As kid (really small not in size, but in age) I wanted to be a pilot, an just any pilot, a fighter pilot.. But had to give that up, wondering why. Here's why, my first flight to anywhere (Madras in this case), 'cause I can't hold anything in my tummy when I fly, in short, I throw up. Sadly, yes, even after many attempts at to get over it. The 2nd time I was airborne, it was on empty stomach, nothing in the tummy to throw out. Oh No, that was not to stop my stomach from acting funny and it did regurgitate, even if it was only water. Completely dehydrating me in the process which left feeling weak and almost fainting. I tried half full tummy, no lunch on plane strategy, only sleep strategy, nothing seems to work. Mom thinks it is all in the mind, me thinks it's got to do something with my last birth (Brian Weiss, please help)
So no more piloting for especially, fighter planes, anybody seen "Top Gun" would know, I also wanted to be "Maverick" and do the vertical nose dive and rise up in he sky, but not with my vomit also in the cockpit. With that my dream of being a fighter pilot nose dived and crashed. (Sadly after years I still throw up even Avamine doesn't work, only sleeping pills left to try, but I really don't' want to do that)
Next choice, for some reason I never wanted to be a Mochee or bajiwali, I wonder Why? It was always highly educated occupations, maybe the importance of education dawned on pretty early in life, not that it helped. Next choice,straight away doctor, did not fear blood, never had an injection till then, besides my vaccination shots, which I did not remember then. And when I had to have shots (two times a day) for an ear infection, amma would begin calling out to all the gods in the Hindu pantheon while I grimaced over the raucous she created. This happened for a week so after two days I ordered not to come or the shots would stop causing my ear to rot and fall off my head. Now, which mother would want her daughter's ear to fall of, not a very pleasant prospect, you see.
So doctor it was to be and it was for a long time till I flunked in science one time. While I was casual about it, I was declared unfit to become a Doctor. I would cut off somebody's limb or gorge out an eye or inject somebody with water or like the friendly doctor in Gujarat or Rajasthan (don't remember), very coolly operate on the wrong hand. So daaktary was out too.
Now, one also gets a lot of unsolicited suggestions. Trust me, some of them make sense now when I think back. And then there is always what amma wants you to be or Patti or thatha want you to be. Actually patti and thatha never had an opinion about it, all they said was "whatever you do be good at it (with a decent pay) " fair enough, I think. So family suggestions, banker and TV newsreader.
Banker, reminded me of the bhaniyas with their potti counting something on their fingers forever. People who know my love for Sudoku will be surprised when say that numbers and I weren't good friends back in school. Gawd, I hated mental sums, fractions, algebra, geometry, nothing about maths was interesting. Though I was thrifty, my mortal fear of numbers almost always caused screw ups, to the extent that mom always double checked , sometimes, triple checked before giving or taking cash from me. She had her little calculation all ready and I was almost always wrong. For a long time I refused to take financial responsibilities fearing screw ups. Then, this little glitch downed my chances of being on the roll of any bank, even if was some local BJS coop bank. I couldn't swindle properly. So no banking for me. Though, at this point in my life, I have immense respect for banks and bankers, cause one (BOB) really helped us get through life.
Always been talkative, stark opposite to the quite, calm sweet big brother. Forever up to some mischief, like once I opened my aunt's lens case, turned it upside down thinking it was empty. Only when the whole house was frantically searching for expensive lenses did I realize my folly. But, I feigned ignorance all through, I was just a kid.
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| I did cut my hair once forcing mom to take me to a parlour. |
But this naughty talkative kid lost all her gumption when she had to narrate a simple short story, that she knew, in front of the judges at a story telling competition. Sadly, I also saw the teachers marking a big "0" on their sheets which further caused distress after that I never of my own volition stood up in front of a crowd for anything. Scared of speaking in front of crowds even if they are people I know. Imagine me being a newsreader, all those who saw the news at 5, 7 & 9 on DD would have...
So this will might come a s a surprise when I say that my first serious job was a lecturer in front of a class, fortunately for me the class had only 3 girls but the next class was close to 30 and another was a good 50. What happened they loved me and I liked it.
That's how I got into teaching and academics,first as a visiting faculty followed by lecturer. It is fun teaching, researching an array of topics, planning lessons, teaching methods, making it interesting for students and for yourself, having all the answers ready, expecting the unexpected, discussions on topics (everything under the sun). It feels good to know that young women are comfortable talking sharing their ideas and open up.
A teacher's purpose is not to create students in their own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.
Discover wildlife: be a teacher!
P S: Images taken from the net.
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