Goodbye, yellow brick road..

Shandana:

Expecting to see more from you here now, and knowing exactly what a big role you`ve played in the oral hygiene at school (be it in PSD classes or through Poetry & Prose), it can aptly be said that the Chowk`s gain is BayView`s floss.

Insightful observations as always. You expressed

the withdrawal pains of a (ex-) teacher so well: ``Every gesture that is made in one of my classes

assumes a symbolism of its own, one that I will shortly no longer be able to understand. My

horizons have already shifted and I`m trying

desperately to keep the picture in focus.``

That`s just fabulous expression!

I beg to differ, though, on: `` it`s hard to feel

positive in an environment that gives teachers

little or no respect... I too am deeply disgusted

with the culture that is evolving around private

schools. It is a culture based on hypocrisy and

ostentation...``

There are private schools and there are private

schools, even in Karachi.

`` I find myself on the brink of a chasm, about to

cut myself adrift from my safety cord. Will my

energy carry me across it or will I tumble wildly

into the swamp beneath where the monsters of

failure and humiliation lurk in their corporate

office leering down at their inferiors without

corollas and civics?``

Now, now, there`s no need to overdramatize.

You`ll survive. And grow. Trust me.

`...the real world where you never get to see your

marks and a re-test Is impossible.``

Oye yaar, aap kon si dunya me rehrehy ? (Anyway,

consider it a blessing we don`t always get to see

our marks.)

Best of luck finding the angst that makes you

tick. (Arif, watch out! If she gets snappy, its

only because she`s gonna be creative! :)

And thanks.

==

Hi Chowk..

Gald to be here once again..

WOW.... this was the first responce i had when i first read this article.. I have NEVER experienced such a flow of emotions on paper before.

Today is a very strange day in my life. I had an accident in the morning, I missed the most important test of Physics class and also My friend left for Seattle.. All in a space of couple of hours. its evening and i just finished reading your article.. which ends a memorable Valentine`s Day of my life.

The feelings you showed here are no stranger to me. infact, most of the time i am on the recieving end. I hate it when people move away leaving behind a bundle of momories for me to take care of. even today when i was on the airport, i was struggling with my emotions. I know that my friend is going to come back soon but the memories of people who have already made a mark on my life and left were hard to get rid of..

I dont know about others, but i think there are some chowkwalsa in this funny world who have been through these experiences too. May be these are the lessons of life which makes a man different from the other..

Chowkwala..

Adnan.

Think they don`t respect teachers in Pakistan?

Try teaching a term in a US public school, and you will go running back to your adorable Pakistni spoilt brats.

I have taught school in Quetta,(which, inspite of being a provincial capital is still in the backwaters of Pakistan) and I have substituted in US public schools and believe me there is no comparison between the well behaved children of illiterate, savage tribals and the absolute brats being brought up in the civilized world.

p.s. I have never done a more meaningful job than teach another human being and end up with more knowledge myself

perhaps a surfeit of `poorly-worded rhetoric` is one reason why participation at Chowk seems to be flagging?

now that shandana`s given away my secret life as a non-actor, should I give let the cat out of the bag on shandana`s role in an art film currently being filmed in Thar? The plan is to edit it and show it as a long play on ptv as well as sending it to film festivals etc.

Um, one good(?) turn deserves another, right? :)

Hey!

I forgot to shout it out in bold caps:

``I AM BEING SARCASTIC``

``...you cannot teach and do something else with anything resembling passion, in which case there isn`t really any point in doing it.``

Sorry, but I just cannot agree with this. Evidence contradicting this statement abounds, but since we`re talking about writing here, I`ll give just one example. Roddy Doyle, arguably Ireland`s best contemporary novelist, taught English and geography at a north Dublin school from 1980 to sometime in the early Nineties. During that time he wrote, among other things, the excellent Barrytown Trilogy (The Commitments, The Snapper, and The Van, the latter being shortlisted for the Booker Prize.)

Though probably difficult, I would suggest it is not impossible to both teach and write, if necessity demands. (And before anyone says anything about the comparative difficulties of teaching in different societies, I recommend reading about the education experience in Dublin in Roddy Doyle`s classic, The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.)

