Salute You Mom !!!! - A womans' day gift.

[Jagannath Chatterjee]

The ideal teacher

APS Malhotra salutes his mother for the work she has done in shaping the destiny of countless women http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=OPED&file_name=opd3%2Etxt&counter_img=3 Development continues to be a cruel phenomenon. Despite being a progressive person, I concur with the old ways of living, which, I believe, would have been high on the parameters of happiness - albeit low on what the present generation calls progress. Although we are conquering new and ever expanding frontiers, the values that nurtured our existence as a society with strong moral fibre are getting ripped apart.

When I compare the current social milieu with its obvious deficiencies to the earlier generation, the downslide is quite astounding. A personal tribute to one of the most important women in my life will bring things in a clearer perspective.

Being an exceptionally strong woman, my mother is one of the forerunners of a period when women were coming out of the closet to take their first tentative steps in what was till then the man's world. After completing her post-graduation from a university of repute, she taught in a government school in Delhi for more than three decades.

Despite working outside and managing a home simultaneously, she continued to study to get two more PG degrees - taking the final tally to a hat trick. The additional income, needless to say, contributed substantially to the family hearth.

Her students, especially girls, came from economically weaker sections of society. Going beyond the call of duty, she often counselled recalcitrant parents to allow their girls to complete their education. This was the only step, she emphasised, that would provide them a life of dignity and independence.

Today, more than four decades after she joined the teaching profession - and a decade after she retired - she often meets her students. Considering that in such an extended career she would have taught thousands of students, who would now be spread all over Delhi and beyond, it is no surprise that she often bumps into one of them. After each such encounter, she recalls the experience enthusiastically, with her eyes full of pride and face sparkling with satisfaction.

She is more than 70 years of age now and her movements restricted by chronic arthritis, but her zest for life remains undiminished. She is still a beacon of hope and optimism, exuding a positive energy that is both spontaneous and infectious. She remains a firm believer in the goodness that flows through every human being, although we might not always be able to perceive that.

Today, when I see sundry women's rights activists spawning like the proverbial moths after a spell of heavy rain, I can't but admire the work done by scores of dedicated women like my mother. These women, though unsung, were the true pioneers who laid the trail on which future generations now tread.

When I contemplate the sheer number of girls whose destiny was shaped by my mother, the true extent of her work sinks in. This is what can be referred to as true empowerment of women. I salute you mom, as do countless others.

"Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." -  Aurobindo.

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