Teachers' Day - Fill It With Silent Gratitude Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Child hears from his mother many sounds
as mother keeps saying baba, baby many a times
children convert these sounds into words
as ''ma, pa, mama''they begin to pronounce.
Teachers teaches the child to make sentences out
of the words the child constantly chants like -
from 'a' for apple to '' I want to eat apple''
the child learns to speak and ask.

As child keeps singing nursery rhymes
those rhymes turn into songs on their memory radio,
as with pencils they start to scribbble and write
alphabets and words get engraved in their record box.

And just as father teaches his child to walk and run
teacher teaches the child of geography -
of climate and countries, of location and mountains;
and just as child learns to count, add and subtract
teacher teaches him to divide and multiply;
and just as child learns more of mathematics-
algebra and geometry, the more he learns,
the less he forgets.

And just as child begins to take interest
to know about his own body and other mammals,
teachers teaches him science - biology,
child ventures ahead to learn physics and chemistry
as he wants to know about force of gravity
and what mixes what to make chemicals angry;
and as child gets curious about past wars and heroes
teacher develops his interest in history.

Finally as child gets ready to leave school
child is ready to write and speak fluently in
English and many other languages he chooses.

This thus reveals that there is no greater reward
than education one can gift to oneself,
there is no greater friend than a teacher
who equips a student with impartible knowledge
thus building his confidence to handle his future.

And as child moves on, the books are forgotten
the friends are forgotten but not the teachers
who stood by him at every step of enlightenment.

Many many years keep gliding by
but without the memory of school and teachers
life never passes by without that silent gratitude
to teachers for all the hard work they do
to educate every child without any discrimination
or prejudice in their dedicated hearts.