lady prof told me to wear a saree from the next day and I was close to tears ….imagine travelling by two buses and walking so much to reach college ….that in a saree was enough for me to think about quitting
I had applied to colleges in rural areas and was hopefull of getting call letters for interviews
academics and news circles are a world apart ...a fact I would learn much much later in life ...in the new millennium to be exact ...lol
ergo I was surprised when the principal called me post my lecture and told me to go to the library and suggest books that the librarian could order ….and she sent the English prof with me ...what a huge and Awsum library that college has … I was hooked to that place ...
I was so petrified at the mood in the staff room ..and that lady prof told me to wear a saree from the next day and I was close to tears ….imagine travelling by two buses and walking so much to reach college ….that in a saree was enough for me to think about quitting
I had applied to colleges in rural areas and was hopefull of getting call letters for interviews
academics and news circles are a world apart ...a fact I would learn much much later in life ...in the new millennium to be exact ...lol
ergo I was surprised when the principal called me post my lecture and told me to go to the library and suggest books that the librarian could order ….and she sent the English prof with me ...what a huge and Awsum library that college has … I was hooked to that place ...
a very wise lady that Principal was ….she was showing me a different place to sit in ….from the next day onwards I avoided the staff room once I signed and I would be in the library reading before class
having a student much older than the class was Very Good for the dynamics of the class and that Sir helped me quite a bit with Marathi terms ….
ergo from day one ...I was learning as much as I was teaching ...and thanks to the kind Principal from the oldest law college in my city ….the library became my haunt in each college I worked in ….a peacefull place it used to be …………..
in the Mumbai college only I used the Prof's cubicle in the library ….it was my fav place to be
when I saw the PG Shiksha advertisement ...it sooo took me back in time ….
not one college from rural Maharashtra called me for an interview ….and 3 colleges from Mumbai did and I groaned at the thought of living in a fast paced city like the financial capital of India ...Mumbai ….
one thing I learnt from Mumbai was the work culture …..nearly everyone had at least 2 jobs ….even Profs taught as visiting faculty in other colleges after class got over at 11.30 am latest ….class would start at 7.30am and ended at 11.30am and teaching was a breeze ...students were docile and rarely troubled me after we got to know each other ….
having a student much older than the class was Very Good for the dynamics of the class and that Sir helped me quite a bit with Marathi terms ….
ergo from day one ...I was learning as much as I was teaching ...and thanks to the kind Principal from the oldest law college in my city ….the library became my haunt in each college I worked in ….a peacefull place it used to be …………..
in the Mumbai college only I used the Prof's cubicle in the library ….it was my fav place to be
when I saw the PG Shiksha advertisement ...it sooo took me back in time ….
not one college from rural Maharashtra called me for an interview ….and 3 colleges from Mumbai did and I groaned at the thought of living in a fast paced city like the financial capital of India ...Mumbai ….
one thing I learnt from Mumbai was the work culture …..nearly everyone had at least 2 jobs ….even Profs taught as visiting faculty in other colleges after class got over at 11.30 am latest ….class would start at 7.30am and ended at 11.30am and teaching was a breeze ...students were docile and rarely troubled me after we got to know each other ….
No comments:
Post a Comment