गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः

16 July 2019 were marked by too many events this year. And all of them were important.

Firstly - It was my birthday that day. I turned 40 and apart from students celebrating the teachers birthday, the day was pretty much uneventful, which I liked.

Secondly - It was गुरु पूर्णिमा that day. And hence for the 1st time, my birthday coincided with a truly auspicious event. PG students celebrated that day with style like they do every year. And I received a rose from my PG student. This year I became a PG guide and received my 1st PG student, Dr. Tejashri Jaju. An extremely sweet & sincere girl. And a positive, fresh entry in my life.

Thirdly - That day marked Lunar eclipse which started from 4.55 pm and continued up to 24 hours.

I becoming a PG guide for the very 1st time and receiving a student too, I would like to write a few words on गुरु पूर्णिमा and Guru. 

I start by writing a shloka, which I have copied from the net

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य ज्ञानाञ्जनशालाकया चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नम

The meaning is (also copied from the net): 

"Prostrations to that Guru who, by the rod of Knowledge, opens the eyes of those who are rendered blind by the darkness of ignorance (Guru Gita)".

"The Guru is God Himself manifesting in a personal form to guide the aspirant. Grace of God takes the form of Guru. To see the Guru is to see God. The Guru is united with God. He inspires devotion in others. His presence purifies all".

Hence, after reading the meaning of the above extremely complex Sanskrit shloka, I am happy to know that I will be somewhat personally removing the darkness in my students life. And I will try my level best to constantly update myself & her too.

My PG guide, Dr. Ainapure was God for me. Its due to him and his devotion & dedication for teaching that gave me the desired success in MD Pharmacology exams. I had passed in my 2nd attempt but that was solely due his efforts. I feel PG teaching is a combined effort. And to teach a PG student one needs to have a lot of motivation, dedication, effort & time and none of my teachers who were teachers in the parent college I studied, were interested in PG teaching. Who the hell takes so much efforts. And I too lacked in terms of personal efforts, motivation, perseverance & dedication. So, the second time when I actually awoke, Dr. Ainapure's attempts helped cross my boat through the high tide.

Hence with the experiences I have, I choose to take the good things and leave behind the bad PG experiences and pass the enthusiasm of teaching & learning to my 1st PG student.

Dr. Nirmala Rege too has been a teacher too me in many ways. Though I have never met her during my student life and I wished I could have met her as a teacher during the formative student life. I joined as a faculty in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Seth G. S. Medical College & K. E. M. Hospital where I had the privilege of working with her for 9 long years. Yes, she removed the wits out of me, but if it wouldn't have been that way, I would have remained the same old GAVAR. There is a well known Hindi saying also heard most of the times in Hindi movies - 'Mein apne khise jhatkunga to lakho nikal aayenge'. The same applies to Rege madam. She would just donate knowledge for free. In fact, if I would not know something she would insist that I better learn. 

I feel a teacher should

1. have a pleasant personality even at the times when they are typically not playing the role of The Teacher. 

2. be non-assuming. He/ She should be open in giving out wisdom & knowledge.

3. strictly mind his/ her own business & not bitch around trying to unnecessarily know what other teachers are doing or berate junior teachers.

4. treat all students equally and not differentiate them based on various differentiating factors. 

I have seen & recently also experienced that certain teachers, behave and conduct themselves extremely well when & where they have to but are extreme opportunists, many a times in an extremely wrong way. They sense and use certain situations to show that they are all time great teachers. A PG student can be anyone's student & you can be anyone, but they are the bestest of all and all the students should respect them, seek for them and acknowledge only them as the 'Power of the Universe'.

Such a behavior is extremely irritating and I guess a teacher should avoid indulging otherwise. But many choose to be otherwise & refrain from being the wiser beings.

But, I am more than happy with my own progress and am still learning to avoid, fight, ignore, remain calm etc etc.

Till I achieve that level of maturity, goodbye readers only to grab one more opportunity of meeting you all once again on this platform.