The Gods of
Small Things
by Vijai Pant
Dear readers, do not be
misled by the title. I state categorically that
what follows is neither a poor attempt at
plagiarism nor a critique of the award-winning
novel, irrespective of the plural used. It is,
rather, a glimpse into my professional life, and
the lives of many others like me, in the capacity
of the ‘village schoolmaster,’ nay, the
‘city teacher.’
Let me take you into flashback mode with a recent
development that forced me to reflect. I was
given the additional responsibility of ‘Academic
Head- Linguistics,’ by the principal, with
the license to walk into any English language
class and observe the teaching there. With eight
years of experience behind me I felt reasonably
entitled to this appellation.
Armed with a register and a format to be filled,
I set out enthusiastically, noting down classroom
flaws. Aren’t we conditioned to focus only
on what is missing, ignoring the many meaningful
moments that do happen? By month’s end, I
had completed the six mandatory observations. I
submitted my reports to the principal, who
thanked me and placed them aside with a cryptic,
“I’ll see these later” remark. Little
did I know that my sincerity was stirring silent
ripples. Two of my colleagues, whose classes I
had observed, were also ‘Activity In-charges.’
Without being as conspicuous as me, they too had
diligently completed their documentation work.
Over six months into the role, the initial zeal
has ebbed, as has the warmth in my peer
relationships. Not once have I been called upon
to discuss improvements in teaching. I suspect
the feedback given by my colleagues has met the
same quiet fate.
This year, the list of ‘vanity labels’
has grown even more impressive. We now have
‘Learning Outcome Coordinators,’ ‘Curriculum
Enrichment Facilitators,’ ‘Assessment
Strategists,’ ‘Talent Identification
Leaders’ and what not. Nearly 80% of the
staff carries these ‘feel-good flourishes,’
and the newcomers are as pleased as we once were.
Wonder if this tactic is borrowed from the
private sector, where a new post is created every
day to boost morale without addressing pay scales.
In a designation-obsessed society like ours, the
label often matters more than the substance. But
still on campus, while you may strut before
students as someone important, outside, you are
just a teacher.
Thus, I had failed to see how this formula truly
plays out in the education field, until the
principal summoned me for a dressing down.
Apparently, our casual water-cooler conversations,
painting her exactly as she was, had found their
way back to her, verbatim, courtesy of the
surfeit of titles pricking falsely inflated egos.
The more the merrier for the school
administration and for reasons that suddenly
appeared so obvious.
‘The Gods of Small Things,’ well and
truly at work.
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