“Good
morning, Sirs” I said gingerly as I walked into the room.
“Good
morning, young lady” answered the gentleman closest to the door.
There was an
empty chair at the head of the table and they told me to sit in it.
“So, who are
you?” said someone at the far end of the table.
This was not
going to be easy, I thought.
I told them
what they should know about me as a potential candidate for a teaching job at
an engineering college. I told them about my educational background, my
adventures as a travel writer and freelance journalist, and my little teaching
experience.
They all
nodded from time to time and just let me talk.
I am not the
kind who loves the sound of my own voice so my introduction was short.
“Have you
taught Communication Skills before?” asked the Principal.
“It is a new
subject for me and more challenging too” I replied.
“How many
tenses are there in English?” asked a gentleman with a long white Santa beard.
“Three...” I
wanted to go on.
“Wrong!”
declared Santa.
“There are
no tenses in English” he stated. He then went on to explain the reason. I had
met these types of scholars at the University and I had learnt that it was wise
not to argue with them.
We all
listened to him while he talked for the next 15 minutes.
So far so
good, I thought.
When Santa
finally finished, a gentleman seated next to me said, “It’s not easy for a
young teacher like you to teach in a college. What will you do if a boy throws
a piece of chalk at you while your back is turned?”
This was a
tricky question.
I tried to
imagine myself in that situation. And then I thought, “What if....?”
I said, “I
will try my best not to turn my back to the students in the classroom.”
The
Principal told me to collect my appointment letter from the office the next
day.
(After I
joined VCET, over the years, my beloved students taught me how to become a good teacher. This blog
post is dedicated to all of them. I hope they will forgive me for my crooked
handwriting on the board. It’s not easy to write on the board if you cannot
turn your back to your students.)
