They Learned to Learn with Me!

Sunday, 21st February 2021

I woke up to a piece of fulfilling and pleasant news.

During my days of under-graduation and post-graduation in Delhi, I used to do Home Tuitions. Over the years, I "tutored" about a dozen students from the best schools in the city. Modern School (Barakhamba Road), Bal Bharti (Karol Bagh), DPS Mathura Road, Army Public School (Dhaula Kuan), and Montfort (Ashok Vihar). Then there was a college student from Hansraj College of Delhi University as well.

I have wonderful memories of imparting lessons in the most creative ways to each of my students. Most of my assignments lasted for at least two years. Some even for 4 years. Parents loved my approach. They often liked the fact that their children were growing holistically. They could see them becoming smarter, confident, and conscious about their special place in this world. Their knowledge base expanded beyond the confines of textbooks. They learned to become ever-curious with me. They learned to learn with me! None of them was a topper. I didn't want them to be either. Most importantly, the parents never pushed me to make them, or their children to become toppers. They could see them excelling in multiple directions, while gradually bettering their academic grades.

I always emphasized extra-curricular activities, be it music and dance, or sports, or debates and quizzes, not to forget science exhibitions and competitions. And yes, Olympiads. Some of them loved my approach, the others started with their choice on my insistence. Their routines are tough, but they could confide in me. They and their parents knew that I would make things easier and interesting for them, no matter how tired and stressed they were.

Using household and kitchen stuff while learning science, and newspapers while doing social science was common. Sometimes, we watched a movie together for English improvement. Oh, I even played FIFA with one of the students. I made him a promise I would do that after his History exam!

My relationship with all my students is really precious. They still call me sometimes. Almost all of them ask me the same question (apart from the other discussions we have) on call or if we happen to bump into each other at a market or a nearby cafe. "Sir, have you fulfilled your dream of becoming a college professor." When I tell them that I am doing another job, they express their dissatisfaction. They can’t imagine me doing anything except staying with students and mentoring them for life.

Today, some of my students are in college, while others have stepped into their professional lives.

?Relationships build with time, and the longer they are, the more deeply etched in memories they remain. However, sometimes it's not about the number of years, it's about the value of knowledge, confidence in their abilities, and life-skills that you can impart to the young minds in a few months. It's about the sudden transformation, rather than a long, gradual, and wholesome process. Sometimes it's like that!

Today I learned through LinkedIn about one such student of mine, whom I could mentor for only a few months. She had a learning disability (some of my other students too had it). She was made to drop Science and Mathematics after 8th standard. But she was a good student in all the other subjects, relying almost entirely on her English language abilities to understand the subject matter and express it in her own words. Her mother requested me to help her with Geography, Political Science, and English in 11th Standard. She was having a difficult time, particularly with Geography. We would extensively use globe, maps, open room space, and even flour-dough to understand the concepts. She won 2nd prize in an international school-level debate competition. She had participated for the first time. Her mother (a working woman) wanted me to mentor her and groom her into a university student in the coming 2 years. Her parents had little idea what she would do after school.

Unfortunately, I had to leave mentoring her because of a shortage of time on my schedule, and other priorities. She and her mother tried to contact me. I had not even collected my dues. Money was not an issue. I was too busy to explain but I somehow did. She was my last student.

Unlike other students, whom I know what they are doing in their lives, I had little idea which way she had progressed in life.

Today morning, to my surprise, a LinkedIn post informed me that she had been studying in one of the most prestigious north campus Delhi University colleges, and had landed a corporate job after doing a BA. I felt rewarded. My few months of efforts in transforming a young mind 5 years ago have borne fruit (and I have knowledge of it). Not to take away the credit from her parents, school teachers, and tutors/mentors who followed me, but I know I had a part to play and made a significant contribution in the initial stage.

Sometimes, money, achievements, and personal growth are not as fulfilling. It's the result of past actions, the saplings that you have planted, whose fruits you are informed of unexpectedly, that give a real sense of accomplishment.

Learning about work and job offers has always been exciting on LinkedIn, but this was special in a totally different way. And despite being a writer, I am sincerely short of words to describe how I am feeling. Perhaps because I have some urgent tasks to complete!