Cover story: Swallowing Discomfort, Spilling Out Guts

It takes a person with guts to think differently; it takes a teacher with lots of guts to break out of the box; and it takes a Principal of mega-guts to come out with experimental methods that somersault the establishment. Avnita Bir, Principal of Ramniranjan Poddar School, Mumbai, is our Cover Principal for the month. 

 My resume is lavishly sprinkled with a host of big names from the world of schools across the country and abroad. However, my getting into education was more ‘circumstantial’ than ‘planned’. I harbored no concrete ambitions of pursuing a career even though I was, by conventional standards, a ‘good’ student who was expected to become a doctor or get into the civil services.   After marriage and the constant movement from one city to another due to my husband’s job, teaching became the most convenient profession to be in. Today, twenty-five years down the line, I can unequivocally say, there are no regrets. I describe myself as a rolling stone that has ‘hopefully’ not gathered moss along the way. The ups and downs have been worth it.  

“School authorities usually have a condescending and arrogant attitude towards the ‘commercialized’ coaching classes. The dichotomy is vivid with each side at loggerheads and the poor students pulled between the two, trying their best to meet the pressures and the deadlines. As a result, sometimes they do justice to neither. I was determined to change that.”

The youth today is much more perceptive and discerning and can recognize a genuine connect with their mentor. With challenges and realities changing rapidly, a flexible approach works more than a straitjacketed one.  This has worked for me and I believe; this is what makes me tick.