Come in the shade
Remember the dead tree gives no shelter'.
Teaching English Literature to a class of Business Studies students was a great challenge. Both boys and girls found it without purpose. ‘What do we business studies students have to do with Literature, was a frequent question.’ This change in the syllabus was difficult for students to accept. For me it was like planting a new tree in a barren area. Love of literature and understanding it as a reflection of life, with all sorts of negative and positive aspects was my foundation of learning.
The Literature course outline preparation was the responsibility of the Faculty member concerned and to fully convince the students to study Literature along with Business Studies.
I began to reflect, put all my literature cards on the table, and looked for the right direction. ‘Pray, sacrifice something to the Gods’ ‘Aeolus Blow and Transform’ and Lo Aeolus blew hard, a paper landed right on my desk. 18th C~‘A Literary Research Paper and a Book Presentation’ will do the magic
Announcing the syllabus I could see students smiling. The first reaction was satisfactory. ‘Charles Dickens 18th Century Novel ‘Hard Times’ study will reflect the state of labor laws, industrial growth and economic conditions, a novel of your choice will be presented and you may conduct research on any aspect of Literature, that is an open choice’ More smiles around told me that the ice had broken. Literature gave free space for individual decisions
‘Who Moved My Cheese’ the book by Spencer Johnson brought the final applause. One student presenting it said, “Every two or three years we had to change cities due to my father’s job. Packing and unpacking exhausted me completely and I began to dislike the frequent change. I would cry at the moving time till one day father gifted this book to me. Reading it helped me to understand and accept the concept and necessity of ‘change’ in life and this changed my life too.
I never cried again. The cheese was all eaten and new pieces had to be placed.’
This presentation was the pinnacle of success when ‘change and addition in the syllabus was finally accepted and enjoyed
