Teaching is not just a profession but a means to make difference and impact lives – this is the belief of many youngsters who are taking up ‘not so glamourous’ jobs of academicians. They have a common goal – to make a difference in their lives as well as in the lives of students.
For Kannur’s Abhilasha KP, being a teacher became her strength when she faced a life-threatening disease. Abhilasha has a tumor in her brain. This ignited her will to work harder and make difference in children’s lives. She is on medication that might last lifelong.
For Kashmir’s Mairan Zargar, becoming a teacher gave him a purpose in his life. Quitting a cushiony corporate job, Zargar found a sense of satisfaction in becoming a teacher even if it meant teaching from his home while Kashmir when under lockdown. Despite earning well he claims he always ‘felt empty’ but teaching kids gave him new hope. Now, he is a teacher with Vedantu, an online tutoring platform.
Meet Abhilasha
The 27-year-old is vice-principal in Stein Mount Sr. Secondary School and had to go through a hard time as a child when her parents were undergoing separation. It was her schoolteacher who helped her through and this made Abhilasha take teaching as a profession, to pass on the positivity.
“Bindu ma’am used to teach me science. When I was lost she was the one who guided me and till now I am grateful for that. She inspired me to choose this profession and I dream to become even a better teacher,” Abhilasha said.
Abhilasha started working as a teacher for NEET aspirants when she was only 22 years old to support herself.
She has completed her graduation and postgraduation in Botany and a BEd in science and she even got placement after completing her degrees. However, after six months of working as a teacher, she was fired from the job as her medical condition started becoming worse. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Still undergoing treatment, she claims she wants to make the most of her life by helping make an impact on her students’ lives.
Meet Mairan Zargar
Mairan Zargar quit his job to become a teacher. He is 28 years old and is working as a teacher with Vedantu, an online tutoring platform. “I took a big risk in life by quitting my 9 to 5 job, but each day while I teach students I feel it was worth it,” he adds.
Mairan started doing a regular corporate job after completing his engineering in 2017, but despite earning well he claims he always felt empty as a person which lead to him leaving the job.
However, things did not work out in Mairan’s favor when he went back to Srinagar, Kashmir, his hometown. Article 370 got scrapped and the entire state was put under curfew so he could not teach any students in school or coaching classes. “In 2020 I got a few students coming to my home and when I was finally satisfied with what I was doing in life the covid-19 pandemic hit us in March. However, the satisfaction that I could impact student’s lives kept my hopes alive,” Mairan added.
While Abhilasha’s mom left home because she was depressed, she is left with her father in Kannur, Kerala. In spite of all the struggles, she is satisfied because teaching is something that brings her peace.
Mairan, on the other hand, when was struggling to teach students during the pandemic focused on improving his skills as a teacher. He invested that time in reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching videos on how to be a better teacher. Later in 2021 he finally decided to give a shot to online teaching and since then life for him has become better.
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