Teachers and students : interaction wth a former student

Interacting with an old student, who is now a teacher, felt like being in a class room again !! And can never thank him enough for what he wrote. (He wrote: for teachers who truly want their students to learn, there is no other choice. You are a living example of the love you had for your students. Every one of your students, including yours truly, holds you in high esteem for a combination of multifarious attributes you possessed as a teacher; love, knowledge, delivery, style, substance, compassion, empathy, the list of adjectives is endless…) Coming from a student, these words are a priceless reward for years and years of deeply felt love. And it feels even greater because that love itself was such a wonderful reward for being a teacher, to begin with. Just one thing more - from one teacher to another: when students want to make a noise or simply to indulge in plain fun, lovingly ask them ," Can I join in too ? And lets decide how many days we will have fun only ! We have a life time left to teach and learn." This always worked for me, even though the price was being thought of as careless or irresponsible by the 'authorities'. But I never cared about or for the authorities, and my love for my students and theirs for me always saw me through . Somewhere else, I have called teaching a life long romance" - the exact words I had used in one of my communications to the then V C . The 'authorities', for whom love and romance meant something entirely different,, simply made fun of my letter -- and I was glad that they hadn't surprised me with a superior response. Love is the most critical factor in a teachers art, for this love takes him to higher and higher levels of skill, knowledge and wisdom. And the journey of a teacher's knowledge and art begins daily in the class room. Its fascinating -- and sublimely up - lifting.