Teachers are seldom remembered once schooling or college is over. The paradox of their life is that they constantly deal with ignorance. A student, once educated in a particular field, moves on to the next stage of learning, while the teacher remains, welcoming another batch of students who arrive equally unpolished, equally unknowing.
It is often said: a teacher is one who never gets to enjoy the success of a student, but always carries the burden of the student’s limitation. When the student’s potential blossoms, they fly away like birds leaving the nest while the teacher stays behind, preparing the next fledglings for flight.
The tragedy of our modern world is that we place more value on entertainers and sports stars than on those who shape minds and build character. Teachers create men and women of substance, yet society rarely celebrates them. This is one of the very few professions where people invest their whole life, but rarely see material wealth. And so it becomes not just important to celebrate Teachers’ Day, but urgent that we invest our resources, energy, and intelligence into empowering more teachers because without them, no society can rise beyond mediocrity.
This land has witnessed teachers who considered teaching itself to be the greatest wealth. For them, watching their students soar higher than their own teaching was inspiration enough to take on the next group of students, year after year, decade after decade. Parents raise one set of children and, when those children grow up, their task is done. But teachers embrace generation after generation of children each one beginning in ignorance, each one leaving with new light.
The teacher gains no material profit when a student succeeds. What they gain is far more precious the inspiration to continue the noble task of teaching, again and again. This is niṣkāma karma in action: selfless duty performed for the upliftment of others.
So today, let us pause, bow our heads, and offer gratitude to this noble community of men and women who quietly shape the destiny of society.
– Govind Das (ISKCON MEMBER)
