RutSum

I Do Not Miss My School

People around me have been going on and on about how awesome their school life was, and how they would give anything to go back and relive those days.

My last two years at school were a living hell. I dreaded that place so much, it killed me inside a little for each day I had to go back there. Some of the main reasons for such hatred are listed here. The teaching was absolute nonsense, I gained an absolute zero when it comes to knowledge, all that I gained from there was amazing rant blog, Hash, which I used to retain my sanity and get me through those horrible, torturous times.

On the contrary, the 2 years before the last 2 horrible years were one of the best times I ever had, and ironically they were in the same school. I joined BBPS (Bal Bharati Public School), Pitampura in the 9th standard, and I was happy to get out of a filthy school in my own locality (I’d rather not name it, because going to that school is one of the few things about my life that I am ashamed of). I got a great set of teachers, a really high level of competition, a nice customised (non-CBSE) syllabus, and a sorta tight disciplined environment (which made breaking rules all the more fun, it gives you the adrenaline rush ).

I remember having the experience of studying under three different English teachers in 2 years, all 3 good at their subject, and just enough open minded. There was Ms. Aarti Madaan (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) and I remember doing Ode to the West Wind and Julius Caesar with her. Those were my best experiences with literature. We had fierce debates in class, I almost always disagreed with my teacher’s viewpoint on the interpretations of poetry. But there were no ego issues, the teacher had no problem until my contribution to the discussion was significant and helped out others to understand the ongoing subject. Because of the amazing influence that environment had on me, I was really into fiction and used to spend a lot of time with books from our school library (I used to read books on the way to school on a DTC/Blueline bus, and also on the way back).

Our chemistry teacher, Ms. Ruby Chadha, was the most perfect teacher one could find for chemistry, far better than the teachers that taught us in the 11th or 12th grade. Though she was really strict when it came to classes, and she rarely ever cracked a joke in class, but her method of teaching was thorough, simple, and interesting. I never remember her making a mistake while speaking or while writing on the blackboard. She knew her subject well and was extremely good at transferring her own knowledge to her students. This is the problem with most other teachers who fail, they have boastful degrees and qualifications, vast amounts of knowledge, but they simply don’t have that spark to share, or the ability to pass on the message. I really wish she would teach us chemistry in 11th and 12th standard, (I am 100% sure she knew the subject backwards) but I guess she didn’t have a piece of paper that the other lame teachers at the senior secondary level had.

Ms. Richa Khanna taught us biology. I now have no idea why, but back then, biology was my favorite subject. I would read biology textbooks, references, magazines, journals, online articles, all just for fun, as a hobby. The problem with most other biology teachers back then was that they got stuck in the vast terminology that we encounter while studying different forms of life, and because of the complexity of those terms and the difficulty in remembering the terms, most students dreaded biology. My teacher, Ms. Khanna was different. She focused on the understanding of the working of those complex systems, by breaking them down into smaller, more digestible parts and then comparing them to other simpler real life systems that we already understood. Because of this, I never felt the need to actually sit down and cram something up in my biology syllabus. Hats off to you too, Ms. Khanna.

Because I got to experience some really skilled teachers in these two years, I became intellect hungry and started craving for someone who was even better and would keep satisfying my need for knowledge. Sadly, BBPS had nothing to offer. I cannot take the name of even one of my teachers in either 11th or 12th standard who did justice to their subject.

Most of the teachers (especially my english teacher in 11th) were focused on how to score in the board exams, rather than giving importance to holistic learning and knowledge development. We were taught shortcuts and techniques to exploit the loopholes the existing examination system and therefore gain maximum benefit by serving to the examiners on a platter, all that they needed. Nobody gave a damn if we actually understood the underlying concept behind a topic or not, all that they were concerned with was if they had prepared us well to regurgitate in the exam paper what we had been brainwashed with in the class. The attitude of teachers was, “I don’t give a damn about this dumb job, its just that it pays so well. All I need to do is spoon feed these kids with the syllabus. They’ll vomit it out in the paper as it is, and I will get a good result in the CBSE examinations. Thus, nobody will question my ability and my job is secure”.

I do not miss going to school, I do not miss the class, the corridors, the play fields, the teachers, the school uniform. I do not dream about being a school kid again. I hate every part of it.

The only good that came out of those two years was some of the amazing people I met at school, which changed my life as I know it.

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