Ideally of course, the artist shouldn`t have to have a day job. But if one must, one must. I believe the two worlds can be reconciled.

Hi Shandana,

And would you ming explaining why you started teaching in the first place? Was it just another job or did you expect to gain as much experience as you seem to think you got.

There is a lack of teachers, not just at school level but only worse in higher education. I wish you had stayed in the profession.

So what`re you *really * gonna do now that you`re not teaching?

Hi!

Excellent piece of writing there Shindana ji! I sometimes think of leaving my current job (I`m a clinical bioengineer) and going to teach maths to the age group which you have mentioned in your article. Perhaps eventually I will, but, sad to say, even amongst NRPs (non- resident pakistanis!)--i`m in London--teaching is still not looked upon as a very `respectable` career (unlike say medicine, law or engineering)...

personally I think it is a wonderful (although here in the UK under-rewarded financially) thing to teach (I have made extra cash giving private tuition in the past and absolutely loved it!)and impart knowledge to others...

If I do decide to make a career switch --NRP views notwithstanding!--it will almost certainly be in maths (although I do love creative writing and literature personally, I do not know if I would be able to teach English as my qualifications are all scientific)--and possibly in one of the Islamic schools which are cropping up in the UK...

I do have some reservations about the modern, western, education-system ( i think it is far too geared towards knowledge for the sake of getting a job and not for itself and also it inculcates in the child a Western (a)moral ethic; i also disagree with the idea of grading people into `A` B` C etc. ) but this is not the place to discuss them...

..I can dream of sitting in a Persian rose garden on the floor, surrounded by my students who are sitting in a semi-circle around me, turban ends swaying in the gentle breeze as I explain the methods of calculus...:-)

..based on my experiences in the mosque (as a student) and at school, I definitely agree that the students from a Muslim, traditional, background are far better behaved than Western children at school..

we used to be in awe of our masjid teacher...yet I certainly loved him (and still do) but at school it was totally different and many teachers were ridiculed to the point where they could not cope (not by me I hasten to add!) I think this is another reason I might be happier teaching in an islamic school where the children would have the concept of respect for the teacher...

..best of luck in your future endeavours..

``I am a slave to that person who has taught me even a single word`` (Hazrat Mawla Ali ibn Abi Talib karam Allah wajhu`l kareem)

Asif

HOW DID KASHMIR FALL INTO INDIA`S LAP?

By Tauseef Ahmed

It is very difficult indeed to analyze the accession of Kashmir to India. There is

considerable variation in the chronology of events that led to the occupation of

Kashmir by India. Depending on which sidea given author supports, certain

events are highlighted or omitted. The author has decided to rely solely on

non-partisan

authors from the sub-continent, and non-Indian, non-Pakistani authors for

constructing the events leading to accession in the hope that that an unbiased

presentation

of the events would help in a fairer and more accurate interpretation of the

accession of Kashmir to India.

1945- A tumultuous year in world history- Japan and Germany had fallenand had

officially surrendered- the ``Allies`` with the exception of theUnited States of

America had won the war but were themselves in shambles, the victory being but

pyrrhic for them. As they struggled to re-establish themselves, it was evident

that the

requiem for colonialism would soon have to be sung. At this stage in 1947, there

moved into the Indian subcontinental arena Lord Mountbatten- a man whose

blood

was indeed royal but whose reputation was all soiled. He would fit the imaginary

character who was lampooned in ``My Lord Tomnoddy goes to school``, his one

qualification being that he was related to the British royal family. A man endowed

with an elephantine ego and a pea size brain, he was the wrong person to govern

an

island even the size of Tasmania. Yet it was into his hands the destiny of India

was thrust by the then British government.

