July 19, 2008

First day at school...

With all the hype that I had forced upon myself,my first day at school was quite intimidating.Maybe I can draw a parallel of how intimidating it was when you are new to a school as a kid.All the feelings I had in my head with respect to inspiring,teaching and community work were obliterated by exhaustion.I know that I can inspire when I teach:but how do you communicate this when the kids do not know your language properly?Its another story that they do not know the states and capitals of our country.Something must have gone wrong,maybe a long time back for them-probably when they were in fourth grade.I mean,you learn these things, irrespective of the medium, in primary school not in high school!That was scary.I couldn't guess how they felt being in the dark.I felt the need to enlighten them with regards to Indian polity and geography.Cajoling them into speaking English was not easy either.Personally I hold the view that not speaking English is a lose-lose situation:convincing them of the same will not be easy I guess.I did not feel good like I thought I would at the end because I was afraid my efforts would go in vain.Its not my efforts that I am worried about,its the students' plight.Patience is the only key here I guess.Whatever the result,I can hold my head up high and say Ive tried at least.Its such a shame that no one in the city really cares for these children in government schools when there is so much time and resources available,especially the 'software community'.I hope they stuff up all their coffers and snooty arses with the crap they make at work.