53. A sense of sacredness

Its almost three months  since the 120 students of  Government Brennen College of Teacher Education, Thalassery  elected its College Union. Following the  two months vacation (April-May)  and the  available  dates  for  an eminent  guest,   it had  been possible to  conduct  the inauguration of the College Union  and  the  Fine Arts  Day celebration  only on  25 June 2015.

The occasion was quite special for all the  students of the  college and ofcourse  some of the teachers too… for, the main  speaker  invited, turned out to be the  highly distinguished  Malayalam novelist,  Sri. M.Mukundan who  recently served as  Chairman of the Sahitya Academy and was  honoured by the government of France with  Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres medal for  contribution to Malayalam Literature in  Kerala State, particularly Mahe which was  once a  French colony. For me it was a moment of honour too because I was directed to offer felicitation for the function.  Incidentally,  in my entire teaching career, I had never ever shared the stage with a distinguished author!

The College Union inaugurations  which I have hitherto attended after becoming a teacher educator  had  guests– some of them  writers,  whose  choice  of  theme  during  the  delivery of their address  leaves  a  deep impression  on the minds  of the listeners.   If my memory is correct, not one  speaker  ever came ill-prepared  for  addressing   students in  the teacher training colleges I have served,  simply because they know  that in the days to come, a large chunk of the audience  would be  becoming  full-fledged teachers  assigned the  job of moulding  young minds. I have also noticed that invariably  the intended message  of most speakers would dwell on the expected  role of teachers in society. 

Sri. Mukundan  began his speech  by referring  to  his habit of attending functions where he is invited to speak without  carrying a prepared speech…confessing  that  such  a   strategy   helps him choose  a topic depending on the mood, the likes and interest of the audience which he is able to see only when he mounts the stage  on the day of the function. It may be noted that on the day he  addressed the  students of the college, 80% of the packed auditorium  comprised women teacher trainees.

Sri. Mukundan  commenced by recalling a teacher of his who had deeply influenced him and with whom he used to discuss literature and philosophy. He also said that the greatest tribute which he could offer his teacher was to  create such a character in one of his own novels. But in the novel,  the  ‘teacher’ dies  and  though the  real life teacher had seen the manuscript of the novel and had appreciated Sri. Mukundan for a well written novel, the teacher expired  before the novel was published.   This  evoked a  queer feeling in the author  for having had the ability to foresee the  death of  a person  whom he revered  in one of his own novels! 

But Sri. Mukundan affirmed that the  best teacher whom he had ever come across happens to be a person who  will never  die….in fact,  that person  has lived  only   in his  novel and was his own creation. Then followed  a brief narration about the ‘teacher’ in carefully calibrated sentences…

The character is a world renowned Professor in an University. The  teacher had  huge  fans in the campus comprising  students both boys and girls  and of course the  teaching staff  too who  used to regularly spend  hours  engaging in  discussions.  The Professor, a bachelor who had  devoted his entire life to acquisition of knowledge was  completely  unaware  of  the way  society  perceived  him though he knew for certain that many admired him for his abilities. 

During one  regular interaction,  he evoked a profound interest in   a girl student who soon became turbo-charged  with admiration for the Professor and gets a bit too close with the Professor. On one such meeting, the Professor, oversteps his boundaries and   has  a sexual  encounter with the  student. Even as the Professor  engaged in  this  act which in the eyes of   the general public  is despicable,  he  took for granted  that  he has not committed anything wrong  simply because  the  girl in question happened to be a  willing partner and  he had never  ever  forced  the girl into have sex with him. 

To the Professor’s utter shock and dismay, the girl in question went public about the ‘deed’  plummeting  the  Professor’s reputation to the  depths of dishonour.  When the  news rapidly spread, the  higher-ups in the  University  considered ways of  covering up the matter, lest it brings shame on the faculty as a whole.  So the Vice Chancellor of the University called the ‘erring’ Professor to his  chamber and offered his willingness to save the Professor on condition that in a Press Conference, the Professor should denounce the whole ‘episode’  stating the girl had concocted everything with the malicious intent of slandering the reputation of the Professor and the University. But neither the Vice Chancellor, nor those who are keen on positions and power in the University have any inkling  as to why the ‘erring’ Professor refused to accept their ‘offer of help’…

Well… the Professor outright refused to  lie and insisted that he doesn’t think that he has done anything wrong and  affirmed that the ‘event’ took  place  through  the complete consent of the ‘girl’. Sri Mukundan’s  novel ends by  describing  what the Professor did… Following the meeting with the Vice Chancellor of the University, the Professor walks out of the University campus never to set foot there to serve as a teacher.  Instead the Professor walks to an institution which cares for street dogs,  takes up a job as a keeper of kennels… and continued living… nursing them! 

Following the narration of the plot of his own creation, the esteemed writer, immediately reminded the audience that its only a story… a story which will never get accepted if it happens in real life in Kerala and for that matter…in  India  too  where  teachers are seen next to God… ones who can never err! 

Before winding up his speech, Sri. Mukundan  recalled an anecdote... He was once invited to address a gathering at an University in France.  While being escorted to the room where he was to deliver  his address,   he  walked past  a  corridor  where a  girl student was seated smoking  a cigarette.  Even as  he was escorted, the Professor who was escorting, borrowed the same cigarette which the student was  smoking, took   a couple of puffs and returned it to the student and  the latter resumed smoking… Next Sri. Mukundan asked  the gathering…Can this happen in India?...He reiterated… the teacher-student relationship in our country  has a sense of  sacredness…