About Us

I am a teacher by profession and a writer by interest. It is not that I am a great author with many published books credited to my name. I am just someone who loves to write to express, to share, to introspect and to help others see an alternative reality. I teach teenagers and love my job. It feels good to be surrounded by so many active hearts and energetic heads. I also learn from my learners. They show me a world which is bright and colourful. This website is made for them. It is to showcase their creative writing and their inspiring stories. This website also provides them with open source material to augment their skills in the field of language learning. I have tried to create a one stop solution to all their needs with regard to the learning of English. I spend a lot of my productive time online because that is how the world has evolved to be. My students spend more time online because they were born with the social network and the smart phone. Through this website I try to provide them the resources that they need and it is delivered to their smart phone which is within their easy reach 24x7. I try to orient them towards a self-learning environment and try to engender in them self-direction.

My Teaching Philosophy

My Mission Statement

My endeavour is to create circumstances which will help the learner to see the empowering benefit and the pleasure in achieving a goal in the form of a competence or contentment or comprehension. The goal will not be a standalone target but a connected reality resulting from inherent human instinct to communicate, to create and to collaborate. The goal won't be an end in itself but a bridge to a better world built not through coercion but through connection.

Ultimate Mission Objective - Betterment of the self in connection with betterment of the world.

General Mission Objective - Communication through constructive and creative collaboration.

Specific Mission Objective - Language as a means of connection and communication, curtailing conflict and creating concord.

I always emphasize on

Learning objectives - Learn - Unlearn - Relearn

Educational goals - Insight formation

Individual capacities - Independent decision making and original expression

Social values - Equality, justice and freedom

Future skills - Technology as an empowering tool

I teach language and literature of a language which is not a vernacular native tongue, but an alien language adopted during colonial years for bridging the gap in communication resulting from well-developed regional languages viewing for acceptance as the primary language of communication in the sub-continent.

English learning is for utility and for pleasure.

Utility - It opens up the world of knowledge and information and helps in communication not just as an official language of the Republic but also as an international language. It is the language of scientific research. It is the language of law. It is the language of building connections.

Pleasure - English literature is vast and unlike literature in other languages, it has a multi continental footprint. There is not just English literature but Canadian Writing, South African Writing, Australian Writing, Indian Writing. One common language makes the diverse culture of the Commonwealth countries accessible which helps in cross-cultural understanding.

How it all started and continues

An individual in the course of his/ her life is influenced by many other individuals. I am no different. I was and I am greatly influenced by many people whom I met in my journey through life. Some influences stand out as the pole star telling me the direction and showing me the way in the darkness of ignorance. They helped me build my perspective and my philosophy. I must mention them and their influence because my teaching philosophy is given shape in the furnace of their influence. I endeavour to be like the teachers whom I admire the most.

Teachers I Admire Most

First in the list is my mother and my father. They have made me what I am, and I am indebted to them for giving me the freedom to create my own world, the way I wanted it to be. I am a single boy child but thankfully not at all pampered. My parents were very particular about discipline. They allowed me a lot of freedom in philosophical, spiritual and emotional sphere but there was a routine, for mundane activities and chores, which was strictly adhered to.

Then came in my life a young woman who was very compassionate. She was my mother outside my home. She was my Class Teacher in KG-1. I loved her and I accompanied her to her staff quarter where I would sit quietly and observe her doing her chores. I loved that more than being in class with her for in her staff quarter I could get her exclusive attention. I don’t remember anything from those days except the time spent with her, observing her in her staff quarters. She was my introduction to love and care that went beyond the family. I still remember her for it’s not possible to forget love. We may forget the things taught by a teacher, but we won’t forget the love and care that the teacher showered on us when we were learning to step out of our house into a vast and alien world. I felt secure in her company. Then she was just a young Mizo girl, but her heart was older than her age for her heart knew how to embrace a student and make him feel at home in his first school. That happened in a Christian missionary school.

Then I got admission in a Kendriya Vidyalaya, and the years went by. I didn’t really like going to school for there was so little love and so much of academics and activities. I reached Class 9. I met Mr. S. K. Sinha, TGT English. He changed my life. He gave us a project work and that’s why I wrote my first poem. I didn’t sleep an entire night for the act of making rhymes excited me and I continued to add one stanza after another. It was a silly poem but at that age it was a great achievement for someone who had no experience of ever writing a poem. It made me feel very confident. Next morning, I showed the poem to my teacher. He asked, “Saptarshi, did you copy it from somewhere?” That really hurt me for I don’t believe in copying. I believe in creating for that’s how I was brought up by my parents. Anyway, later he explained that the poem was long and complicated, and he was not really expecting me to write that well. It somehow blunted my excitement but then that exposure to poetry writing opened a new avenue for me and I am indebted to him for that.

