Hrishikesh Sarma
Gururbrahma gururvisnu gururdevo maheswarah.
Gurur saksat parabrahma tasmai sri guruve namah.
In Sanskrit, Guru word is made up of two root words Gu and Ru. Gu means darkness, and Ru means remover. Thus, guru stands for the teacher who is the remover of darkness and is the harbinger of enlightenment.
The acharya or the guru was not merely an instrument for transmission of knowledge, he /she was an all-pervasive influence on the life and character of the student. The guru was a father, mother, friend, counsellor, motivator, role model and spiritual guide, all rolled into one. While schools can be compared with laboratories that produce the future citizens of a state, the role of a teacher is to shape the minds of the younger generation.
The process is crucial and delicate as teachers have to ensure development of a scientific and humanistic attitude in a person while inculcating self discipline. They have a daunting task to mould the character of their students–plant ideas and values that will later on reap sweet fruits for them as they become responsible citizens..
Teachers no doubt play a key role in the development of modern society. Teachers’ day is celebrated across the world on various dates. In India, Teachers’ day is celebrated on 5th September, the birthday of the former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a well-known scholar, teacher and promoter of education.
Swami Vivekananda laid great emphasis on this living contact between the teacher and the student. According to him, gururahavasa i.e. living with the guru, was the most important aspect of education and not book learning. Today, the effective teacher is one who sometimes sees himself in his students. Therefore a teacher is just like an actor who plays many roles:
* A modern teacher is a helping teacher. It is the teacher who through the class room imbibes the feeling of ‘Share and tell’, ‘Give and Take’, ‘Think and Do’ in the students which is later on generated in the society.
* A modern teacher is always flexible in his approach. The modern teacher encourages new trends in the field of education. He/she is ready to experiment to make the learning process effective by keeping in view the new trends, new waves in the modern society.
* A modern teacher welcomes changes and accommodates the society with upcoming trends. As the technological advances are taking place rapidly everyday, it is the new thought, the new wave that could take one places and it is the teacher that welcomes the changes and makes the society ready to face the new challenges, new trends.
* A modern teacher is good counsellor. Teacher’s field is not limited up to covering the academic side but he/she also performs the role of a counsellor for the students and the society. He is considered to be the specialist and highly knowledgeable person. People look up to him as a person who can really give a good piece of advice.
Weakening bonds
A teacher is someone who guides and supports a student mentally, physically and psychologically in all ways and in all circumstances. Ancient India had a rich culture of student-teacher relationships that include Ekalavya and Guru Dronacharya. But today the strength of student-teacher relationship is also weakening as any relationship in this fast moving busy world.
Nowadays the attitude of students towards their teacher has stooped down to lowest levels. The respect and esteem enjoyed by the teachers in the old days are all lost. However, we cannot blame only the students or only the teachers for this worsening condition. Many a time students also fail to get support from the teachers. Students consider school as their second home and the teachers equivalent to their parents. Now if the teachers also consider the students as their children there won’t be much problem. But if the teachers show partial attitude towards some students, other pupils in the class may start hating the teacher as well as the subject they teach.
We should always respect teachers, because without them our life would be meaningless.
“The Guru’s form is the root of meditation,
The Guru’s feet are the root of worship,
The Guru’s word is the root of mantra,
The Guru’s word grace is the root of liberation.”
– The Bhagavad Gita
Hrishikesh Sarma is a student based in Guwahati, Assam and regularly contributes to The Sentinel paper.
Email author: hriskikeshsarma@gmail.com
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Good to find a student write such a brilliant post .