On Teaching

Memories come like winter sunshine when the mind turns to those who have been my teachers. Now that I have myself been a teacher for several years, I have begun to realize how difficult – impossible even – it is to become, and remain, one. Teaching, like learning, begins – as the story of Nachiketa and Yama hints – with dying. The will to know, which sprouts in the will to be, must crash against the farthest bounds of being. To seek is to eternally destroy and create your being. It is to be, like Nachiketa, the flames of yajna agni (sacrificial fire) . . . even as it is to be Yama, the one who lives dying.
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Comments

Surbhi Goel said…
very well said...caught as we are in daily strife and human condition, we forget we are learners first, and that is the most important ingredient of being a teacher!

best regards

Surbhi
September 5, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Nandini.C.sen said…
I agree with you. However, I find teaching fulfils me as a person. I don't know how much knowledge I'm able to disseminate but seeing the bright eyes of my students - both young and college going is a huge reward. I take this opportunity to greet all my fellow teachers.May our tribes increase!
Nandini Sen
September 5, 2009 at 2:19 PM
vadapalli rama rao said…
one is reminded of southey's poem too'
our cheeks are bedewed with tears when we think of the debt we owe to our teachers
next to parents they sustained and nurtured us
long live teachers acharya is equated with God
September 5, 2009 at 8:56 PM
Dr. Joga Singh Virk said…
The real difficulty is that one has to live dying and die living.
September 5, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Anuradha said…
Happy Teacers' Day to you and all colleagues at Patiala.

warm regards,
September 5, 2009 at 10:52 PM
Archna Sahni said…
Sublime! I have been thinking about Nachiketa and writing about dying...
September 6, 2009 at 8:39 PM
Unknown said…
The yajna agni is known to purify, nd in a way the whole process of inter transfer of knowledge between the teacher nd the student is purifying as well... In the short span of my teaching career iv had experiences... which hav not just purified my mind, intellect but humbled my ego too.. Yo!! to the fraternity!!
September 7, 2009 at 4:53 PM
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