There is no denying the fact that of the leaders in the subcontinent, the one whom

Mountbatten came to like the most was Nehru and the one whom he detested

most

was Qaid-E-Azam Jinnah. Some authors put down the friendship between Nehru

and Mountbatten to Nehrus affability and ability to get along with Mountbatten

and

co-exist with his vanity, others claim that both were genuinely enchanted and

emotionally attached to each other, but nobody denies the fact that Nehru and

the

Mountbattens got along famously with each other. There are tales told about the

extra-friendly relationship that existed between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten,

the

less controversial ones talking about the relationship between a bored countess

and an ambitious,charming and power-mongering Indian while the seamier ones

talk

about a relationship that seems to have been a real life version of ``Madame

Bovary`` or``Lady Chatterleys Lover``. Considering the fact that this is an academic

analysis,

the author thinks it unethical to play the proverbial peeping Tom and report on

what went on beneath the bedsheets, but would confine himself to saying that

Lord

Mountbatten himself said that he and his wife had spent most of their nights in

other peoples beds and that Edwina`s thoughts did influence his own thinking very

deeply. It is therefore no surprise that Lady Mountbatten, whose knowledge of

India was confined to garden parties and Shikar came to play a part as great as

any of

the other dramatis personae in the accession of Kashmir to India. She influenced

things in India in the same way in which the numerous lovers of Catherine the

Great

influenced things in Russia. The part played by Lady Mountbatten, according to

the author, has been underestimated by most commentators on the Kashmir

drama.

This interaction must be contrasted with the relationship that the Mountbattens

had with Qaid-E-Azam Jinnah. Inflexible and unwavering with a stiff upper lip,

Qaid-E-Azam Jinnah was more than a match for the imperious and arrogant

Mountbatten. Uneasy with each other from the time they first set eyes on each

other, they

loathed and suspected each others intentions with a religious fervor. As is well

known,Lord Mountbatten threw a tantrum (and a very royal tantrum, it may be

added)

when the Qaid-E-Azam informed him that he could not be the governor-general of

both India and Pakistan and that he (Jinnah) would be the governor-general of

Pakistan. This was obviously the last straw but much had happened earlier to

embitter the relationship between these two gentlemen, all of which led to

Mountbattens

completely identifying with Nehru and his interpretation instead of looking at

events with the dispassionate attitude as one would expect of a neutral observer.

With

Mountbatten and his wife supporting Nehru, Jinnah never even had a chance of

presenting his arguments to the British Government.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was an Indian leader whose sagacity and tenacity stood

out. It was his sagacity which first made him announce his opposition to India

taking

over Kashmir( in the early 40s) and it was his tenacity that helped fructify Nehrus

dream of adding Kashmir toIndia. His assistant was V.P.Menon, the dream

bureaucrat. While this gentleman had ethics or no is debatable, but as far as

efficiency and protection of ones interests were concerned, he was second to

none. It was

his shuttling and running around that finally helped India occupy Kashmir.

Of course, the list of dramatis personae would be incomplete without a mention of

Mehr Chand Mahajan, a known Arya Samaji who was a judge of the Punjab High

Court. A man whose cleverness would put a jackal to shame, he was responsible

for a number of sleights of hand which made India the master of Kashmir. He was

arguably the ``Flying Dutchman of Indian politics``, since like the Flying Dutchman

he could appear and disappear at his will and could also make documents apprear

and dissappear as per his convenience.

Maharajah Hari Singh of Kashmir was a real life Nero who fiddled while his Rome

burned; while Kashmiris were furiously debating the subject of accession to India

or Pakistan, Hari Singh dreamt about an independent state where he could indulge

in his orgies. As was pointed out earlier by the author, the only voice of reason in

Kashmir was that of the Dewan, Ram Chandra Kak, whose voice was drowned by

the din of Nehrus friends in Kashmir and was ultimately eased out because his

views did not agree with Nehrus pre-conceived conclusion of the Kashmir tangle.

Once Kak had been dismissed, the new appointee was a roaring pro-India

chauvinist, Janak Singh who only aided and abetted India. Nehru adopted a

two-pronged

strategy of filling the administration with his nominees and cultivating Sheikh

Abdullah with a lot of fervor. To this end, he visited Kashmir( with a lot of publicity

and

attention) in order to defend Sheikh Abdullah who had been put in prison. He was

arrested at the border after a dramatic confrontation at the border by the

Maharajah,

with the added bonus that the photographic coverage of these five hours made

him look like the sole defender of Kashmir andAbdullah. One really wonders if

Kashmir didn`t have a single competent lawyer to represent Abdullah; was it

necessary to rush to India in order to obtain a lawyer? Morever, if they had to

turn to

India, why did they pick Nehru; surely a leader of his stature had other things to

worry about other than reading legal tomes in order to find a clause getting

Sheikh

Abdullah released.

