A Class Act

When i was 12 and in my boarding school, one day the District Collector came for an annual day. He talked about his visit to the school he studied in and how proud he was when he stood before his old teachers and the new kids. I was enchanted by that. I then and there vowed to myself that one day i will go to teach in my school. And it will be awesome.

Years passed and i entered medicine after the school. Now, in my college, i understood coming back to teach is not at all novel. I have seen some of my teachers working at college and still being treated as students by those who taught them. They are laden with works cant protest for the respect and all that. And through out the years i found out that i have no aptitude for teaching. In fact i hated being in front of people who might snicker behind my back and make up names for me. Scary indeed. So i gave my dream a rest happily and went on with my cool-dudette-in-town attitude.

So, one of these days while at work, dad called me and said i have to attend a meeting in my school on saturday(7 march). I said ok, as this was my primary school before the boarding and very near my home. Then when i got home, he told me the kids are doing a camp and they need a doctor to give a class on Health and Hygiene. And he accepted on my behalf.

To be honest, i shook to my knees. I? Taking a class? I can barely stand on a stage with no one in audience. [ Confession: On a stage before a crowd is my most hated place in the entire universe. I am good at making fun of people on stage from audience though. :P]

So, i prepared a little note( to talk to 12 year olds :|) and i went there with mom. For moral support. Now, mom was a teacher in near by school and she is well known there. The problem is, this makes me well known too. And all my neighborhood kids study there. If i screw up, people are going to talk about it for ages.

So, after introduction of being an alumni, i took the stage. They were 60 kids. I said Hi. Then i just did it. I chucked my serious class plans and notes and asked them to tell me what they know on each topic. I tried to make it as interactive as possible and even cracked few jokes.

INSIGHTS INTO THE NEW AGE KIDS:

• They are wicked smart. They know everything. They know stuff even you dont know. And even if they dont know, they dont hesitate to guess.
• They are outspoken. I dont remember seeing one shy kid. They all raise hands together and if i say anyone, they all say it.
• The attention span of them are something to be desired. Its approximately 1 min 25 seconds. Then they revert and chat with someone or look out of the window. And if you arw not used to this, you feel like pulling your hair out.
• They know how to create noise pollution. And i respect my teachers for carrying on irrespective of all the rackets we made. I could barely concentrate.
• They watch TV. A lot. And relate everything to ads. For example, i was asking about washing hands often and one boy shouted 'DETTOL HAND WASH!' :|
• There are still all those "types". The one who sleeps after 15 mins. The note taker. The staring-into-board one. The one who asks pointless questions. The group of girls to giggles.

All together it was really fun for me. It was like talking to a group of kids like their elder sister and joking. Then i asked them if they had any questions. It was a scary moment. They can ask any million questions they know and i have no clue about. My perfect bubble can break any second. Then, after few question (which were rather easy. phew!) the coordinator came and rescued me. Which was followed by some hearty words of praises by him and a loud thaaannkyyyoouuuu... by the kids. How embarrassing :D. Then all my teachers came to me and reintroduced themselves. Some consulted me for ailments. And after tea i said bye and came home.

After coming home it dawned on me that it was one of my dreams i lived back there. I was proud and i was awesome. Exactly as i wanted to be. Life can really give you things you want and never expect.

So, dear life, now lets see all the other things i wished up on. And make it this awesome. :)