Hello! The beautiful sunset glows to give a beautiful bright morning. Here is the thirty first video about Ruchi taking on a new career in the book ‘Spinning into a Career’.
Ruchi applies for jobs in schools and colleges, but many of the government institutions have few vacancies for the general category. Most of the vacancies advertised are for reserved categories. Vacancies for the general category are either sold or gifted to influential people. She gets a call letter from a school attached junior college. She is interviewed, selected and appointed for the job. Ruchi receives two pay checks for the school and the junior college. She gives the check having a larger amount to her mother and the other one she uses for herself. She enjoys teaching. She gets an experience certificate that mentions that she is an honest and hard working teacher.
We shall move to chapter eight which describes the New Blossom school, Alliances and her engagement.
Ruchi gets down at Stellar Road to go to New Blossom School. A cool atmosphere pervades the two floor building interspersed by trees and potted plants. A brightly painted cafe is on the ground floor. New Blossom has the headmaster’s office on the right hand side of the first floor, an assembly hall on the third floor and an open space in the front yard which students use for playing. Headmaster K.C. Pandya supervises her teaching in New Blossom. He is satisfied and checks her credentials. She is stunned when the principal inquires if her Bachelor of Education marks are fabricated. She is given an appointment letter and asked to join the school and the college in June.
Ruchi teaches English to Junior college students. The teenagers observe that Ruchi is new to the profession. They try to amuse themselves by trying to place a rose flower on her hair. But Ruchi thwarts their attempt by spinning around. On the first day, she is given fourth, sixth and eighth grade to teach in the school and eleventh and twelfth grades in the junior college. Unit preparation for teaching is a must everyday. Ruchi is asked to go downstairs to take up kindergarten classes. No amount of talking or scolding can control the toddlers. A kid goes under the bench and cannot be seen. Four other kids go under the bench. A small boy is holding a small girl’s hand and is dancing. One kid is singing. Two other kids are pulling each other’s shirts and are quarrelling. One of them eyes the teacher and winks. Perplexed Ruchi cannot face the situation in the classroom.
She comes out and informs the principal that she is comfortable with high school and junior college students. They make her life interesting. If she is to teach the physical features of a country or a continent, students read the encylopedia and get interesting information for her. She elucidates and enhances the understanding of the topic. She is assigned the task of teaching English literature to students of standard eight who nearly study all subjects in Gujarati till the sixth grade. She reads English slowly with expressions. Students listen to her and ask her questions to clarify their doubts.
There are a good number of aristocratic students, sons of Gujarati businessmen. Students invest in stock markets. They update everyday, the value of their shares. If shares go down, they say, “Nuksaan thayu”. Kiran Muchal, a student is very much interested in the stock market. School begins with an assembly, where a group of artistes from Gujarat sing bhajans in Gujarati. Narsimha Mehta’s bhajans are exotic. News in English is read for the day. An English teacher is appointed to practice news reading for students. Ruchi has her turn too. The assembly includes excerpts from M.K. Gandhi’s ‘ The Story of My Experiments with Truth’. Important announcement for the day is made during assembly.
Thank you for listening. We shall continue with New Blossom school in the next video. Till then, goodbye!
Video can be viewed on You Tube by typing, ‘Spinning into a Career’ by Usha Raman.