Nehru and his friends on the Kashmiri side made a farce out of the whole event

which benefitted them and none else, it may be noted that public opinion turned

very

much in the favor of Nehru after this event. It is generally agreed that Nehru

once openly broke down in front of Mountbatten and said that Kashmir mattered

more to

him than anything else. If the Maharajah had moved quickly and announced his

accession to either side, it would have been possible for both sides to make

military

and legal preparations for the inevitable conflict, but the Rajah, the very picture

of indecision preferred to vacillate and postpone his decision. This meant that

while

maneuvers were being carried out behind the screens, the ordinary Kashmiri had

no way of expressing his ideas and opinions on the problem, since as far as the

government was concerned, officially nothing was being done and the matter was

still in abeyance.

All these events led to the great ``Jihad`` of 1947.

THE JIHAD

The Jihad, as it is popularly called is merely a reaction of the Muslims in Poonch

and NWFP towards the suffering of their Muslim brothers in the valley. The

Maharajah alleged that there were raids from the Punjab side into Kashmir by

Pathan tribesmen with the explicit intention of fomenting trouble and chaos. The

Muslim League distanced itself initially by saying that while it sympathized with

the grievances of Muslims in the valley, it had no intention of interfering in the

internal affairs of the Kashmiris. It is believed that the demonstrations in

Peshawar, of the atrocities inflicted upon Pathans in Kashmir, first egged Pathans

to help

their brethren out in Kashmir. It must be remembered that the Pathans

themselves were great believers in the policy of ``siyaasat`` and are renowned

even today in

Pakistan for their family ties and the tenacity with which they avenge murders.

This intention of revenge made them travel to Kashmir to avenge the atrocities

inflicted

upon their brothers. Their trips was encouraged by Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, the

then governor of NWFP. This gentleman was a native of Poonch himself and was

had the unique advantage of understanding the situation on both sides. In

response to a request for ``500 guns to help themselves liberate Kashmir`` Abdul

Qayyum

Khan provided petrol, lorries, guns, ammunition and food rations for the venture.

It must be mentioned that in spite of Indian propaganda, Qaid-E-Azam Jinnah

does

not seem to have been a part of any ``conspiracy`` though it is impossible to

believe that he was completely in the dark. According to Iskander Mirza, he was

once

informed about some tribal plan to invade Kashmir but stopped the informant

with ``Please tell me nothing. My conscience must remainclear.`` This seems to fit

in

with the general picture of Jinnah never aiding or abetting anything unethical; it

also conveys the feeling thathe was willing to sympathize with the Pathan

tribesmen

but would not covertly or overtly help them. The Qaid-E-Azam deserves praise for

the sensitivity with which he walked the thin line between indifference and covert

help.

According to British reports, around 5000 tribals gathered near the Kashmir

border around the 20th of October to start the ``Jihad`` on Kashmir. They ran into

their

first serious resistance near Muzzafarabad around the 23rd but pushed on to win

Domel, Grahi and Chinari over thenext two days. Their quick victories are to be

attributed to the fact hat they were fighting with great zeal , while the Kashmir

troops were in a fairly advanced state of decay;its top brass were better at

enjoying

*Mushairas * and *Shaam-E-Ghazal * than any serious battle manoueveres. It is

rumored that near Uri, they met with resistance with the troops of Patiala. If this

were

true, it would mean that India had its troops in Kashmir by this date since Patiala

had officially acceded to India in August of 1947. Within days,the advancing

tribals

ended up taking Baramullah,from where it was a matter of time before they took

Srinagar. Other than a few skirmishes, their advance had largely been

unchallenged.

Much hasbeen made of their tendency to loot,( which is deplorable and atleast in

the authors opinion, delayed their arrival in Srinagar) but it must be remembered

that

looting is a feature that has been typical of winning armies since times

immemorial.

