‘Aim for the sky, you’ll reach the treetop’

Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Nuh, Haryana

Who is your favourite teacher?

I have a Chemistry teacher at school who reminds us that we need to constantly push ourselves, else, we might just have to get married early. But my respect for him grew after the violence in the city. When school reopened after the curfew, he told us not to worry. He said, ‘Jaise tum ho, waise hum hain (I’m just like you)’. I was glad that he did not see us apart and checked in on us every now and then. Once when he noticed that I was spending a lot of time on social media and my attention span was waning, he spoke to me about it. He said that the longer my screen time is, the stronger corporates benefit from it. I went home and uninstalled apps that very day.

What you wish teachers wouldn’t do?

My sister is a teacher and the one thing I always tell her is not to raise her hand on a student. Children are quite young, and a beating could go terribly wrong. Recently, when I saw the video of a teacher asking students to beat a Muslim child in Muzaffarnagar, I wondered if teachers shared the same thoughts while caning and punishing students. Fortunately, I have never had a teacher who beat me because most of them speak to us and help resolve our issues even when we are underperforming.

One thing you wish teachers would do?

My school is a girl’s school and one thing I want to see is younger women teachers. Most of my teachers are old and I wish they knew us better. I think younger teachers would approach us with a greater level of empathy.

Also, my school has poor infrastructure — no benches or tables, no laboratories or good libraries and the ceiling of our classroom leaks after every rain — I wish our teachers did something to make it better.

Would you like to be a teacher when you grow up? 

I would like to be a police officer. Nuh is one of the most backward regions in the country and we have no Muslim women in the force here. When I become one, many young girls will find it easier to take this path. My parents are poor and people tell them that I should be married off rather than be sent to school. I told my father to send me to a government school and to give me some time. I chose Science, thinking I would have other professions to fall back on if this did not work out, but for the January 26 parade at school, when I wore the khaki uniform, my father looked so proud. He said I looked the part. I would have pursued a career as a teacher if it were not for this dream. So, I plan to go to a coaching centre at Mukherjee Nagar to prepare for the SI (Sub Inspector) test. If you aim for the sky, you will at least reach the treetop; if I aim to be an SI, I could end up as a constable. 

As told to Aiswarya Raj