Years rolled on. I went through two colleges. First for HS and the second for BA. I didn’t meet anybody to hold my heart to attention. Then came the university. There met two teachers, Mrs. Mala Ranganathan and Mrs. Afifa Bano, who exerted a lot of influence on me and helped me to chisel my world view. Mala Madam introduced me to American English Literature and that became a love affair to last long. I still consider Walt Whitman and Robert Frost as two of my favourites. Afifa Madam talked of literature of the marginalised communities and that fascination also remained with me. Moreover, I loved to listen to her lectures. She had command over the language which was rare to witness. I wish I could use the language as well as she could. She enchanted with her sweet words softly spoken and her classes were no less than magic carpet rides.

After university I worked for five years in a Degree College under the exemplary leadership of Mr. Bhabataran Bhattacharjee. A man in every way worthy of his grand name. Till date I haven’t met a Principal like him. The salary was only Rs 750 per month and it was not even good enough to be pocket money. But the professional ethics that I learnt under his august leadership was invaluable and can’t be bought for any amount of money. He was a short and thin man who came to college wearing white Kurta and white dhoti. He travelled in a public bus 45 kms to reach college and he was 80 years old. That was his post retirement engagement. He was old but his thoughts, his actions, his justice, his traditions were not old. When he walked, he walked straight with determined steps and with a smile adorning his face. The administration under him was the best administration that I have ever experienced, and I am extremely proud to have served under him.

Then followed a few years of working in some other organisations and institutes. Finally, I joined Sangathan. In Sangathan came across many inspiring teachers, principals and administrators but the person who influenced me the most is Ms. Narcilina Kalita, School Counsellor, Session 2018-19. She showed me through action, the strength of a counsellor and the amount of impact that a counsellor can cause. I was the middle aged PGT, and she was just out of University, I had many years of experience and she had none, but still I chose to be her apprentice to learn the magic of the trade in which she was so proficient. An example to quote was the fact that she succeeded in unveiling a case in which one of the bus conductors was physically abusing the students for the last 8 years. It was interesting and intriguing to note that there were so many teachers and so many principals, but the students preferred to open to her after facing years of abuse and growing up with abuse. She set the wheels of justice in motion. The conductor was arrested and imprisoned. After a trial which lasted one year, he was convicted under POCSO. Inspired by her work, I took admission in the Diploma Course in Guidance and Counselling at North East Regional Institute of Education.

There met Dr. (Mrs.) Flourette G Dakhar, Professor and Course Co-ordinator for DCGC. I thank fate for making our ways cross. She exemplifies all that which is best in a teacher, mentor, educator, guide and counsellor. The very fact that I could attend her lectures made the course successful for me. If I could ever become a teacher like her, then I will consider myself successful. Her classes were never a boring one-way lecture, but she treated us as a curious mix of primary children and partners in learning. All the candidates cherished her and will always cherish her. Her command was God’s voice speaking through a human form. She worked through love and her command over the subject is extraordinary. She didn’t talk of grand quotes but involved the candidates in a magical way ignoring none and helping all. She was for me Dumbledore of Hogwarts and that’s the best compliment that I can give a teacher. Maybe someday I can be a little of the magic that she is, for that is what I dream of becoming.

I was made ready by my parents and then came the magicians who opened up doors for me making me aware of many things which I thought never existed and helped me to begin a journey anew, a journey of self-discovery and the journey of looking at the world with welcome wonder.

My understanding of learning

Pavlov used the dog to bring forward the Stimulus Response Theory. I have a pet dog and I have trained it on my own. This was to better understand Pavlov's theory and also to connect the Gestalt Theory of learning with it. I performed many experiments, and my conclusions are as follows

1. Repetition results in conditioning of behaviour

2. Repetition alone can't become a long term spontaneous habit

3. Emotional contentment and social recognition makes learning more rewarding and thus lasting

4. Knowledge construction results from insight formation and that gives purpose and purpose justifies learning and makes it last long

I believe in three dictums

1. When motivation is correct, half the learning is complete. Motivation works better when more sensory perceptions are involved. Interest in a subject results in self-direction and self-direction is the ultimate motivation.

2. Seeing the big picture helps in becoming aware of a collaborative effort in finding a way out of the maze by thinking out of the box and by connecting unrelated objects to make sense, to challenge traditional knowledge, to see the possibility in fiction becoming reality.

