Educationists, administrators, sports and music personalities share Teachers’ Day reflections, highlighting teachers’ role in shaping character, nurturing talent and building responsible citizens.
DIMAPUR — On the eve of Teachers' Day, prominent personalities from education, administration, sports and music shared how teachers shaped their lives, stressing that teaching is not just a profession but a calling that builds the nation.
Dr. Maongwati Aier, proprietor of Lima Aier Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, and former principal secretary to the government of Nagaland, recalled joining college in Shillong in 1975. His father, an alumnus of the same college, had introduced him to the principal.
"The greatest thing that impacted me was his very compassionate nature and the way he corrected me. As a young Naga, I had many errors, I was not punctual and not well-mannered. But he corrected me with love and taught me about character and moral values," he said.
Aier said the principal always emphasised that while syllabus is important, moral values and character are most important, which shaped him into a better person.
He noted that the educator mentored generations of students from the Northeast, including many who went on to become IAS officers and chief secretaries.
He said the same values helped him in his own civil service career.
"As bureaucrats, we implement programmes and policies. But it is the teachers who build the nation, because they nurture children in the classroom to be real citizens and builders of society," he added.
He urged teachers to lead from the front. "People do not just hear what we speak, they look at who we are. If we talk about punctuality, we have to be punctual. If we talk about discipline, we have to live a disciplined life. If we talk about respect, we must respect our students so they become responsible citizens," he said.
M Gnana Nirmala, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil., C.P.Ed, recalled her school days in a Tamil medium school where a devoted English teacher taught her grammar with great dedication. That foundation inspired her teaching career.
She taught in Catholic schools in Tamil Nadu for three years before moving to Nagaland in 1977. "I devoted my life to Naga children and tried my best in all ways. I was also a scout and guide teacher and taught Social Sciences and English," she said.
She said she focused not just on books but on discipline, morals and guiding students to choose a successful career.
"Till date I am remembered in their hearts. My students are all over the world — in UK, USA, everywhere. As a spinster, that love is the greatest asset I earned," she said.
Nirmala said children today are in a digital world and should not be forced. "A teacher is not a person who has learnt and is just giving whatever is learnt. Throughout our life we can keep on learning," she said, adding that she now runs a YouTube channel from her residence to teach grammar and share a thought for the day.
Khekiye K Sema, former IAS officer, gave a candid account of being academically poor. He said his school in Shillong had a grading system with gold, blue, pink and yellow cards, and he mostly received yellow cards for low grades. He was particularly weak in Mathematics and Hindi.
Despite that, in Class 7, the principal made him a house captain and prefect, though senior students were part of the same house.
"That had a serious impact on my thinking. Where I didn't have self-confidence, he placed confidence in me. He taught me that life is not purely on academic merit," Sema said.
He failed in Class 7 in 1965 and was told he would have to repeat the class if he stayed. He then joined Government High School, Kohima.
There, a strict Mathematics teacher noticed he was good in other subjects but would fail matriculation if he failed in Maths. Four to six months before the final exam, the teacher called him for extra classes for two to three hours daily at his residence.
"As a youngster, I felt he was punishing me when all my friends were having fun. I used to curse him. But he was looking at the possibility of improving my grade," Sema said.
With a pass mark of 30%, he scored 31% in Maths and secured exactly 60% overall, getting a first division.
"We are not mature enough to understand how our teachers try to help us," he said. Years later, after becoming an officer in the Education Directorate, he visited the teacher to thank him. "He had tears in his eyes and said I was the first student who came back to say thank you."
Imtila Aier, Director of Lima Aier Higher Secondary School, said her teachers were kind, committed and encouraging, and she is where she is today because of them.
Recalling a strict yet loving Maths teacher and supportive English teachers, she shared a life lesson from another teacher who told her that small temptations are like small arrows, and if one cannot resist them, one cannot say no to big things.
Born in the 1960s when drug culture was prevalent, she said many of her friends got involved in drugs and alcohol. "It is because of her teaching, till today I have never touched alcohol. I am free," she said.
She said her school believes every child is uniquely created with purpose and potential and must be moulded spiritually, physically, mentally and socially.
"Teaching is not a profession, it's a calling. The responsibility God has given us is because He trusts us," she said, quoting that one should not get weary of doing good.
Sanjay Chetri, Organisational Secretary, Dimapur District Taekwondo Association, said teachers teach us to be good human beings and society has changed because of education.
"In taekwondo also, wherever we go we get respect as teachers. We always bow to our masters because we have learned from them," he said, thanking his masters for believing in him and giving him training.
Neikoulie Khezhie, voice teacher at Mountain Music Academy, said he was inspired to pursue music as a career after seeing a renowned musician's photos on magazine covers, reading articles, watching live performances and later meeting him at a workshop in Kohima.
His first music teacher taught him basics for three months, including an Italian classical song. He came to Dimapur in 2009 to study music at Hope Center for Excellence, Nagarjan. The biggest challenge was learning to sing in German and Italian.
He said he could not study abroad but his teachers in Nagaland prepared him for international exams. Describing his mentor as witty, humorous and spot-on, he said a song that reminds him of his teacher is 'Music of the Night' from The Phantom of the Opera.
"We become products of our environment. A teacher's qualities are passed down to students," he said, thanking his teachers.