Summary
"A Prayer to the Teacher" is based on a convocation address delivered by Subroto Bagchi, founder and CEO of Mindtree, at the International Academy for Creative Teaching, Bangalore, on January 6, 2005. The speech is addressed to graduating teachers, requesting them to go beyond the syllabus and teach students the values and skills they need to live a useful and meaningful life.
Rather than giving advice, Bagchi frames his address as a series of humble prayers from a student to the teacher. He asks teachers to impart seven essential values:
- Inclusion -- Valuing all people irrespective of differences, and expanding one's sense of belonging beyond personal boundaries.
- Communication -- The ability to express oneself with simplicity and sincerity, and to communicate with all kinds of people, including the less privileged.
- Learning to Learn -- Developing the process of learning itself so that one can continuously acquire new skills throughout life.
- Appreciating the Interconnected Nature of Things -- Understanding how environmental destruction, consumerism, and misuse of resources create imbalances in nature.
- The Power to Question -- Encouraging critical thinking and accountability instead of blind obedience.
- The Value of Free Things -- Recognizing that all things that truly sustain life (sun, air, water, earth) come without payment.
- Silence and Voice -- Learning when to be silent for contemplation and when to speak up to protect truth.
- A World View -- Developing tolerance, appreciating diversity, and removing the concepts of "foreign" and "foreigner" from one's vocabulary.