Your labour is never in vain

While September 5 is widely celebrated as Teachers’ Day, gratitude for those who sculpt minds and lives need not be tethered to a particular date. It is a debt that demands no calendar—only a heart willing to remember. Thus, today, I turn to the enduring medium of print, using the pages of the leading newspaper of J&K, Greater Kashmir, to convey my heartfelt gratitude to two teachers who left a lasting impression on me: Prof. (Dr.) Chuni Lal Vishen, the visionary chairman of Caset/Walden Higher Secondary School, and Mir Muzaffar Sir, a teacher at the same institute.

In 2012, as I enrolled in Journalism course and scribbled human-interest stories after completing my degree, I was suddenly reminded of Muzaffar Sir. A vivid flashback transported me to a particular day of my eight-grade: the day I effortlessly concocted an elaborate story to dodge punishment for skipping a mandatory test.

My alibi crumbled when my elder sister arrived, unexpectedly, to inquire about my academic progress the very next day. In those days, when corporal punishment, wryly dubbed aqilnuma by teachers was the default response to every such transgression, I braced myself for caning. Instead, Muzaffar Sir, a man of still waters, told my sister matter-of-factly, “Your brother has a knack for storytelling. He can become a great writer one day.” Here was the teacher who saw spark where others saw only deceit or crime. That is what set him apart. He was known for his refined language, and serene demeanour. He never raised his voice, yet his dignified persona commanded such respect that even the most unruly pupils fell into line - demonstrating, exemplarily, one need not be loud to be effective.

If Muzaffar Sir taught us grace, Prof. Vishen Sir kindled in us a hunger for general knowledge. In a pre-internet Kashmir Valley, he had already turned Caset/Walden into a lighthouse of learning; acquainting us with the world beyond the lofty Himalayas. Morning assemblies under his watch were not mere rituals: world geography, human physiology, scientific formulae, periodic table, historical dates and events and similar odds and ends were chanted like mantra.

He envisioned Caset/Walden as “cassettes of knowledge”: Press play and insights should pour forth. Vishen Sir’s brilliance was not confined to academics alone. His zeal to appreciate the teachers was also equally inspiring. For instance, when he conducted impromptu oral tests/quizzes in the class, he rewarded the teacher when their pupils performed well.

This piece, though centered on two luminaries, is undoubtedly a tribute to teachers who labour in the quiet. To teachers and educators everywhere: Your labour is never in vain. Without you, we would be adrift.

Through this enduring medium, I hope these words reach Vishen Sir and Muzaffar Sir as a belated but much needed shukriya.

Muhammad Kamran Shamshad, Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Civil Secretariat, J&K, Srinagar/ Jammu