It was at this stage ( according to this thesis) they made a serious strategic

mistake.

The authors understanding is that Maharajah Hari Singh and his coterie were busy

with their annual Durbar in Srinagar. They had sent a few pleas to India and were

aware of the fact that Nehru was interested in bailing them out. Swollen with

overconfidence, they were making merrywhen the invading troops blew up the

Mahura

power station. With this thewhole valley was plunged into darkness. Instead of

``letting sleeping dogs lie``, the tribals went out of their way to warn the Maharajah

oftheir arrival in Kashmir. This single incident paralysed everything in the palace

and the Maharajah was left with no illusions as to what would be his fate if the

tribals

really reached Srinagar.

The complacent Maharajah was suddenly vitalized into action and made plans for

escaping to Jammu. Somebody had tipped off Delhi about the invasion of

Kashmir.

Mountbatten in one his more inspired performances insisted that troops could be

sent if and only if the Maharajah acceded formally to India.

From this stage onwards, the ensuing action outstrips that in any modern day

thriller- the Indian side tried every possible ruse to get Kashmir onto their side.

The

incidents of 24th October to 27th October are very controversial and confusing.

The author has therefore decided to rely on non-continental sources since they

would

be more balanced and impartial than continental sources which indulge in

unwanted jingoism. It is generally agreed that the first thing that V.P.Menon did

was to air

dash to Srinagar. He encouraged the Maharajah to continue with his plans of

fleeing to Jammu while asking the pro-IndiaDewan to stay on in Srinagar. This

apparently was to prevent a last minute volte face by the Maharajah. With the

Maharajah out of the way, Menon decided to go to the guest house and ``take

some rest``.

Upon reaching the guest house, he was contacted by the Dewan who advised him

that it was not advisable for * * *them * * * to stay in the city.

They then airdashed back to Delhi in Menons plane and remained closeted with the

cabinet/army chiefs meeting for the next two hours. After that they went

straight to

the house of Sardar Baldev Singh, the Indian defence minister. It is not known as

to what transpired at the meeting, but at 12:45 A.M. Sardar Baldev Singh

announced

that the decision to send two companies of Indian troops to Kashmir. Menon who

was feigning tiredness in Srinagar seemed to recover very quickly! After this

announcement he redashed to Jammu( on the 26th October) to obtain the

signature of the Maharajah on the ``instrument of accession`` after which he

airdashed back

to Delhi.

The ``obtaining the Maharajahs signature on the instrument of accession`` has the

air of an Agatha Christie mystery about it. The paththrough which it was obtained

seems to have been more devious than theway in which Caliph Yazd had Imam

Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) murdered. The most

important thing to remember is that three versions of these events exist-

Menons, Mahajans and Mountbattens.

It is a singular event that no two versions agree on chronology or the specific

time of any particular incident.According to Menon, the Maharajah signed the

accession

on the 26th in Jammu. ( The letter of accession itself is written in a note of regret

though significantly enough, it callsfor military aid from India more in defence of

Indian territory as opposed to friendly help to an alien nation, as was the

Maharajahs tune earlier.)It must be remembered that the Maharajah had left

Srinagar only in

the early hours of the morning of the 26th and his convoy had taken extra time

and halted twice in order to reach Jammu.

By the time they had reached Jammu, it was some time in the evening and the

Maharajah went to sleep``before Menon arrived``( according to Karan Singh, the

Yuvaraj

of Kashmir who subsequently became the home minister of India). If this were

true, it would have been impossible for Menon to obtain the signature of the

Maharajah in the evening and returnto Delhi by the evening of the 26th since the

Maharajah did not reach Jammu by the time Menon reached Delhi. To add to the

confusion, Menon claims that Mahajan accompanied him to Jammu on the 26th

but Mahajan contradicts this; Mahajan claims that on the evening of the 26th got

a

message from Nehru saying that he should ``accompany Mr Menon the next

day(27th October) to Jammu`` which is not mentioned by Menon. Nobody seems

to

agree even on the total number of trips made to Jammu over the three days!

