Don't learn this from teachers!

 Teachers' behaviour is an important factor in the process of education. Teachers are human too, so their conduct can't always be expected to be perfect. That's why students are expected to follow only their teachers' good conduct. This very expectation is expressed in the Upanishads, part of India's ancient knowledge tradition. There is a text called the Taittiriya Upanishad, and it has a chapter called Shikshavalli, which contains the following passage.

While instructing his students, the teacher says:

'Yani asmakam sucharitani | tani sevitavyani | na itarani ||'

It means: follow only our good qualities, not the rest, that is, our flaws.

Jnana Prabodhini in Pune is a distinctive institution in the field of education. The late Yashwantrao Lele had been a teacher there since its earliest days, and I heard him speak in 2012–13. He made a point that day: "As teachers, we consciously try to teach students many things. But are we paying attention to what they pick up from us, knowingly or unknowingly?" Yashwantrao's words hit me hard. It was like a prick to the conscience, in words! This article shares incidents that show which qualities of teachers students should not imitate.

(Photo of Dr Jayant Narlikar courtesy the internet)

The late Jayant Narlikar, the world-renowned scientist, wrote an autobiography titled *Chaar Nagarantale Maze Vishwa*. Jayant's father was a professor at Banaras Hindu University. For convenience, Jayant was enrolled in a school close to home. This school was not an exam centre for the matriculation exam, which was held at another school in the city. That other school had a track record of its students topping the matriculation exam every year. But the teachers there got wind of Jayant's brilliance. To keep their winning streak alive, they gave him only the bare minimum marks needed to pass the practical exam. The result was that Jayant came second in the state. He had, of course, still topped the city. Jayant went on to England and did fundamental research in physics. On returning to India, he first worked in Mumbai at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Later, at the government's invitation, he came to Pune and built IUCAA, an institute dedicated to scientific research and its popularisation.

(Photo of Dr. Yashwantrao Waghmare courtesy the internet)

The second incident comes from the life of the late Yashwantrao Waghmare, who served for many years as vice president of our Maharashtra Education Society. Yashwantrao Waghmare was a well-known nuclear scientist who held a senior post at IIT Kanpur for a long time. When he was in school, he once asked his teacher a question about the structure of the atom. Instead of explaining it to the student, the teacher said, "You're too young. You won't understand." Yashwantrao recalled, "When I heard that, I made up my mind that I would study the atom when I grew up." And he did exactly that. He completed his PhD under the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Maria Mayer, and went on to make a name for himself as a nuclear scientist. He guided many students. His teacher had made a belittling remark, but instead of being discouraged by it, Yashwantrao made a resolve and turned it into reality.

(Photo of Padmashree Chaitram Pawar courtesy the internet)

Padma Shri Chaitram Pawar, the social worker who built a remarkable model of rural development in Baripada village in Sakri taluka of Dhule district, also went through a similar experience. His village was in remote hill country, so he had to take admission at a High school in a village near Sakri, and live and study at the hostel. When he reached Class 10, one of the teachers at the school announced, "I'll help only those students pass who work on my farm during the Diwali vacation." But Chaitrambhau refused to bow to this kind of pressure. "I'll pass on the strength of my own studies," he said. He held on to his determination to pass. The hostel had a supervisor named Roopchand Bapu, who would see Chaitrambhau staying up late at night and getting up at dawn to study, and he gave him reassurance and support. Of the sixteen students who sat for the Class 10 exam, only two passed. Chaitrambhau was one of them. He went on to dedicate his life to his village's development. Baripada's transformation has been recognised with various awards at the national and international level.

All three of these people made remarkable progress in life without letting their teachers' wrong behaviour affect their studies. But not every student can manage that. That is why teachers must pay close attention to how they behave, and keep their conduct such that students can safely follow it.

Sudhir Gade, Pune

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(AI Translation)