Art Of Teaching

“Leaders are made. They are not born. They are made by hard efforts of their mentors. They may be hated but they cannot be ignored. This is the price they have to pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile’ – Vince Lombardi

Yes, this is my story. My story from 1988 till 2019. After this maybe I will throw Shreerang out of my system forever or maybe not. But I have to tell my story. The write up may be a little lengthy but please bear with me.

My mentor Mr. P.V.Kate was a task master. He had a military background and he did not teach me to be slack. Always on my toes and that is how I wanted my staff to be. It was difficult as there were many seniors who were against me but I fought against the tide. He made me a good administrator as he was one and what a tough one, he was. My admiration for him grew at every step as I worked with him. He taught me all the ropes and made me learn every work from the peon’s job to the managements. He told me that I should know every body’s job so that nobody could catch my hand. All files of Shreerang Education Society, mementos of silver and 10,000 rupees in cash was handed over to me by him for safe keeping when he fell sick. That much trust he had for me and I never broke his trust.

Next, I would like to mention Dr. Kiran B. Thakur, who taught me the M.E.P.S, the bible to run a private school. He was totally opposite to Mr. P.V.Kate. He was quick witted, persuasive, a sweet talker but a perfectionist for rules. In his administration, there were rules followed to the core. He initiated me, an arts graduate into National Children’s Science Congress projects. In his time the projects reached international level and brought lot of fame to the growing school. He taught me to work as per rules. Though we had lot of healthy differences, we sorted them out in the interest of the school. And I can till today vouch for his honesty. While leaving the post, he handed over to me even the silver medal he had got, saying that it was given to him as Secretary and therefore belonged to the school.

The third Secretary, I would like to mention is Mr. Anil Bhadgaonkar. I did not know him at all when he sat on the chair. But he had a NEVER GIVE UP attitude which highly impressed me. Many of his qualities were similar to that of Dr. K.B Thakur. Most important was his dedication to usher in the Junior College and I very much appreciate the hard work put up by him in opening the Junior College and the Exam Group as he wanted papers from outside to gauge the true standard of the students but unfortunately, due to planned politics and vested interests of a few, it was discontinued.  I only wish he was a little more assertive and stricter in his approach.

For me these are the only three people worth mentioning in the post of Secretary of Shreerang Education Society from 1988 till 2019 who worked selflessly for the upliftment of the school and knew how to run an administration with different schools under the trust. I appreciate their efforts in bringing fame and reputation to Shreerang Vidyalaya through their active participation, zeal and hard work.

When I meet parents, ex- students, people known to me, they ask me, Madam why did you leave Shreerang for better prospects in an International school? I just smile wryly at the lies spread by the Management who do not have the guts to say that we removed her because we wanted to have a free hand and did not want her interference. We wanted a principal who would nod to our every whim and fancy.

I gave notice for resignation from the post of Principal on 4/1/2019 with effect from 30^th April, 2019 after facing lot of insults, and interference in the day to day working of the school.  My resignation was conditional and under duress.  For the past many months, I was struggling as to how to address the discriminatory work place issues that I found highly disturbing and which played a major role to aggravate my stress levels.

 I was targeted for differences between the outgoing Management and the incoming management. Regular taunts on Saraang College Festival, opening of a junior college, video of school development projected to parents during gathering of December 2018, Bifocal subjects and pending work were highlighted again and again for no fault of mine.

I was always loyal to the chair and had worked with the Management for all their projects and for this many a times my staff reprimanded me that I was making them do work which was actually not meant for them.

Secondary Section was always for the Management and carried out diligently all work allotted to them without questioning.

There are chronologies of events to prove that my position was compromised to a level of no return and therefore I had to give the notice of resignation due to acute and irrevocable differences.

No hierarchy was maintained. Management freely interacted with the staff, without maintaining the protocols. Junior staff used to ring me up and give me orders on what the Management passed on to them. The staff also developed the guts to ask me for explanations on different issues. Staff discipline had gone for a toss and my position was brought down to that of a glorified clerk.

Every project started by the previous management was side-lined and thrown aside. In their ego and anger, they forgot that me and my staff had gone to great lengths to get the work done. One example is that of Girls NCC which is rare in Thane for a school to get entry, but we had passed the entrance test successfully. Every approach whether expenses on NCSC projects or co- curricular and extracurricular projects was negated and ultimately, I had to give up. Every project carried over from 1988 was dismantled and no reason was assigned for the same. Classrooms developed on the ground floor for college was dismantled and college thrown on the second floor. This led to lot of indiscipline and for that again the principal was to be blamed as it was said that the Shreerang Society people were against a Junior College. If that was the case then why did the previous Management make us work day and night for opening a college?  Is there no coordination between the Managements of Shreerang, or only one upmanship and ego clashes for which the principal was made the scapegoat and divide and rule policy like the British was initiated to finish of any amount of discipline and smooth running in the staff room?

 It is hilarious to note that before the principal came to know what was happening in the classrooms or in the vicinity, message used to be passed to the concerned committee members and the principal would be questioned but she did not have the powers to ask why the Management was directly interacting with the staff even when the school was going on?

When the principal wanted to inward a letter regarding change of classrooms of college Room numbers 14,15,16,17 earmarked for college and issues of indiscipline, also, the fact that an amount of Rupees 1,74,222 was spent by English Secondary for upgradation of the said classrooms for college in 2016/17 and an amount of Rupees 1,44, 159 was spent for shifting of E- Learning classrooms. All these money spent for college would go waste and Management should reconsider.  The letter was sent to Shreerang Education Society for inward on 12/4/2018. The principal was called on 12/4/2018 in the round table in the Trust office where 4 members were present including 1 lady member. The principal was told that the letter would not be in warded and if she insisted than she should be ready to face the consequences.

