Fond memories of Teachers Day in St. Ann’s Roorkee

We celebrate September 5th in India as Teachers Day. Foremost, I wish a Happy Teachers Day to all who influenced my life. The mere mention of it sends me spiraling down memory lane and at the entrance gate of my Alma Mater, St. Ann’s, in the quiet town of Roorkee.

I am wearing the rust color pinafore, lemon color blouse, and tie that I would now love to be identified with, howsoever I desisted wearing it every day of the workweek. The Teachers Day was a celebration we looked forward to year after year.

A couple of days before the D-day, the school representatives would go to each class asking all the students to bring flowers from their homes. Yes! That’s true. I never remember buying flowers. They were in abundance in the lawn of every house, sprawling, and splendid, spreading cheer to everyone. However, we loved to give the handmade bouquet of fresh flowers to our favorite teachers. Therefore, we divided the flowers into two bunches. We handed over one to the didis (our school representatives) in the morning and tucked the second one into our school bag to give to our favorite teachers.

We showered the teachers, who were entering the school gate with rose petals as they were led through a petal-laden pathway to the auditorium. The auditorium too was decked up with banners of Happy Teachers Day that we painstakingly fixed at the back of the stage to be clearly visible to all the teachers sitting in the front row of the Auditorium.

A cultural program followed, which we students prepared for our teachers, ensuring the entire practice sessions were a surprise for them. I still remember practicing skits and dances at the backside of the main school building during recess and sometimes even after school, so that the items were a complete surprise for the teachers.

The items that would be presented on the final day were decided by the school representatives a fortnight before the final event. It would be a moment of pride to get our item selected. After the cultural event, as the teachers entered their respective classes, it was our time to give our personal touch to the celebration. We would offer bouquets and token gifts to the teachers.  

The best part? NO STUDIES! Yes! And most importantly, no scare of getting a scolding from teachers for homework not done or a lesson not learned.

 I was wondering how beautiful knowledge building would be if only the fear factor in academics could be reduced. The pressure of toppers being produced for teachers and the pressure to do well in studies for the students. It’s increasing by the day, taking a toll on mental health and well-being. If only learning was pure fun and exploration. The ability of each child identified and groomed to become the best of what they already are. I individually feel every child has something unique, that, if identified and nurtured, can help him rock the world and change his perspective on learning.  

Hope you enjoyed my sweet memories and were taken back to your school day’s memories too. If you like this post, you would probably like week 1 and week 2 of this series. Leave your views in the comments section below.