By Debasmita Das:
Dedicated to the few professors who are indirectly encouraging the diversion of respect, that a student should feel for them. “A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a “person who professes” being usually an expert in arts or sciences, a teacher of high rank.” – Wikipedia
“A teacher of high rank” it says. A teacher — a second parent, someone who is always there to guide you in the most crucial crossroads of your life. Someone for whom teaching should not be a business but a profession chosen from heart. Standing today, this definition, learnt long back, seems to have grown old with age. Time for a new definition: “Someone who is there to ridicule you, someone who is not there to help you overcome the hurdles but present you with a sarcastic remark on your hard-earned success.”
I have not lost my mind that I am penning  this down at this hour of the night. I am just answering the question asked by one of the professors during my final year project presentation yesterday, after showing a sarcastic attitude on my decision of joining a B-School (IIM L, to be specific): “What do you think of the teachers of our college?” Call me a coward that I couldn’t answer you on your face because that the age-ridden definition of a teacher is still in my mind though the heart protests hard against acknowledging it.
Being older in age, many a times the professors unknowingly lead the students to following them as their role model. At this age, we are in a stage of a continuous learning process; taking in even insignificant things from everyday life. It is very hard to tell how a small incident can impact one’s life in the long run. Ragging, for example; a fresher who is being ragged awaits eagerly for the time when he gets the chance to repeat the same with his juniors and the history keeps on repeating itself every year. Same is the case here. A boy who is a student today may choose to take up teaching as his profession tomorrow. And we know for sure if he was treated badly by his own professors, probability is huge that he may repeat the same thing with his future students.
With high expectations, we look up to our teachers but when our well-dedicated efforts are made fun of, when we are denied a little support of any form, the student’s heart aches. The sarcasms directed at us hurt a lot. For a moment, self-confidence abandons you too. It sometimes becomes hard to hold back your tears, becomes difficult to keep your head strong and carry on with your goal. These are the moments that demoralize us and lead to quitting.
We are at a very funny age of our life, where a pat on our back can make us love them while an unintentional smirk can leave us feeling avenged. Being away from our homes, we start looking at our teachers as our virtual parents, whose few words of encouragements are equivalent to a warm fatherly hug. The students are already under a lot of pressure, worth mentioning are the huge syllabus, project/assignment deadlines, keeping in pace with the fast-moving world, preparing for entrances, interviews and other commitments. There may be times when a deadline is missed. We don’t dread the punishments or the scolding. These are parts of a beautiful student-teacher relationship. What we hate the most is the misuse of their power and position!
We already know that the teachers are way knowledgeable than us. What is the use in proving that in harsh insulting voices? We are always ready to learn what we don’t know. There are few teachers who find pleasure in just pointing out the students the areas they are weak in, giving no credit to the things that they are actually capable of doing. These constant negative attitudes can unknowingly leave deep marks in a student’s mind.
A few degrees after a name cannot make a highly respectable teacher. Their attitude towards their profession does it.