The time-honoured outlook of respectfully remembering teachers, loaded with a deep sense of sentiment and raising one’s teacher to the rank of divinity (Gurudevobhava) seems to have faded to the point of vanishing in our times. The expression “Home is the child’s first school and mother the first teacher” (Maneye modala shale, thaayiye modala guru) too sounds strange to urbanites in today’s changed scenario of the typical mother, not necessarily a home-maker, in the nuclear family hard up to make time to attend to the prince or princess, being in a hurry to prepare herself for facing the chores of the day, including the task of rushing the offsprings to catch the school bus. The evening hours fold up no sooner than the final leg of activities begins, lost in the thought of facing the contingencies of the next day, a daily repeat. The days, weeks, months and years roll on witnessing the child’s progress into adulthood and enter the next phase of life. In the meanwhile, the school and the teacher faculty present a totally morphed feature prompting the accepted view that education is but a business, not education any longer.
The home and the school in times long past, reckoning by hindsight, moulded the child with personal care, marked by concern for its upright character and commitment. The icons in society of yesteryears emerged in an ambience of focussing on virtues and conduct.
