WHAT ROHIT AND VIRAT CAN LEARN FROM A TEACHER.!

I still remember the day, month and year vividly. It was December 22, in the year 2021. I walked out of my office towards the corridor. The corridor was long and at the end of it, was a ramp. The ascent on the ramp was friendly –but uphill nonetheless. I was going to teach a class, for the last time in my life. As always – I had worked hard on preparing for it. And, as always – I waited outside the classroom for the previous class to be over.

As, I waited, my mind drifted over the years, into the past…..

The classrooms had always been my temple, my Masjid, my church. They had given me everything in life. They were my bread, butter, jam. They gave me not only means to survive- but to do so in style. Because of them, I was a celebrity in the campus of the schools in which I taught. It was because of them that I gave and received prizes. It was because of them that i was recognized in malls, restuarants, airports, hospitals. It was because of them that I was interviewed and written about. I met the rich and the powerful because of them. I was photographed and on television because of them.…

I was the Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the kids – who they could talk to and touch. I can never forget a little girl in Jaipur who came up to me during recess and said:

“Sir can I touch you ?”

“Why ?” I had asked .

She gave me an answer I can never forget:

“Sir because my mother told me that a teacher is God. I want to touch God”.

I still get a lump in my throat when I remember her. I was addicted to the classrooms. I was addicted to the adulation. I thought the music would never stop. I thought I was God!

I was naïve. As the years rolled by, I felt the power of age – a power no one can roll back. One may color one’s hair, get a heart transplant, have knee and kidney replacements–but age keeps knocking loudly on your body and silently in your mind.

One day I accepted it. The effort that was required to maintain the bar which the kids were used to, was getting increasingly difficult. I was working twice as hard to deliver what I once did effortlessly. The problem was not just the body – it was in the mind as well. The mental energy I once summoned so naturally, started to wane. I found myself trying to take short cuts in teaching lessons- diverting from the topic, discussing the weather, or Amitabh Bachchan! I started to lose sleep at nights. It was a humbling realisation, and yet it felt natural.

I decided to confront the problem. I went to the office of my Principal and told him, “Sir, I want to quit teaching. I have got tired and feel demotivated. I feel it is unfair for kids to see a race horse limping. I have started looking for a Principalship”

The wise Principal told me that I was making a huge mistake. “You’re wrong. You’ve got so much teaching still left in you! The children love you”

But I knew myself better than him. I knew my time had come.

I could have limped. I had built a formidable reputation – enough to continue for many more years.

But no, I quit. I became a Principal. I could sit in the comfort of a plush office. I had many people to support what I did. I could still take a few classes whenever I wanted to.

Many times I wanted to go back to regular classroom teaching. The lines of the ghazal

आज फिर दिल ने इक तमन्ना की

आज फिर दिल को हम ने समझाया , haunted me. Each time I had to convince myself not to be tempted.

Unfortunately many cling to what they were good at in the past, making themselves and others unhappy.

A glaring example of it, is the case of ROKO (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli). According to many, they have gone past their prime. But they refuse to accept the inner voice.

This story isn’t just theirs. It’s the story of every great sportsman, artist, teacher… who face the inevitability of time. I saw it happen to Sachin, Kapil Dev, Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Javed Miandad and even to the greatest of them all- Rafael Nadal and Jimmy Anderson. They had to struggle to adapt to their diminishing powers. They “limped”. They find it difficult to give up on cameras, money and limelight. Gone was the fearless intent of youth which was replaced by caution. The phenomenon, often unspoken yet universally understood, is what some call Elite Performance Decline Syndrome (EPDS). The arc of a sportsman’s career often concludes with a struggle to adapt.

Coming back to my final walk to the class….

After shifting gears from school teaching to school administration- I started taking classes on and off. Even that became increasingly difficult. My kind of teaching required lot of preparation, movement, energy, emotion. All that was in short supply. Hence I had decided that on December 21, 2021, I would hang up my boots!

By the time I reached the classroom, I was huffing and puffing. Whatever doubts I had about my age – were quickly dispelled. In class it took a lot of effort to teach the kids the differences between the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. It isn’t easy at any stage to teach it- certainly not at my age .

I wished the class goodbye and told them that it was my last class with them. They pampered and fussed over me to take back my decision. But I was firm. “We will never forget you as long as we live sir”, they had said.

“I hope you remember me as long as i live”, I had said jocularly.

I dusted the chalk from my hands, put my reading glasses into their leather case, picked up my personal duster,  looked at the kids and paused. There was pin drop silence. I wanted to absorb the moment. My last class…

And then they clapped. I tried to hold back my tears. I thanked them and walked out.

I never went back to teach a class.

It was a reminder that doing a job isn’t just about performance; it’s about the courage to evolve, to endure, to adapt, to accept and to finish with dignity.

As I watched Rohit and Virat walk back to the pavilion, I remembered my last walk from the classroom. Will they also do away with the bat, the gloves, the pads?.

One thing I can assure them -they have built a huge legacy. They will be loved and sought till the end of their lives.