“*I know how to become a competent faculty and a successful person but somehow, I can’t put shoulders to the wheel and pull enough. I’m so much into too many things. Please show me the way”, says a faculty. *
First ask yourself, “do I consider teaching as a noble profession? Am I a bit” or “a bit more”, “a too much of a hypocrite”or a man with ample wisdom?
Every one of us is born quite unique and have distinctive challenges. I have my own. You have your own. There is a no fall guy in us. We’re individually cutting through the same thick forest and finding a way. Some have sharp and heavy axes and some have light and blunt ones. but broadly, we seemingly fall into one of the four broad categories.
Category “A” is a bit type. A bit happy-go-lucky faculty, a bit of home, a bit of gym, a bit of helping in running the house, sending a child to school, a bit of going to a Mall for a movie, a bit of time-spending with the spouse, parents, and friends, a bit of holidays etc. “A” is into bits and well dispersed, takes a limited juice out of life at an easy pace and lives with limited aspirations, largely detached from the pride in teaching profession.
”Category B” is a bit more. A sharp, focused to learning n’ skilling, cuts-out priorities, a challenger of the odds, an achiever, ready to do heavy-lifting, proactive and goes where others hesitate to tread the path, priorities weighing in favour of profession for the first couple of decades, rises in ranks, earns enough, shifts higher priority focus to family, mid-way through the life. Aspires higher but settles for whatever gets and feels happy having largely managed her/his life and career. Takes pride in teaching.
Category C” A super communicator, exhibitionist, with exponential outreach, often very smart at the networking. Jumps to the position of a VC far faster, and capable of effectively leveraging networking as a tool to even head a regulatory or accreditation body, often dominates, doesn’t care a fig, least the empathy and sentiments of others, believes in ‘my way is highway’. Remove her/him from the position of authority, people would turn their faces away from her/him.
Category D” A simple, decent, humane, grounded in values and ethics. A fountain-head of knowledge, visionary and endowed with wisdom to govern effectively. A trustworthy gentleman who cares for the good and development of people. Steps out and touches life of people by offering help to those who need the most. A true institution-builder and a true son of India.
-Can we relate ourselves to one of the above categories ? Do the above spike us enough to introspect and charter a route and pick up a better tool to cut through the forest a bit better and find a sure way out of the woods ?
By Prof JR Sharma-the Mentor to HEIs.