3. Journey of learning involves the journey from known to unknown, from abstract to concrete. Experience and exposure of the past lays the foundation for the understanding and skills of the future.

My teaching therefore relies on M.A.P.

It consists of three pillars which are

1. Motivation - Interest and involvement

The circumstances make things tempting. Temptation develops interest. Interest results in involvement. Involvement is the key to the awareness of a need to learn.

2. Awareness - Insight and integrity

The ability to see beyond the conditioning by connecting present realities with future possibilities provides insight. Insight is strengthened by purpose and values. Insight is chaotic and integrity is calming. Insight propels towards flight. Integrity keeps rooted. Both acting together makes mindfulness a fulfilling experience.

3. Passage - Information and intelligence

Gathering information is like gathering the harvest. The harvest becomes food which gives nourishment to the body. Information nourishes the mind and makes it capable of intelligence. The process is a passage from our existing experience to new exploration. Information is like the rungs of a ladder which helps us to climb towards intelligence.

What I expect from my students

Let me revert back to my pet dog. A pet dog can be trained to perform certain tricks like an animal in a circus. A bear can ride a bicycle in a circus. A lion can sit on a small stool and jump through a ring of fire in a circus. A dog can walk on hind legs like a human in a circus. I don't believe in training my pet dog with such useless tricks. It is absolutely unnatural and belittles the animal to a mere entertaining commodity capable of doing unnatural acts.

Instead, my focus is on building inter species communication and comprehension by developing a complex system of conditioned behaviour and enjoyable insight formation. My idea of training my dog is not to make it perform tricks but to make it understand me and modify its behaviour as per human social customs without compromising it's essential instincts. To give a few examples, let me point out that

1. My dog is toilet trained and displays that behaviour with perfection without any outward reward but by means of a channelised intrinsic behaviour.

2. My dog understands about twenty different words and it's vocabulary is constantly improving and using that knowledge it can predict a future scenario and change its behaviour to suit the future possibility.

3. My dog can construct knowledge by associating an unknown name with an unknown toy and therefore perform a complicated mental task of connecting the abstract with the concrete.

4. My dog never ever bites me or snarls at me even when I touch it as it is eating its favourite food and thus displays a level of EQ which is exemplary.

5. My dog doesn't need a leash to control it when I take it out for a walk which effectively proves that it sees me not as a ringmaster or a trainer but as a pack leader which is not someone different from itself but someone trustworthy and worth believing in.

I have no training whatsoever as a dog trainer. But still I succeeded because I created an environment which presents me as the pack leader and not the ringmaster. I harnessed it's natural instincts to develop behaviour which is acceptable.

Similarly, while teaching students I don't believe in teaching them tricks to entertain an audience, but I believe in empowering them by developing their natural instincts towards socially productive behaviour. Language is a tool for communication. No human (unless a hermit) can survive without communication. Even Buddha had to come back to humanity to deliver his sermon and establish an order of monks. Our primary and basic instinct is to communicate with others. I tell my students through stories and examples the necessity of that communication. All conflict results from failure in communication. That in turn happens because of inadequate use of language or rather use of language devoid of EQ. Language is a powerful tool to look inside and to build a bridge with the outside. Writing is therapeutic and soothes vexed nerves. Writing validates our beliefs and values. Writing helps us to reflect better to connect the self with the social. I emphasize developing L, S, R, W skills. Command over the four skills will make my students better communicators and success in communication will lessen the chances of conflict and less conflict means more contentment.

Human instinct is to communicate. Human instinct is to find justification. Human instinct is to find purpose. I connect these three with the teaching and learning of a language. Human instinct is also to be confined in a comfort level and to hesitate to explore the unknown. I generate interest by emphasizing on

1. Ease

2. Possibility

3. Practice

My students gradually understand how the bridge between instinct and intelligence is formed.

For example

1. If a student is good at drawing then I request him to make a comic strip for me and then publish the comic strip online for an international audience.

2. If a student is good at beatboxing (a musical composition using sound made by the mouth) then I ask him to recite a poem in the text using beat boxing and then share the YouTube video of the performance with others.

3. If a student is fanatical about poetry then I help the student to compile her poems in the form of a collection and publish it as a Kindle book.

In the above examples I have used the interest of the students to help them develop interest in the English language as a means of communication to reach an international audience. They are not performing tricks in a circus as per the wish of the ring master. But they are presenting to the world their own unique talents as per their own capacities incorporating the use of the English language.

