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Yesterday evening I attended the Annual Day celebrations of Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB) School at Kalamandira and was immensely pleased with the proceedings that are common in all such celebrations — entertainment programmes, prize distribution, reading of school report, extolling all that the Principal and the Management have done for the students and the chief guest’s speech — all these more to please the young parents and grandparents who invariably attend such annual day, as also the students.

Surprisingly, this celebration had a theme —Mother! And the invite had the bombastic bottom line: "God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers." Well, I would add to this what our busy God might have forgotten: Mother could not be everywhere, so she created schools.

After the school is created with play home, LKG and UKG before a child is really put on line to regular school, the poor mother is really liberated. It is such a great relief, especially, for a working mother.

Now, once the child is in school, the parents’ responsibility for the care of the child’s education is passed on to the teachers. Teaching helps students to gain the knowledge of whatever subject and also attitudes. They need to be responsible citizens, earn a living by getting a job or otherwise and lead useful, rewarding lives. Hence, we can never underestimate the importance of teachers. And remember, just as there cannot be bad mothers, there cannot be bad teachers. Teachers, therefore, are the builders of a civilised society.

Why do I write about teachers? The reason is what I heard at yesterday’s function from the compere who was alluding to the speech of the chief guest C. P. Narayanaswamy, Dy. Transport Commissioner.

Narayanaswamy spoke well and from his personal experience, as a student from a farming family and also as an officer of the Motor Transport Department. After speaking about the parents’ anxiety in making their children after their own wish – doctors, engineers, lawyers, scientists or whatever — without finding out the child's potential talent and aptitude, Narayanaswamy also spoke about the need for children to have their own dream and achievable goal based on their aptitude and thus co-operate with the parents.

However, what surprised everyone (except probably the children) was his advocacy of punishing children whenever necessary, whenever they misbehave in the classroom or in the school premises. It should be a condign, corrective punishment after they refuse to heed to the oral warning and reprimand.

"In our department we don’t issue driving licenses to those below 18 years because they are not mature enough to undertake that kind of activity," he said and added, "If they do, violating the law, they will be punished." Similarly in classrooms condign punishment will be needed for the greater good of a wayward child.

The compere was referring to the opinion of the chief guest to endorse his views with an example from his own school. He said the management of this school had removed two good teachers on the accusation of punishing two students. And the parents, taking serious objection, threatened to bring in a TV channel or a Rakshana Vedike to achieve the goal of defaming the school unless these teachers were removed. In one case, the student was making noise, chatting with other students and giggling, despite warning. He was given a gentle slap. In the other case, a scale was used. Probably these parents’ overwhelming love, like with all parents, towards their children must have moved them to this extreme reaction that cost the poor teachers their jobs.

True, corporal punishment is taboo and not allowed in schools. But then, we should not forget the time - tested proverb which says, “Spare the rod and spoil the child”. And it is meant for the wayward, incorrigible, disturbingly mischievous boys and girls. And there are many such in our society. In my days, I was myself one. Ask my mother how many times my teachers had punished me, not by hand or a scale, but with a real, hard cane — on my palm and my tender bum. In retrospect, I am happy today — except that the teacher could have spared the cane (or rod) and used a nice tongue - lashing or even a scale. Nevertheless, if I was not punished then, probably I would have been a poor farmer in the village today.

Be that as it may, I should congratulate Narayanaswamy, the Deputy Transport Commissioner, for taking a class on driving rules from the podium, demonstrating the signs that a driver should use while driving. He spoke of the safety a pedestrian will have if he walked on the right side of the road as he will then be able to see the vehicle coming from the opposite direction. He gave examples of some who were hit by the vehicle from behind in the dusk or dawn or in a rush area as they were walking on the left side of the road.

I think whenever a professional is called as a chief guest to a school; he must also share his professional knowledge with the audience like Narayanaswamy did. If the chief guest is a doctor, he must speak about health, a lawyer about laws of the land or if he is a Vice - Chancellor, about pursing higher education etc.

May a thousand flowers bloom in Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan School.

Tail Piece:
For the teachers who were sacked, it was a blessing in disguise. Soon they got jobs earning double the salary. Ironically one of the parents who complained was himself a faculty in another institution. Life is like that.