Teacher’s Day – Inspiration through Books, TV, and Movies

Every year sometime late in August, Snubnose comes to me for help on some project or the other – to make a little something special for her teacher. This year for the first time, she’s going all independent on a project of her own. The ever independent Piglet also scorned my help – scribbling out a drawing of an elephant (or was it a dinosaur for his teacher)?

Anyway, with nobody needing my help, the time hangs heavy on my hands. And hence this blog post where I list the top teacher’s pets, and teachers on books, movies, and TV.

Note: In India, we celebrate Teacher’s Day on September 5th in honor of our second President of India, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who used to be a teacher himself.

Teachers in Books

1. Matilda – Roald Dahl
2. Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
3. Goodbye, Mr. Chips – James Hilton
4. The Story of my Life – Helen Keller
5. Up the Down Staircase – Ben Kaufman

I loved all the meaningful relationships between teacher and pupil in all these books, and think these are books every teacher should read and be inspired by.

Teachers in Movies

I am not as touched by teachers in movies, because they always seem a bit more glamorous/flamboyant than my idea of a great teacher. But still, here are some notable ones:

1. Iqbal – The great Naseeruddin Shah plays a former cricketer who trains a deaf and mute boy, Iqbal and helps him fulfill his dream of making it to the Indian cricket team. A little clichéd but still moving movie.
2. Black – Amitabh Bachchan helps a deaf, blind, and mute Rani Mukherjee make a life for herself.
3. Taare Zameen Par – We all have Aamir Khan and this movie to thank for throwing a light on the differently abled kids in this world who are struggling in a school system not designed for them. When this movie came out, it made such a big difference. Earlier special needs and special needs councilors were unknown, but now all these kids have different options that suit their specific needs.
4. Chak de India – A coach trains and motivates the women’s Indian hockey team and helps them win the World Cup. Sigh! How I wish something like this would happen in life too. Our teams (except for cricket) always do abysmally on the international stage.
5. To Sir with Love – This Sidney Poitier movie is based on the book by E.R. Braithwaite. I read an excerpt of this book as part of my school work reading. But I really want to read the complete book and see the movie. I hope it isn’t hopelessly outdated now.

Teachers Pets on TV

For this last section, I am taking a different slant and focusing on teachers pets, or those who I imagine would have been that annoyingly sucky kid who always butters up the teachers to get top marks (all slang from my schoolgirl days 😉 ).

1. Annie, Community, Comedy Central
2. Monica, Friends, Comedy Central
3. Ross, Friends, Comedy Central
4. Detective Amy Santiago, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Comedy Central
5. Elliot, Mr. Robot, COLORS Infinity

Don’t you think these characters would have super-annoyd classmates to have in school?

Who are your favorite teachers or annoying teachers pets? Do you have real-life anecdotes to share? And don’t forget to follow the #CCTeachers hashtag on twitter to see others sharing on their TV teachers and teachers pets.

Post written in collaboration with Comedy Central.

Comedy Central is celebrating Teacher’s Day with the best lesson for a lifetime – Laughter! Our favorite characters and shows have taught us how to LOL our worries away. While Joey on Friends has taught us how to flirt, Harvey from Pearson-Specter-Litt has taught us how to give the best comebacks. This Teacher’s Day, share with Comedy Central what you’ve learnt at Your Happy Place! by sending in your videos/tweets with #CCTeachers and celebrate your on-screen mentors!