Au revoir

C

My dear teachers and my children, I have to call it a day. Why? Because I cannot be deaf to the voice of my conscience and heart. I know that you will understand me as you all have been such a part of me. I am guilty of walking away, of injustice to my team and to my children who have tasted the joy of an unfettered fearless mind. Children, who understood the huge burden of responsibility that comes with such freedom. I hope you too live life by the ideals that I displayed to you.


Last one year, in company of people committed to “ideology” I have learnt to be very wary. I never knew ideology can be cloaked in such crude, crass and mundane masks. I never knew that Ideology can be such a kill joy; such an enemy of happiness. No surprise then that I have turned to the ultimate hero of free thought and liberty – Che. The sheer honesty of his realizations juxtaposed to human vulnerability has made him a timeless hero. Hearts throb of anyone who believes and stands up for freedom. Call it mid life crisis …….I am once again hopelessly in love with “Che”.

We are all such suckers for ideology. We live in a constant guilt of being better than the underprivileged brother. And this guilt sometimes overpowers you to step into the haloed circle of keepers of ideology. Like I did; a year ago when I walked into an assignment. After two years in the corporate and six years before that in Protestant regimentation, I was a sitting duck, a complete sucker for idealism.

Taken in, by the special effects of the elaborate patterns made on the forehead of a senior citizen, a querulous tone that spoke of a life full of sacrifice and the unassuming yet alert demeanor of another quiet observer, I walked into a final round of interview. Here I was confronted with more idealists who appeared then as people who merely ‘existed’ in other mundane roles for mere sustenance while their souls sang in unison for the glorified Bharat.

Sniff, sniff, sob, sob…….

Damn it! Was my sixth sense pissed drunk?

Such was the heady romance that I failed to see the warning signs. Their illogical rigidity on rituals for special effects, The superficiality of knowledge and information where even the very basics like difference between spirituality and religion lost all clarity. Their myopia to information; where Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries were worshipped as heroes of the Hindu Bharat, totally ignorant to their atheist and communist leanings. The completely fake and half baked claim to knowledge of yoga, the outward portrayal was that of a one big happy family where one had to tolerate the good, the bad and the ugly. So, my team had to sit through boring nonsensical sessions of download where all including those on the podium except the speaker, slept. The idea of one big happy family was driven in through prayers and more prayers, rituals and ofcourse cauldrons full of slurpy messy bise belebath and mosuru anna. Where people washed their hands into the plate they ate out of …….I must say I was thankful that nobody tried rinsing their mouth into the plate! The one big family, ideal was always restricted to the organization. Your personal front i.e. your spouse or children were never a part of this very ideal picture of BharatMata.

Soon I realized that the people I am dealing with are clueless about Education or learning. Each armed with some fancy thought and ideas have made the organization a playground for experimenting novices. As the veneer of this craziness grows transparent, the hidden agenda behind the craziness is clear; the age old adage of “keeping employees on their toes”. How sic! All this coupled with the theatrics of a senile, wily, old man who very ironically, in a Gandhian way, demands (not commands!) Public display of respect and bulldozes and blackmails with amazing illogical shamelessness; only to have his way.

Though I am guilty of leaving you all without a warning, I hope you never forget the true meaning of Education and Learning. I will cherish memories of a team that did not hesitate to walk any amount of extra miles for me. Of a group which mirrored my passion for learning; a group that proved to all skeptics that a school can be a really happy place.