2 bad teachers & a good one

Teaching is almost always the first profession that kids aspire for. After parents, teachers become the first point of contact for children. They grow up wanting to emulate their teachers, including the desire to follow in their footsteps. Growing up, like many children, I too wanted to be a teacher. I'd day-dream of entering the classroom donning a crisp cotton sari, writing lessons on the black board, and teaching an awe-struck cohort of students who’d be devoted to me. We had many inspiring teachers who were our role models imparting skills pertaining to the syllabus as well as life. Who wouldn't want to get a teacher? We looked up to them for inspiration and guidance. They seemed so important; working in a profession that felt quite noble.

Today, I’m writing a tale of two bad teachers and a good one. By now, of course, you'd be aware of the infamous Tripta Tyagi of Muzaffarnagar instructing Hindu students to bash up a Muslim classmate. Catch 'em young they say. Hate seeps into young minds introduced by biased teachers such as Tyagi. That she discriminated against the minority student is abhorrent enough. But equally unacceptable is her encouragement of violence. No one is speaking about that. Violence among the young is a burgeoning problem. Look at the US where school shootouts are a menace. And here we have Tyagi not only initiating hatred and prejudice but also promoting violence. What a lethal combination! A bitter pill of hatred being prescribed to the young. Tyagi had some criminal cases slapped on her but wasn't arrested; neither did she profess any remorse.

Another teacher, Farooq Ahmad, in Jammu and Kashmir, thrashed a student for writing 'Jai Shree Ram'. We don't know what prompted the student to write this on the black board but resorting to corporal punishment in this case is unjustified too. The teacher and the school principal, Muhammad Hafeez, in this case, were arrested. In both cases, the teachers surely deserve to be penalised. But why the unequal meting out of justice?

And don't think that only teachers who physically harm students dominated the goings on of the Indian news cycle. We had a good one thrown in the mix too. Karan Sangwan, working in a leading edtech startup, found himself benched when his video asking students to vote for educated politicians went viral. Unacademy said that classrooms should be devoid of politics. But enlightening students and advising them on how to exercise their franchise shouldn't be counted as a political statement. Shouldn't being educated be a crucial criterion while choosing the nation’s leaders?

Hopefully, this educator who was sacked will eventually bounce back, unlike the bus conductor, Mohit Yadav, who committed suicide after being suspended — his crime? He had stopped the bus to allow a couple of passengers to offer namaz on the road. These happenings may seem inconsequential; relegated to newspaper briefs. But the reality is that these are instances of hate getting normalised. Communal intolerance is also breaching new boundaries, reaching hitherto untouched territories like schools and colleges, as well as public transport such as trains and buses.

Feels a bit Orwellian, doesn't it? Right seems wrong, wrong is accepted as right. From when did doing the right thing earn punishment? Compassion, tolerance, and integrity are paying the price. We seem to be living in a world of contradictions where hate narratives win cine awards for national integration! It's been a superb few days of patriotic fervour with Chandrayaan-3, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, and Neeraj Chopra making us so proud. Sadly, these incidents of hate are like those craters on the Moon that look like blemishes to the naked eye.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal