Month: August 2023

education

MY TREES

fromtheteachersdiary

With boundless joy, I picked up the seeds

Thanking God, that He gave this opportunity

With all the love and hard work, I nurtured

Now, they stand, tall trees with a thick canopy

The world is too happy for the lush greens

But I miss those tender saplings, on the ground

Which craved for my care and love all the time

Truth, painful, love was needed only for nurturing

education

WE BEG, SAVE THE YOUTH

fromtheteachersdiary

We are happy for the gardener if he aims high

Wants his tiny sapling grow rich with fruits

Pouring fertilizer suddenly, on tiny plant from top

The plant will only shiver and weather to death

All saplings cannot become a tree in short time

It requires sturdy roots developed for years

Let them remain as plants, loaded with flowers, fruits

Flowers and fruits are also needed for humanity

 Gardner’s, in their ignorance to make plant to a tree

Killing their own plants, bleeds and wrenches our heart

We beg, let the school councillors guide parents correctly

Not to force their child for IIT, and very harsh coaching

Let the education open a number of diploma branches,

So, we don’t see another youth’s young blood spilt

Let us save young youths from ending lives in despair

education

 WHAT A DRAMA

fromtheteachersdiary

More than writing a drama script for school children, I used to enjoy directing the play. According to the character of the script. I have to choose the main character, as one student, who can memorise lengthy dialogues. My theme always used to be to highlight, the social evils of the society

In one of my plays, the main character was one who was supposed to be prejudiced about the caste system, while his son rebelled against this concept. In the climax scene, the father, hearing the death of his son, collapses, as his own conscious, accuses him as responsible, for the death of his son.

I had arranged for beautiful background noises. One boy, reciting the voice of inner consciousness in a deep voice, a giant-like blood-curling laughter by a tiny boy, and a periodic heavy metal gauge sound, puncturing the dialogues in between.  All these were done from behind the screen. The light will be dimmed and there was a spotlight on the boy, to enhance the seriousness of the situation.

But there was a problem. I told the boy, responding to his consciousness, should slowly buckle down on his knees, little by little and finally collapse. But the boy, though very good at memorising, and showing emotion in his voice, could not do this buckling down part properly, though I enacted it a number of times, showing how it should be slow and powerful.

Finally, I found a solution. We had a major dance performance, just before our drama.  We used colour filters on the light, to show the effect on the dance. I requested this light boy, to do the same for my drama, in this last scene.

Though the boy could not buckle, the background noises, and colours, red, green, and blue flashing on his face, along with the spot light, created such an awesome effect.  A standing ovation from the audience did not stop for a long time, and my heart overflowed with joy.

After 50 years, I still cherish this beautiful memory of this student   Doctor S.A. Ramakrishnan, now a senior Orthopaedic Surgeon, and now is the head of the entire Orthopaedic Surgery Hospital in Ireland.  It was my greatest pleasure to talk to him some days back.

The tiny boy Aanand, who was at that time 5th standard, now is in my FB list of, SVUN school Pune, but unfortunately does not remember how his laughing sound gave life to my drama.