“A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future.” – Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Teachers are the hands that guide us through the phase of our childhood. They play a major role in our school lives. They are the first people who encourage us to be creative, trigger our curiosity and activate logical questioning and reasoning. Let us remember our mentors on this Teacher’s Day.

Role of teachers
Teachers are the people who mold children’s career and future. The primary role of a teacher is to deliver classroom instructions that will help them learn. Teachers prepare effective lessons to ensure that students excel in their academics. Apart from this, there are limitless roles a teacher plays in the lives of children.

Teachers become guardians
Schools tremendously contribute to a child’s development. Teachers are a major part of the formative years that shape their personality. Children spend most of their time with teachers where they develop a comfort zone. They feed the children when in need, they become friends that share joys and sorrows, resulting in a strong bond of trust.
With the guidance of teachers, children learn certain values like they would learn at home from their parents. They learn social skills like making friends, distinguishing between right and wrong, when to seek help from others or when to be independent.

Teachers are mentors
Students always look up to their teachers and may unknowingly imitate them too. Often children walk up to their teacher for small and big issues and the teachers reciprocate amicably to solve their issues. Teachers also provide guidance to their aspirations so that children have a clearer picture of their goals and the ways to achieve it.

Stories of children who have taken inspiration from their teachers

Shruti is a 3rd standard from Telangana who is inspired by her Biology teacher. Though she is not sure of what she wants to be when she grows up yet, becoming a teacher is definitely one of her options. Her school, Margons Ragon School hosted a Science Exhibition that Shruti was a part of. Her teacher slid a slide of what looked like a dead piece of algae, under a microscope. To Shruti’s surprise, the algae that she saw in the microscope was moving! She was inspired to teach such interesting topics to other children.

Shravani is a 9th standard student who aims to be a teacher. Her desire to be a teacher grew stronger as she entered high school. If there was an issue that she encountered, be it study-related or anything related to academics, she would share it with her favourite teacher – Ms. Usha Rani. She was inspired by how her problems would vanish as soon as she shared with her teacher. On growing up, she wants to become a teacher who is very close to her students where all of them confide and her.

Munna is a 14-year-old boy studying in M.P Prathamika Patashala, Telangana who wants to be a Telugu teacher. He feels that values, morals and education should be imparted in the local language since it is easily understood. He is inspired to be a Telugu teacher from his Telugu teacher whom he was able to connect with ease. Munna says, the amount of impact a local language has on children will not have the same impact as a foreign language.

Conclusion
On this Teacher’s Day, honour your favourite teacher by taking care of children who aspire to take forward this profession. Donate for children’s Happiness Bags with Akshaya Patra. The NGO that works towards its core cause of feeding mid-day meals to children has initiated the Happiness Bag Programme to support health and education of children amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Raksha Bandhan is a Sanskrit word where ‘Raksha’ means protection and ‘Bandhan’ means relationship. It is an age-old tradition that is observed in India to celebrate the strong bond between brothers and sisters. On this day, a sister ties an amulet called ‘rakhi’ on the wrist of her brother’s wrist as a symbol of seeking protection and care. These days, sisters also take up the role of a protective brother, truly making this day a celebration of sibling-bond.

Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month – Shraavana. This year, it will be celebrated in India on 3rd August. There are many stories behind the reason for celebrating this day. All the stories strongly iterate only one promise – the promise to protect.

Story of Draupadi and Krishna
This story dates back to the epic Mahabharata. On one Makar Sankranti, Krishna was cutting sugarcane when he accidentally cut his finger. His wife, Rukmini, sent an official to get first aid. In the meantime, Draupadi reacting with her quick instincts, tore a bit of her saree and tied his cut finger to reduce the bleeding. Krishna promised in return, to help her when she was in need.

The story of Yama and Yamuna
According to one legend, Yamuna (a river in India) tied a rakhi to the Lord of death – Yama, who in turn granted her immortality. Yama was so moved by this gesture that he declared that any brother who has a rakhi tied by his sister and has offered protection in return, will also become immortal.

Story of Karnavati and Humayun
Another famous version of the history of this festival is that of Karnavati and Emperor Humayun. After defeating Vikramjeet once, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat attacked Mewar for the second time while the Queen Karnavati started seeking for support from other kingdoms. In the meantime, she sent a rakhi and wrote a letter to Emperor Humayan in the hope of support to protect her kingdom. Respecting the thread that Karnavati had sent, Humayun immediately sent his army to protect her.

Raksha Bandhan is a promise of protecting each other from all troubles and bringing security. Children need our support the most. They need protection in the form of food, shelter, clothes and education. There are many Indian NGOs that work towards securing the future of children.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an Indian NGO that supports children hailing from economically-challenged sections of the society, by feeding them with unlimited food for education. The Foundation is recognised as the world’s largest NGO-run school meal programme and feeds 1.8 million children every single day. It serves mid-day meals to children studying in 19,039 Government and Government-aided schools spread across 12 States and 2 Union Territories of India.

This Raksha Bandhan, secure the present and future of children by providing them regular school meals and education. Your support will make this special day even more meaningful.