During our childhood days, we always had that one teacher who was our favourite and the one who was not. We would wait with eagerness for the former to come to our class and find ways to bunk the class of the other. Remember those days?

As we grow a little bit older and start to judge ourselves as bold and cool, we would still wait for that one teacher whom we have grown fond of. However, as big as we think we are, we would sometimes try to belittle our other not so favourite teacher. We would make weird noises or thump our desks using our newly found strength or walk in and out of the class without permission. I, for one, was not a very notorious student but found it really fun when one of my classmates would put up such a remarkable show of ‘boldness’. Later, I was also involved in many such remarkable ‘acts’.

My first day at a school where I have decided to do my project in alternate education for the next 10 months went rather magnificently. I had fixed a time frame of about a week giving the students of class 5, 6 and 7 curiosity generation lessons in basic computer education as well as storytelling. It was for the first time I was about to take a class of over a hundred students. I was not nervous but excitedly restless. I did not realize but it was the first time when I was a teacher to these students in the same way my teachers were to me. We discussed about some basic concepts such as what a machine is, different types of machines, how computer is also a machine and so on. The class ended when I told them a real life story of APJ Abdul Kalam which gave him an important lesson; we are all the same in the eyes of God, be it a Hindu or Muslim.

I was upbeat with the way class went and was ready the next day to to take one more. It was on this day that I met someone from the past. I met my notorious friend; a blast from the past!

A class of 100 students is hard to manage and when you have a student who is focused on putting up a show of ‘boldness’, it is even harder. So, here I was, trying to teach them how to use the computer when I heard a weird noise, a loud thump on the desk and frequent in and out of the class. I saw in him my friends and myself. However, I was different now. I was a teacher and he was my student. Initially, I decided to ignore him but slowly and steadily, he was able to put up a show as ‘remarkable’ as we used to pull off. It was getting difficult for me to keep the class under control. It was for the first time I truly felt myself in the shoes of my former teachers. Till today, I did not know how tough it would have been for my teachers to deal with me and my friends.

Teaching is a tough job. I realized it in just 2 days of time. Imagine a single teacher teaching 160 students everyday for 6 hours. At face value, it looks easy. But, it is not. If you do not believe me, please take a chance and volunteer at any Govt. school nearby. 60 students, 1 hour everyday. That is it. You’ll know.

The least we can do for our teachers is to not belittle them and have a feeling of gratitude. I never knew the most notorious student will give me such a lesson. Well, he is now responsible for making sure that everyone is seated in their places. 😉

PS: Thank you Sanjal Jaiswal for the perfect edit. 😉