I was shocked to hear the threat but could not do anything. I could go and file a police complaint but that would spoil the reputation of the school. I was made to wait for hours for an audience with the CEO as for every small step, permission had to be taken. The peon was instructed that I should not be allowed to enter till command came from inside and the peon was very apologetic about it and said she was only following orders.

The funny part is that even the school and college timetable was prepared by a certain committee member who was allotted the work and forwarded to school along with teachers’ timings. It was as if I was sitting there as a dumb clerk to follow orders and nothing else and sign expenditure cheques as my signature was mandatory.

Many important files in custody of the principal were taken away without any signature in the file movement register. So, to be on the safe side I use to take the signature of the staff present in my cabin.

In spite of Resolution passed by the Management of Shreerang Education Society on 19/08/2017, to start Girls NCC it was arbitrarily stopped. Activity planning by the principal for college activities was cancelled. Navratri celebrations carried out from 1988 was cancelled only for English Secondary by a phone call to the principal. No reasons were given. Only orders. And I have every proof with me.

Finally, when a female staff complained about the conduct of a certain member, that was the last straw for me. I had faced lot of character assassinations during my tenure, I could not take anymore. Also, the issue of memos continuously hammered me and I had to get myself admitted under a doctor of Jupiter Hospital for severe hypertension and was on leave for nearly 15 days.

I feel this was a pre- planned notion to harass me to a point where I break down mentally and resign from the post of Principal and that is what happened. They showed so much desperation to remove me, maybe because I was holding the mandatory cheque signing authority.

In February, some well wishers told me to reconsider as only three years were left for retirement. So, I forwarded my withdrawal of notice of resignation on 1^st March, 2019, much before the date of relieving that is 30^th April. As per supreme court judgement, even if an employee withdraws the notice on the final day or hours before being relieved, it needs to be accepted.

I personally went to meet an Ex-Secretary who was considered to be close to the present Management. He is a very soft-spoken person and was the one who got my sanction from the Zilla Parishad. As I had no Godfather, I felt, he would understand my dilemma and help me come to a conclusion. I told him that I felt I should continue in the services of the school as an ordinary teacher if not as principal. He told me the present Management was angry with me as I had helped the previous Secretary. Also, some of the staff did not like my restrictions and rule-based decisions and wanted me out. This was very shocking for me and I was not fully convinced. But then I decided there is no point begging for anything. I understood that decision was already taken for my removal and even his words were not heeded. If after so much of hard work, where I always worked hand in hand with the staff and Management,  never left for home till they had completed their work, always gave them all type of help during gatherings and other activities without considering myself superior, and still I was in their bad books because I loved discipline and rules, there is no point continuing as a teacher also unless the Management offered to revert me back as a teacher of their own free will, if they were not going to consider my letter of withdrawal.

Till today I have the letters where on one hand this Management appreciated my zeal and hard work and in the next line says you stand relieved with effect from 30/4/2019. By then I had given interviews in one or two places but did not give consent to join. Finally, my day of relieving came and my dues were not cleared. E.L encashment, Vacation pays, Gratuity etc. and then I decided that I would not tolerate this injustice any longer and fight for my rights. I filed a case in August 2019 for reinstatement / my dues and unfortunately due to covid, the case has come up now. And I had gone to Shreerang to inward the court orders after calling the CEO on phone for the sane and what a warm welcome was accorded to me. I was treated like a terrorist who had come with a gun to mow down people and told not to enter school premises.

Hilarious isn’t it. I spent 31 years bringing up the school from scratch with my sweat and blood, neglecting my family and the Management which changes every three years have the audacity to treat me like an untouchable.

Till date I feel the emotional connect with my school, my staff and my ex- students and that is why I connect with them on FB, Linkedin and Whatsapp.

For the few staff who congratulated the Management on my removal, I know who you are and why the desperation to betray your immediate superior but remember Karma is a bitch and it has no time period. As you have sown, so shall you reap one day. Time and Tide stand still for no one. Organization and discipline is what makes a school grow.

I also thank the staff who stood by me through thick and thin and had the zeal to learn new things and help me in all endeavors, who knew wrong was being committed but could not say anything for fear of being tormented later. Thank you.

I would like to close this chapter of Shreerang by saying that ……

To be a principal for nearly 30 years in a school with changing management every three years was very stimulating, annoying but satisfying. You can be a successful administrator only when you are able to instill values and discipline in your staff.  If you try to please all, ultimately you please none and fail as an administrator. You need to be strong enough to impact those who you are working with including student. As a school head, it was my duty to provide every staff with fitting feedback, either positive or negative for betterment of school at large.  To be a good principal you need to pay attention to the smallest details and not overlook the little things. A lot of these very little things often transforms into big problems if you ignore them. More than anything, a good principal will always demand loyalty, truthfulness, honesty and direct reporting.

 To the Management of Shreerang, you played very dirty with me but I still wish you all the best in your upcoming elections. I hope I win this case against you so that I can get the required monetary benefits like gratuity for myself and my staff, who have slogged their asses off for this institute to grow, especially the ones who are from initial days of the school.

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”- Dolly Parton –

Au Revoir …… Till we meet again here or in the other world.