28th April, 2010

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Thank You From the Bottom of Our Hearts

Teacher teaching her student

It  may be many years or months but it is always never too late to say thank you to someone who made us succeed in life.

The month of May always strikes us as appreciation month - Labour Day for workers, Mother’s Day for mothers and Teacher’s Day for teachers. It is the month that we say thank you to all the people that have contributed to our future. A chance to remember their hard work, acknowledge their role and how meaningful they have been in our lives.

‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’ is the famous quote from Dr. S Radhakrishnan, the greatest thinker and philosophy from India. It also describes what my teachers had done for me all these years!

A teacher could be anyone who teaches or guides us either in education or even in our life journey. On Teacher’s Day, we celebrate these special people who have transformed our lives for the better through the medium of education. They are the custodians of learning who taught us the facts and these are lessons for life.

On Teachers Day, I cannot help but recollect the days of enlightenment, pain, joy, confusion and to certain extent, irritation. Who has not been irritated listening to boring lectures thinking they were a waste of time, only to realize years down the road how valuable those words were.

How can we forget those classroom sessions when we watched the birds play on the window sill distracted, while our teacher carried on in a calm manner, asking us time and time again to look into our books? I salute teachers who tolerated our misbehavior in class with lots and lots of patience. I’m sure if they we hooked to the contraption that measures blood pressure, the readings would be high.

There are times when I use to be playful and my grades dipped sinfully and I was terrified stiff on report card day. That particular day will be ’sick day’ for some of us but it is unavoidable to face the truth. But all my teachers told my parents that I was a bright student and they have faith in me. Those were the moments of accumulated respect for my teachers.

Classroom work with the teacher

During my secondary days, almost all students had a favorite teacher, so did I. My art teacher, Mrs. Nirmala Sivadass shaped me and without her, I could have never reached the par I’m at today. My life was difficult then because my father was battling cancer and my concentration towards studies eventually was disturbed. All this issues had made my grades sink badly and at that moment Mrs. Nirmala gave her hands to lift me up.

She always gave me motivation, encouragement and inspiration to do well and always said that she had hope and faith in me. Till today, she has never stopped being the ‘teacher’ in my life. Her consistent advice and thoughts have made me a better person whom I am today.

Teacher’s Day is not widely celebrated in universities but that doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate our lecturers. I simply couldn’t comprehend the world of being independent during the early days of my university life without their help and guidance.

A much known Media Ethics lecturer, Mrs. Roslina Abdul Latif who is soft spoken, gentle and humble has inspired me through my university journey. From far, her look, words and speech made me grasp how to be a true journalist. She always had trust and belief for me to move forward and her inspiration made me shine today. Thank you might not be enough to say to her but I will uphold a lifelong honor towards her as my appreciation.

I believe the memories that all of us have with our teachers remained imprinted in our minds because they are the souls who have shaped, developed and molded us. Our gratitude goes out to these extraordinary people that have produced the future generation. Happy Teacher’s Day to all teachers all over the world!