Teachers Day, from the memory lane of 90s kids

From peeping through the door, when a teacher enters the classroom to adding a teacher as a Facebook friend, the student-teacher relationship has evolved in the years. 

Recent classroom trends such as a teacher hugging and welcoming the students, teaching classes through memes, WhatsApp study chat are things that 90s kids can only imagine. To them, touching a teacher's hand is a dream come true moment. 

In the memory lane of 90s kids, a ‘teacher’ was considered a highly revered figure, whom the student portrayed as a role model in his mind. The reverence was mixed with equal proportions of fear. We all remember the moment where the teacher unintentionally sent chills down the student’s spine whenever she sent the latter to next class to borrow a wooden scale.

Students who get impositions, punishments, assignments, beatings group together at one side, where as the other side flips to become unconditional love, fear-mixed reverence, admiration and a lifetime-bonding.

Some of the treasured moments that got etched in every 90s kid's minds include, gifting a red pen to your favorite teacher on Teachers Day, bringing her flowers from your home garden, hiding behind your mom when you spot her at a public place and getting those bamboo stick beatings for not finishing your home works. Hard it may sound, but we do really miss getting those beatings with our mischievous friends.

Absence of social media back then, was a boon for developing a reality-thrived student-teacher bond. The one thing that has always stayed constant in the passing of years is the empathy and kindness from a teacher to the student at the right and needed time.

“While I attended my exams back at school after I recovered from Dengue, my teacher made a special arrangement for me, by allocating me a special invigilator, and providing biscuits and milk on my exam table, so that I don’t feel tired during the exam,” recalls Akshaya, 22, as one of her thankful moments at school.

Siddharth, an engineering graduate reminisces his most grateful moment at school, “When I was cornered at school and lost all hope in academics, it was my Math teacher Bala sir, who put faith in me and encouraged me to do well and score marks, which with a lot of efforts I did, and it was only because of him.” 

Moments of appreciations like these might look small, but leave a huge impact on a student’s life. On this day, let’s appreciate and thank all those wonderful teachers who stood on the grounds to lift us to the skies. Happy Teachers Day to all the teachers!