Wednesday, October 3, 2018

How Teachers' Feel When their Students Do Well and Remember Them

It's been four or five years since I have been teaching the 'Arts Management' course at the Department of Dance, University of Hyderabad. It's a course that started in the right earnest - I was one of the last resources they tried just before they were about to give up. I found it an interesting challenge. To share my learning about how to manage 'art' - as a writer I felt I had seen some part of the lonely journey of an artist, of dealing with the self-doubt that creeps in, and with a background as a corporate manager with some exposure to marketing and advertising, I felt I could help.

Having been a cricketer who reached some level of representation and then could not sustain the upward journey, I had personal learnings that could be shared. The first batch of students were exceptionally good and their response gave me the confidence to take the course forward. Then another batch and another and another. I kept evolving and my themes got sharper as I understood them better - being secure, learning mindset, how to be an expert, artistic vision, goal setting and preparation, 4 Ps of marketing. It's such a heartening feeling when I see the old students share posts on social media about performances, getting awards and just knowing that they are on their journey.

However, last year's batch was different in the sense that I did not have as much time with them as I did for the earlier batches for various reasons. By the time we could get the basic things going, the semester was over and I felt that perhaps I could not make as big an impact as I thought I would. In all these years, if someone were to ask me, this would have been my 'failure'. No enough expert interactions, not enough performances, not enough anything.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I saw a post on fb today, and then another and another, when my students expressed themselves after their convocation and remembered me in their thanks.

That's when I felt how a teacher feels when a student remembers them out of the blue. A well-intended effort to make a difference going home is worth it all. A full heart, and a feeling of immense satisfaction. And of gratitude. Since these words will remain as some of my most cherished, a validation that it was not a 'failure', I would like to capture them here.

"Also Harimohan Paruvu sir.... Your classes has made me to really think about how one should lookup to build up their career... And I got inspired a lot from those sessions of urs and I will definately try my best to achieve them.. Thank you sooo much sir....."
- Anjali

"Thank you for everything Dr. Anuradha Jonnalagadda Ma'am, Dr Aruna Bhikshu Ma'am, Dr Sivaraju sir , DSV.Sastry sir , & also Harimohan Paruvusir for all those beautiful thoughts you induced into our restricted thinking brains. The dept of Dance Will always be grateful and I promise to improve my standards in every work that I do!!!
- Sravya

"University professors Dr.Aruna Bhikshu mam,Dr.Anuradha mam , Dr.shivaraju sir, D.S.V sastry sir & Harimohan Paruvu sir.. With your able guidence and mentoring , I am groomed and succesfully passed out. All the credit to this acheivement is due to your relentless support given to me with lot of care and concern during my course. Iam greatfull to you alwaysI Promise all my GURUS that i always be passionate and dedicated artist🙏
 - Anuradha

















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