Teachers : they are everywhere

Teachers' Day celebration are on and all of us are remembering the days when we were young or the days of college where we had the best days of our life. But is it so that people who have taught us have only been inside the schools and colleges. I think everyone of us have learned from a thousand other things in life.

Well so today, I am thinking of all those teacher's of my life whom I have not mentioned in any of my alumini meets.

The first name that comes to my mind is Victor Hugo, rather I would say the first thing that would come to my mind is a book that changed my view on life "Les Miserables". Lessons that Jean Valjean learns in the novel while going from a Vali to Valmiki teaches you all the lessons without going through it. Every character even "Eponine" a good young girl in the house of villans teaches you devotion at the time of her death. A true masterpiece which can be reffered to teach you things at the time when life is under crisis.


The next group of people that comes to my mind is a set of slum workers who were involved with making Ganesha Idols in Ahmedabad. My house used to be very near to this slums which people of ahemdabad call "Hollywood". It is one of the most stinking and unclean place that I have ever been to. Still, I never saw these people cribbing about the place or the life they were living. In hot summers of Ahmedabad, after a whole day of hard work working on the idols, they used to sing and enjoy in the evening. Their Loud speakers in the night singing Altaf Raja songs was irritating me and disturbing me in my studies ten, but I feel it has taught me that the place that you are in is only as bad as you think it to be.

There are hundreds of NGOs that you might have heard of, trust me, go and see closely the people involved in any of it and you will strongly relate to them and learn that life is a lot more than you. I during my college days got closer to a group of people from an organization called i-volunteer, two people from the team, Rahul and Sujata are those who changed my view and made me more sensitive towards the world around me. Had talked with Sujata many times after that. She was fighting against "Child Abuse" at that time after leaving her job in the a Media company. She was there because she strongly felt about it. What difference being sensitive about the things you do can make is what I have learned from her. Last time I called her she told me, "Jay, I really think these boys and girls want to make a difference. The waters of Ganga and Yamuna are getting polluted every day and we have been doing nothing for this. Tomorrow I am going to put up a small road show along with these guys (the 15-20 like minded people that she might have found) and would like to send across the message to the people everywhere". Lesson "Do whatever little you can to change lives".

Message to everyone on this day : Look around, you will see many teachers moving with their naked little feet on the road, doing the little work of non-existence with the utmost dedication, doing things that goes unnoticed but creates a difference that is satisfying for noone else but them .