Mother gives birth, a teacher gives life, says PM Modi in class

On the eve of Teachers Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday engaged in a candid interaction with students across the country during which he gave tips on how to ignite their minds, improve oratory and advised parents not to impose choices on children.

The prime minister also underscored the need for having good people in politics to take the country to greater heights.

Addressing students and later replying to their questions via video conferencing in the second such initiative, Modi said he has issued direction to replace ‘Character certificates’ with aptitude certificates which will reflect the personality of the students when they leave schools.

A relaxed Modi responded to a range of questions including his school days and dress sense during his 105-minute interaction with 800 students and 60 teachers from schools in Delhi who participated in the event at the Manekshaw auditorium. Students from nine other states joined the programme through video conference.

The PM spoke highly about the role of teachers in nation-building and said he interacts with students on the occasion of Teachers’ Day as students are their identity.

“Mother gives birth to a child, (guru) teacher gives life (jeevan). There will hardly be anyone in the world who will not admit the role of their mother and teacher in their life,” Modi said.

The PM said there must have been great teachers behind every successful doctor, engineer and scientist and exhorted the parents to not force choices on their children.

“Sometimes people wonder why spend time with students on Teachers’ Day. It is because students are teachers’ identity,” he said. There was criticism last year that the prime minister had ignored the teachers when he interacted with students on Teachers’ Day last year.

Modi also launched two commemorative coins -- one of Rs 125 denomination and another of Rs 10 on the occasion.

“A teacher can never retire. Being a teacher is not like any other occupation,” he said.

Modi also said that education should not create “robots” as he emphasised the importance of art and culture in students life.

When a student from Goa asked him about his favourite sport, Modi in a lighter vein responded, “We all know the games politicians play.” He than narrated, how he used to climb trees and learnt swimming.

On politics, he said “Unfortunately politics has acquired a lot of bad name. Talented people from all walks of life are required in politics.”

Elaborating on his direction to issue aptitude certificates, Modi said, “Everybody gets a character certificate from school. I have issued direction to replace character certificate with aptitude certificate,” he said.

Listing various initiatives of his government, Modi said, “My aim is to ensure 24X7 power supply across the country by 2022.” He said 18,000 villages where there is no power will be electrified in the next 1,000 days.

Seeking to give a new dimension to teaching, Modi asked doctors, engineers and civil servants and others who have excelled in their fields to devote one hour every week or hundred hours every year to teaching children.

“This would give new strength to teaching in the country,” he said.

In a lighter vein, he then remarked that politicians would not be the best persons for such a thing. He said that a good teacher may come from anywhere. He cited an instance of an Anganwadi teacher who taught her students about the use of handkerchief to stay clean.

The students posed a range of questions to the PM from his choice of clothes, to his inspirations in life, waste management and how to inculcate leadership qualities.

On the question of clothing, a student asked, Modi kurta has become so very popular. What do you have to say about it?"

“I come from a humble background...the weather in Gujarat is not that cold. So I wore kurta-pyjama. I had to wash my own clothes and full sleeves took more time to clean. So I cut off the sleeves and made it the sleeveless kurta. It made my work easier so I started wearing short-sleeves,” Modi said with a smile.

Modi also had some tips for the young people. “I always made it a point to look tidy. I didn’t have money to get my clothes ironed, so I ironed my kurta with charcoal in a lota (pot),” he said.

The prime minister also said that to whiten his shoes, he took chalk sticks from his school. “After the class, I collected chalks and whitened my canvas shoes with that. This is all I did. I have no fashion designer. But yes, we should be tidy and dress according to occasion,” he said.

On a question on leadership, Modi said that politics has got much maligned but there is need for good, intelligent people to step in this field. He added that the Independence movement under Gandhiji gained strength because people from all walks joined it.

The PM also told children that they should not get deterred by failure in the pursuit of their goals. There would be hardly any person who has not faced failure, he said while suggesting to them to read Eleanor H Porter’s Pollyanna to inculcate a positive outlook in life.

When a student asked him about how he managed mastery in oratory, Modi offered tips on how to become a good speaker. “To be a good orator, you need to be a good listener...Don’t worry about what people will say. Don’t be nervous. You should be confident.”

The PM said a habit of keeping notes would also help in a big way. He urged the students to listen to speeches of renowned orators on YouTube.

“You are google guru vidyarthi (students) after all. If you see other speeches online, you will gain confidence,” he said.

Image: A girl asks Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Teachers Day interaction with students at Maneckshaw Centre. Photograph: Press Information Bureau