On Teachers’ Day 2021, An Ode To Our Pandemic Era Online Teaching Struggles

A poem dedicated to all my fellow teachers. This has been a strange time indeed, but let’s consider it a short break from our ordinary lives.

To all the dear ones, who share with me,
the title of a teacher?
The year that went by, has been
something of a bitter-sweet creature.

You no longer need to worry
about what to wear to work anymore,
Throw on a decent top, shorts or loose pajamas –
a new fashion score!

A meeting no longer means canteen ki chai
and banter around some tables and chairs,
It’s mostly about a screen, your earphones
and making your own chai, if you’ve got time to spare!

In the days that went by, when people said ‘My connection is poor’
it said a lot about their social skills,
But my dear teachers, today it means –
You got to pay off your internet service provider’s mounting bills!

When times were simpler,
a hand in class was raised, in full flesh and blood,
But the hands raised today
are more like a digital flood.

And did you notice, when ‘Be Quiet’ became –
‘Mute Yourselves, please’?
You never agreed to play ‘Statue’,
but you might just still freeze!

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If the mask wasn’t enough, we now hide
behind our cameras, enjoying introverts’ thrills,
Whatever happened to public speaking, body language
and oratory skills?

Elocution speeches are now read out through a screen,
dances are taught in mirror image,
And while you share-screen and teach,
students grab snacks, through the fridge, they rummage!

Did you ever know you’re good with
putting young ones to bed, so they can fall asleep?
Not on a desk and chair, but on their beds,
while you lull them into a slumber, as you speak.

The mike won’t work and the camera stays off,
the internet shall crash,
If internet-crash investigation was made into a show,
it could make such a splash!

The eyes of the students, meticulously trained
to look at either the teacher or a blackboard,
Are now wandering like little gnomes,
playing games and browsing the net, whenever they’re bored.

A test is no longer a test of knowledge,
writing prowess and concept clarity,
It is now a test of honesty,
the resistance to copy and a moral disparity!

When you interviewed for the job dear teacher,
you said you liked to be with children a lot,
Did you ever know, you’d be pushed behind a screen,
separated by com and a dot?

When they wanted to look closer and magnify,
they’d say – Kindly zoom
Who had imagined it would evolve someday
into a massive classroom!

So take heart dear teachers,
lesser leaves of absence you now take,
We shall soon be back where we belong – in a class.
Let’s just call this a short-break.

Image source: chenspec on pixabay

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