My Ikigai
I always admired my teachers, both in school as well as in college. Their contribution was not just the content they delivered during the class or lecture, but hugely in terms of the building of an individual. This often happens organically, I think? “Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten”. It’s not only the Literature lesson that I remember, it’s the teacher, how she taught and how she was with each of us in that class.
My span as an English teacher… I really thought I found my calling, because not only did I thoroughly enjoy the actual classroom session but I also enjoyed the other aspects of the profession like creating lesson plans, prepping kids for events, the English department meetings, the presentations, each interaction with my students and most of all the love I received from them!
But my true Ikigai, this happened only after I completed my training to become a remedial therapist. Afshan was a true inspiration, to say the least and so were each of the compelling stories that came out during the course of the training. The internships, case studies and research papers laced the ever so rich textile called “remedial teaching”.
Why do I enjoy what I do?? Not just because each day presents a new and interesting challenge but because each child to me is “work in progress”….Every aspect of his learning transformation is a joy to watch, nurture, encourage…I would be selfish to hold on, the goal is to let him fly, using his own strengths that have grown out of his weakness, to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson. My inspiration was from the school I went to, Vidyaranya. It is here that we learnt how to grow as individuals, without competing with each other. In the most natural possible atmosphere. I am grateful to have the opportunity to give back to my students what I learnt from my exposure to the most wonderful learning environments.