Mahajan describes how the deputy Diwan left for Jammu on the 24th with a

signed copy

of the letter of accession,but does not try to solve the contradiction about the

instrument of accession being signed twice in his version( in Srinagar on the 24th,

Jammu

on the 26th). Further more, Mahajan would have to be a clairvoyant to tell that

the Maharajah would flee to Jammu and send the Deputy Diwanpacking there a

FULL

TWO DAYS in advance.

The solution provided by this thesis is that the arch villain of the letter and related

forgeries is Mehr Chand Mahajan. The moment he knew that Kashmir had been

invaded by the tribals, he had an unknown numberof identical copies of the

``instrument of accession`` cranked out....These copies were signed on various

days and in

various places with the possibility of the Maharajahs signature being forged;

Mahajans plan musthave been to suppress all copies subsequently except the one

that

officially agreed with the whitewashed version given by the Government of

India.A very diabolical plan indeed! It misfired because ``too manycooks spoil the

broth``.

Given the large number of copies of this ``instrument`` available, different people

read out the same contents but with different dates and places. This explains why

all

the people involved on the Indian side stick to their version with such indignation-

Mahajan alone knows which one was signed by the Maharajah and in which place!

( or whether the Maharajah signed the said documentat all!)Considering the fact

that Mahajan carried the secret to hisgrave, we will never know the actual

sequence of

events. All that can be said is that Mahajan could have rivalled the magician

Houdini in his disappearance and reappearance acts. In a humorous vein, it can be

saidthat

the Rembrandt scam that occurred in Europe in the 70s can be traced to the

document scam in Kashmir in 1947.( ``originals`` of Rembrandts paintings would

turn up

at different galleries in Europe simultaneously,at times 3 galleries would claim to

have the ``original`` portrait; an investigation revealed that all these ``originals``

were

fraudulent). If only Mahajan had patented his``Duplication of Documents

Scheme``, he would have collected millions of dollars as royalties from the art

thieves who

duplicated his methods. It must be remembered that Mahajan rose to bethe Chief

Justice of the Supreme Court in India fairly early on bypassing many

luminaries.(Was this a reward for his part in getting Kashmir to accede to India?)

Once the deed was in the hands of the Indians, Indian troops flew into Srinagar

and the war for Kashmir was lost. It was impossible for a band of irregulars, no

matter

how courageous, to defeat a disciplined regular army with the benefit of superior

weaponry.

The author would like to pass over the retaking of the valley by the Indian troops

since he has nothing to add( the official Pakistani and Indian versions agree on

how

the valley was taken by India, and the author would like to express his agreement

of the standard version of the history of take-over by India).

Before closing this chapter, it is necessary to talk about a very unique and brave

British Major who was stationed in Gilgit. Major William Brown was a British Major

who had a reputation of being independent minded and bold. He requested the

local governor Brigadier Ghansara Singh to find out as to which side the local

populace

wanted to join. On receiving no reply, Major William Brown conducted his own

opinion poll and came to the conclusion that the local populace overwhelmingly

favored Pakistan. He initiated a mutiny on the night of the 31st of October and

managed to take the governor prisoner. After capturing all the vital installations,

he

dashed off a telegram to the premier of the NWFP requesting for help. Major

Brown held out till the 16th of October when re-reinforcements were finally sent

in.

While TECHNICALLY guilty of mutiny, Major Brown revealed that his heart was in

the correct place and that he was capable of bold action where desired.

This district is the nucleus of ``Azad Kashmir`` as is known today. Pakistan

belatedly rewarded him with a medal in 1994 for his action in the Kashmir war; his

widow

collected the medal in the name of the dead Major.

Thus ends the sordid episode of Kashmiri accesion through sleight of hand to

India.

Tauseef Ahmed

ylh #17

what kashmir has to do with this topic???

Chowkwala

Adnan.

shandana`s still in thar, but I`m sure she`ll respond to some of the stuff on here after she returns... perhaps not the Kashmir stuff(what the hell was that all about anyhow?).

