Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Bharathiar's Poems In Translation

                                             FREEDOM - THE SPARROW

                                             Be in free abandon
                                             Like this little birdie!

                         On all directions you wander and fly,
                          Swim along the swift wind high,
                          Tasting the wine of cosmic brilliance,
                          Spilt in abundance, spreading with no end.

                                            Be in free abandon
                                            Like this little birdie!

                      Delighting in union with your 'she',
                      Building a nest which is penury free,
                      Joyous of guarding the little fledgelings
                      Feeding them with love and loving everything.

                                           Be in free abandon
                                           Like this little birdie!

                   Out in country yard or in the field,
                   Gathering and eating the grains of yield,
                    Rest of the time you gossip and sleep,
                    To wake up before dawn with a dainty song.


                                          Be in free abandon
                                           Like this little birdie!

Monday, January 3, 2011

‘Every teacher has to be a counsellor’

HINDU - PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK

Listen to their woes, let students unwind - 
‘Every teacher has to be a counsellor’


Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

Coimbatore: She is neither the teacher that Dickens portrays in his Do the Boys Hall nor she believes in the dictum “spare the rod and spoil the child.”
She is different . She firmly believes that a good teacher could be a good friend of students.
A double doctorate, in English and Tamil, with 25 years of teaching experience, Jayanthasri Balakrishnan is an eloquent speaker both in English and Tamil, writer, poet, translator, torch-bearer of women empowerment, has varied interests including theatre and drama and has commendable soft skills as trainer.
But the quality that makes her stand out in the community of educationists is her willingness to understand the problems that student community is confronted with and counsel them.
Counselling need not be ‘labelled’ and is not a ‘blanket term.’ “Taking you into confidence need not be a confession,” she tells G. Satyamurty.
Nothing is insignificant for an 18-year-old. Don’t allow the 18-year-old in you to die. “Let me remember the hurt that I suffered so that I dare not cause the same in others. For becoming a butterfly, you have got to be a caterpillar and the Buddha was born only from Siddhartha.”
Problems “These children might have academic, economic, emotional and personality problems. But they find it difficult to approach the parents and the parents also do not allocate time for them. Marks are considered the be-all and end-all and peer pressure, which is tremendous and unfortunate, aggravates the whole scenario. Success is dangerously defined and money alone cannot be the parameter for success. At such a moment, what these children need is a patient, sincere listening. That can sort out most of the problems,” asserts Mrs. Balakrishnan.
She has no doubt that every teacher has to be a counsellor. The basic requirement is patient and sincere listening, allowing the children to pour out their woes and remaining non-judgmental. “Don’t assume there is a solution and I don’t even suggest a solution. They are old enough to know.” Allow them to feel totally comfortable even as they open out . “I help children to alienate themselves from themselves because as long as you belong to your problem you can never find a solution.”
Delinking In the process of talking, they might become even objective to themselves. They will start delinking themselves from the problems. They might even laugh at themselves which is a “very healthy symptom.” Ultimately, they themselves will get to know where their problems lie. Then there is every possibility they might have not just “one solution” but many “solutions.” Consequently, the student might find a good and lifelong friend in the teacher.
For this you should have empathy. The counsellor should first of all earn the trust of the student that he will not let him down.
Confidence “Confidence (in the teacher) is as important as I am being a confidant to them. I would very much welcome if he is suspicious of me first because only that suspicion evolves into trust and metamorphoses and mellows into faith.”
Empathy lies in choice of words, attitude, approach and readiness to listen. “Even the entire class might have problems and their body language might betray this. Then there could be a mass counselling.”
At the same time, she strikes a note of caution.
“Listening is not a passive action. It is not just hearing. It is something more. You receive the person, record his woes with the emotion, and review all that simultaneously. The youngsters are capable of reading their teachers like an open book. If they were to realise that the “listening process” is just a sham, “not whole-hearted” and there is no 100 per cent involvement, that would be the end of the personal relationship.”
She admits that it takes years to earn their trust. “What is wrong in a teacher greeting her student without waiting for the latter to do so and the student is definitely going to respond positively thereafter as he finds friend in you instinctively.”
Acceptance Accept children as they are. Let them grow out of it. There should be no “moral of the story” conclusion.
She accepts Jayakanthan’s “Sila nerangalil sila manidhargal” as the reality.
She admits that the students’ “unsaid problems” are plenty.
All they require is a shoulder to cry on. And if they were to get it at the right time from a person with the right attitude that could be immensely beneficial.