“UNFOLDED: A Teachers’ Day Reflection”

Unnati Singh

“We are walking the path of my mentor and I”. Every single year when Teachers’ Day is round the corner, these very lines hum in my heart. It drives me through the lanes of nostalgia to the destination of gratitude. The first and the fondest memory of teachers day goes back to school when I saw teachers forming the choir to sing the Morning Prayer. Later in the high school Teachers’ Day transformed into a day to explore and rejoice experiences like performing dance on not a folk or classical but bollywood music, directing and presenting funny acts, hosting quiz shows for teachers, which were not allowed on any normal day. Today when I look back, I realise Teachers’ Day was always much more than that.

We have all heard and read about the establishment of this auspicious day to commemorate Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a celebrated and respected teacher who also served as President of India. He famously said, “The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves.” This got me wondering when I first heard it and I realized that teachers are catalysts for self-discovery. They inspire, challenge, and guide us in a way that promotes profound self-reflection and personal growth. Teachers also provide a supportive environment where we feel safe to explore our thoughts and emotions. They understand that growth often involves vulnerability and mistakes. By creating a space where we can express ourselves openly and without fear of judgment, these teachers help us gain clarity about our own identities and aspirations. This supportive relationship is fundamental in helping us students develop confidence and a sense of self-worth, both of which are crucial to not only think for ourselves but also make something of ourselves.

Our parents always point out that why does the world as a whole pick one specific day to celebrate either mother or father. Shouldn’t they be celebrated or respected the entire year? This question stands relevant to the celebrations of Teachers’ Day as well. What we need to realize is that in this materialistic and fast paced world there is hardly any time to acknowledge and appreciate the selfless efforts of people who impact our lives in undiscovered ways, most of them being our teachers. It is more often than not that only on and around Teachers’ Day we revisit those dusty diaries of our memory that hold the account of what we truly owe to our teacher.

I vividly remember how Helen Keller wrote about her teacher so fondly “I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects.”This is the truth of every teacher-student relationship. At the Paris Olympics Manu Bhakar the Indian shooter ended up winning two bronze medals, her success story definitely made it to the front page but along with it what connected a lot of people to her journey was her bond with her coach.

Each one of us had a teacher who did more than providing content to flourish in exams. There were and are teachers who were there by our side when we were in infirmary taking medicines for our head ache or period cramps, who shared their lunch when we forgot to bring one, who helped us overcome our fear of stage, who made us improve our handwriting, who encouraged us to feel comfortable and confident, who follow, like and share our social media pages, who convinced our parents to go on that one school or college trip regardless of our grades and most importantly those who unfolded us to become infinite possibilities.  Teachers’ Day is a ‘thank you’ for all these moments.