How I assess the impact of my efforts

Assessment is done through a two pronged strategy

1. Classroom activities (Formative Tests)

2. Formal tests (Summative Tests)

Classroom activities - The text or the lesson is connected to real life or to a possibility. The students are placed in hypothetical situations which are presented as a maze and then they are asked to find a way out of it. Their response shows their innovation and insight. The text is made more relevant by connecting it to life and also to other subjects. Open-ended questions are asked, and the learner is encouraged to look beyond the box. The emphasis is not just on the lesson but on the life lesson. Focus is on learning being a collaborative effort aimed at developing a collective consciousness rather than just one individual displaying extraordinary capability for route learning.

It is done through discussion, debate, QAs, sharing of reflection, expression of language through instinct and aptitude, through exposure and experience in the use of language with the motto fluency rather than accuracy.

Formal tests - Tests are organised as per the instructions of the authorities. The questions in the tests are framed keeping in mind the composition of the classroom. There are direct factual questions for the slow bloomers. There are questions based on understanding for the average learners. There are questions constructed to cater to insight formation. Such questions are for the bright ones. The questions are open to all. The learner is not put in a watertight compartment, but the learner is always welcomed to go beyond his capabilities and surprise the examiner with an unexpected performance. The principle behind framing questions is to connect the text with life and then to help the student see the relevance of the text. The purpose of a test is to make the student reflect and not to take a hit on his/her self-esteem. Therefore, I don't prefer to frame very difficult questions but instead I try to frame different questions. The focus is on developing their ability to connect the dots to create a big picture, not to be confined within the factual details of the text but to explore beyond the story and the words strung together to make the story, to see the story that is life itself for the ultimate test is not held inside an examination hall with defined parameters of assessment but in the open field of life which is unpredictable, and which needs constant redefining to make the best of its shifting sands.

The journey continues for a teacher never stops learning

My ideal teacher is Socrates and I repeat his instruction to his students, "Know thyself." Self-knowledge is the beginning and end of all knowledge for it is the perception which defines us in relationship with reality and with the probable possibility of an alternative reality. Our reality is our perception. Our perception is a by-product of our communication with ourselves and with the world outside ourselves. The purpose of all learning is to learn ways to connect with the self and to sync the self with the world. All teaching practices are aimed at engendering that connection by means of arousing interest, channelising interest and building on interest. Learning is knowing the interest. Teaching is harnessing the interest. Education is transforming the interest into a mix of

1. Conformity

2. Curiosity

3. Creativity

achieving balance through collaboration of contrasts and not through coercion of conflict. That's the goal of my mission as a teacher.

That goal is rooted in certain values. The values are talked about by T. S. Eliot in The Wasteland. The poet considers modern times as a Wasteland. He believes that certain values will bring back the rain and terraform the wasteland into a fertile land. He quotes a story from Upanishads. After creation of three beings by Prajapati, the three beings seek Prajapati's guidance. Prajapati tells them, "Da, Da, Da." The three beings interpreted the "Da" attuned to their own instincts. The Gods make it "Damyata" meaning 'control yourself'. The Demons interpret it as "Dayadhvam" meaning 'be compassionate'. The Humans see it as "Datta" meaning 'to give'. This is what we all need to learn for the power hungry Gods, cruel Demons and the hoarding Human, all three live inside us. If we learn to control ourselves, to be kind to others, to share, then the rains will definitely bless the wasteland with fertility and a future. As a teacher I endeavour to develop these values in my students, so that they grow up to be adults in harmony with the qualities of hand, heart and head.

Self-knowledge is not just a solo and objective dissection of the needs and capacities of the self. Knowledge of the world is not just to become street smart with an encyclopaedic knowledge of data and facts, collecting labelled specimens of reality neatly catalogued. But to connect both with values which make the experience subjective, constructive and fulfilling, which resolve conflicts and results in contentment, which creates a balance between conformity and curiosity. All learning is futile, all teaching is useless, if there are no values to make it humane.

I don't want my students to be the focused scientist of the Invisible Man, but I wish for my students to see the value in being the Bishop of the Bishop's Candlesticks (Le Misérables).

I love to help my students become more aware of the world around them and the world inside them. I believe in collaboration. In fact, I love the word for it is very democratic and not dictatorial. Freedom in thought and faith in future are two other values which I find very appealing and encourage the same in my children. I love the creativity with which my students often surprise me. Their sense of wonder, their originality of perspective and their ability to adapt to the changing circumstances is a wonderful inspiration. I learn from my children as much as I teach them.

Mr. Saptarshi Majumder

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