At the dawn of teachers’ day, most of my friends buzzed in with loads of messages and wishes. Among them, the first one to wish me was Vasudha Singhania, followed by Rajkiran Ghanta, Veerabhadraiah Gudideni, Sudhir Pondugula, Srinivas Noolu and many more.
Many views were exchanged regarding the role of a teacher. A few thoughtful people came up with their own views which eventually took shape of healthy debatable conversation.
I always feel that teachers are supposed to leave a positive message in the minds of their pupils. It is only then that their learning fructifies.
Surrounding this thought, most of my friends came up with their own opinions. Srinivas Adusumilli, an old friend, wrote to me saying, “Your pay is far less than what the techies get, for the value you provide.” To this I replied, “Strictly speaking, we’re not teachers. The one, who takes fat salaries, can at the most be called ‘skilled labourers’ in the education business.”
Therein, Prof. Pitibas Mohanty exclaimed, “Arre Sir! Aap ko kya ho gaya?”
Saradha Govindarajan brought in a different wave of thought - “Is not giving fat salaries been regarded as the only reason that discourages good talent from entering this profession – so fat salaries is the right way ain’t it sir?” Adding to the previous comments, Hameed Uddin wrote in, “Sir, I feel salaries have nothing to do with the title. You are a teacher in the eyes of those who have learnt valuable lessons from you.” Supporting the above comment, Gaurik Shah added one of the great lines said by Bob Talbert- “Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.”
Amar B Singh gave a wonderful description of the role of a Guru- “In the land of Guru Stotram and Guru Poornima, both the taught and the teacher intrinsically feel that the monetary valuation of a teacher’s services brings him down from the exalted position he holds in his own mind and the students’, but the ‘Gruhastha’ Guru can survive (and continue teaching) only if this valuation and transaction happens, maybe the answer lies in disconnecting the concept of purchasing a service when in context of paying for lessons. It should rather be thought of as “Guru Dakshina” or donating to a temple. When God can need money, Guru can too!”
Raj Jog Singh came up with an altogether different viewpoint- “It is the devotion towards a student that is of consequence. A wish to see him surpass himself. Salary fat or lean is a societal factor. Kindly allow a teacher to let his family enjoy the little luxuries of life even if he were to go bare footed. Even otherwise on the lighter side he seldom has a choice on this front.”
After all the orientation, I was still mulling over a thought - “The one whose incentives are material, irrespective of their professions/possessions, can never be called a pandit/sage.” On this, Sachin Chugh commented, “I believe, lots of things need disambiguation like ‘incentives’, ‘material’, etc. One can prove anything as material and anything as incentive.” In reply to Sachin’s views, I wrote in, “Agreed; and you tend to see a lot of direct/indirect agency issues related to this. As a teacher, if I cannot answer self (while benefiting) then I would say that act of benefiting is material in nature.”
Thereafter, Vijay Tiwari commented, “Depends whether the incentive is modulating the performance.” I exchanged my views by writing in- “Niceji! Difficult to measure performance in this field (whose perspective are you looking at?). If it is teaching feedback, then I’d be better off playing to the galleries.”
Venu Mallavarapu summed up his views in the following lines- “Guru dakshina is still demanding. In today’s corpus world, one who derives satisfaction in teaching without expecting any returns is a true guru.” On the other hand, Kiran Balijepalli raised a question- “How different is Guru dakshina than incentive for teaching?” In reply to Kiran’s question, I wrote- “Incentive for teaching is more like a fixed commitment (in finance language, known as a fixed rate loan); guru dakshina is more like an unlimited commitment (in finance language, know as Call European Option).
Phew! Need a tea break now.. looks like this topic will make for a great debate.. 