CE Block, New Town
New Town’s CE Block celebrated Teachers’ Day by felicitating six professors and teachers who have recently moved into the block. The event began with music by Satabdi Ghosh, Madhumita Basu, Somdutta Roy Chowdhury and Tapati Sarkar and secretary of the block association, Alok Das, said that the purpose of the event was to appreciate and honour the contributions of those who impart knowledge and shape the future of the country.
The event was moderated by Subhajit Basu, one of the residents. The teachers spoke of how teaching is not just a profession but a process that requires commitment, patience and dedication. “The entire day teachers have to multi-task,” said Prabhash Ranjan Routh, a former political science professor at Raiganj University.
“A teacher should be a good listener and encourage young minds to unleash their creativity. I am still in touch with my students and love interacting with them. I feel overwhelmed by the messages and calls I receive on this day every year.” Bibhas Pramanik, a former professor at the University of Burdwan, touched upon the nuances of teaching and the challenges that they face.
Anindita Mitra, an associate professor at Charnock College of Nursing, said the most rewarding part of their job is seeing young minds bloom. “My message to students is that they should set goals, cultivate confidence and embrace challenges that come their way,” she said. Paramita Chakraborty, physics teacher at Gyan Bharati Balika Vidyalaya, said she constantly looks to reduce the study pressure and find ways to evoke interest and curiosity in students.
“I try to want to remove the perception that physics is complex subject by making the topics relatable. The art of teaching lies in the love for students. We have an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, which goes beyond textual knowledge,” she said. Tanisha Mahanti, an English honours student recited a self-composed poetry as an ode to the teachers. A medical student Agnibho Ghosh presented a speech about pitfalls of the education system and how it forces students to chase marks rather than understand concepts. Srijita Talukdar
Susomoy
Members of DL Block’s literary and cultural group Susomoy organised a meet on Teachers’ Day to discuss the memorable teachers in their lives. And besides school teachers, members also mentioned their music teachers, hostel superintendents and mothers. “As a child, my voice was baritone-like and people would advise my father to enroll me in some instrument-learning class instead of singing. But my father sent me to Suchitra Mitra’s music school Rabitirtha.
Mitra eventually included me in her core group and I even released a cassette in 1994,” said Alo Basu, who singled Mitra out for her support in her life. Shelly Basu spoke of her Bengali teacher Prabha Das, Jayanti Basu of her music teacher Banani Ghosh and Sanghita Sengupta spoke of her mother.
Ajanta Mitra narrated how her hostel superintendent Sulata Singha Roy taught her discipline, time management, scriptures, chores and a love for mathematics. “She even got us to knit sweaters for the soldiers during the 1962 war,” Mitra said.
Scientist Aloka Sen mentioned legendary teachers at Jadavpur University like Kshetra Prasad Sen Sharma, Amalendu Bandyopadhyay and Shantimoy Niyogi for motivating her and engineer Sujit Dutta spoke about his neighbour revolutionary Joarder. “He taught us swimming, riding, shooting, formed as ports team and used to tell us about freedom fighters. His holistic mentoring taught us discipline. He even introduced us to the revolutionary, Nikunja Sen,” said Dutta.
Sakila Khatun, a teacher of BD Block’s Bidhannagar Government High School, defined a teacher as anyone who opened avenues and extended a helping hand. She mentioned the role of her parents in building her character, discipline and time-management skills, which are the keys to success.
“While pursuing B.Ed, our teacher Nikhil Dasgupta had predicted my successful career as a teacher. I must also mention former minister Partha De, without whose intervention I would not have found a shelter in Bankura at the start of my career when I was posted there.” “Though our members hail from different professions, some of them have become teachers themselves to coach underprivileged students on behalf of Susomoy,” said geologist Sujata Bhuti, whose brainchild Susomoy is. Bhuti herself spoke of her mother and music teacher Enakshi Chattopadhyay. Bharati Kanjilal