I`ve had an opportunity to witness Shandana`s relationship with her students at close hand, and really it`s something that I find it difficult to relate to. You see, when I was going to school, a teacher was always this authority figure that came into class, lectured on what was in the book, and then left. There really was no personal connection, no sense of the `teacher-as-a-friend.`

At times I find myself envying Shandana`s students for having a teacher like her... a teacher who would not talk down to them, a teacher who while maintaining discipline interacted with her students as if they were friends. School for these kids seems to have been a lot of fun (and I say this from observing a regular flow of cards, little gifts, notes over the last couple of years. The nature of this relationship seems to have going to school for these kids a pleasurable experience. I contrast this with the drudgery that school was for me. That being said, I do support her decision to quit, because I did see how overwhelming her workload had become towards the end of last year, and how she wasn`t able to devote enough time to writing, which is her true passion (apart from yours truly, of course (insert grin here). Regular Chowk readers must have also noticed the lack of Shandana`s presence on the site.

Now that she`s relatively less occupied (well, she will be soon) I imagine she will be producing stuff with her previous frequency, and even though I am horribly biased, that can`t be a bad thing :-).

Peace,

arif

This is the typical `empty suit` situation.

Since, teaching is the most `unrewarding job`, in monetary terms, people usually take it up when they have nothing better to do.

It helps to put food on the table, while a better opportunity comes along, or to keep you out of mischief, while you are `waila`.

It is also, the best avenue for women of `conservative background` to get out of the house and do something.

In the post ZA Bhutto, era, it was the best way to put your child through private shcool, because teacher`s children went to school free.

The schoool `industry`, also serves as the biggest for all the misfits, jahils, and misanthorps in society (the most inept teachers are usually assigned Urdu or Islamiat, hence the condition of the nation in both areas).

Therefore, it is not unusual for these `empty suits` to make a run for it whenever `better` opportunities arise.

I`ve been reading all these wonderful sentiments of people. How they want to leave the daily drudge of a thankless job and go teach wonderful young students. I have two things to add.

As pointed out by several others, teaching is probably the most thankless job in the world. At least I never see students anywhere thanking their teachers on a regular basis. I see an occasional person thankful for the effort that goes into ``molding young minds``.

Quit aspiring to be a teacher. There is nothing more annoying or aggravating than a teacher who means well, but cannot explain the material in any kind of comprehensible manner. There is a certain talent to being a teacher that all people do not possess. If every schmuck who decided that the younger generation would benefit from his experience decided to retire from the workforce, we would be flooded with well meaning, but unable teachers.

Zizi

shahgul # writes: ``I have never done a more meaningful job than teach another human being and end up with more knowledge myself``

So my secret lifelong desire to be a teacher was not totally crazy. Actually, a couple of times when I taught for a little while as a volunteer teacher support your thesis: When trying to explain the meaning of the Kalima and the Namaz to kids in Sunday School some time back, I realized myself for the first time that there was enough material here to set straight in one go the money-worshippers, the status conscious, and the intolerant Taliban-types.

Shandana:

``...you cannot teach and do something else with anything resembling passion, in which case there isn`t really any point in doing it.``

Are we saying we cannot be passionate about say cooking/reading/loving/writing/acting/teaching/learning/ (pick any two or more) at the same time?

``... I find myself on the brink of a chasm, about to cut myself adrift from my safety cord.``

(silly) *grin * As the head emerges, the newborn`s advent of life is ritualised by a necessary act of separation: the cutting off of umbilical chord. The rest of our three score and ten are spent on forming, strengthening, and the breaking off those newly formed umbilical chords almost in an ordained fashion. One can only try to be selective to a degree. We spent a futile lifetime cutting off those chords. Futile because in the end only the tentative passage of air through our abused lungs and hearts ensures a degree of attachment. And when that is broken, as Saqi said water to water, dust...........

“.....The screen is such a frightening concept; it rips souls from people`s bodies and replaces them with someone else`s.

And I thought most of us lead such a soulless, almost meaningless existence that a true artist (read writer/director/sculptor/actor) infuses soul in their characters to let us see what we could be: if only we try.

love

t

PS: Remember chain reaction?
PPS: Send me Jugnu’s address. Gotta get something off me chest.