Confusing kindness for tolerance

When one is a teacher, there are several nuggets of experience to chew and internalise and one such nugget is the act of being kind and free with the students. When it comes to interacting with students inside and outside the classroom, I make it a point not to be very strict or reprimand them for every single act of theirs. Even while teaching, my examples are drawn from everyday aspects of life that the students can relate and sympathise. And the smile - I almost always have a smile pasted on my face which tends to make the student comfortable while in the class and also during our different interactions.

BUT all the aforementioned attributes of mine are almost always mistaken to be signs of an informal person who has great tolerance towards anything including malpractice. Well, I have now started to wonder about the signals that I am sending across to the naive students.

The smile is always mistaken as a sign of extreme tolerance on my part and also the green signal to flout certain disciplinary boundaries. I understand that I cannot expect my students to observe every single thing that is normally expected of them like sitting quiet in class, fidgeting with mobiles and trying to do their homework when I am teaching. But my friendly behaviour and pleasant demeanour makes them think that they can get away with whatever they are doing.

My angst and dilemma is how I should conduct myself as a teacher. Should I be kind and compassionate and understand that they are after all children who pretend to be adults or should I be rigid and firm and never smile thus forcing them to be like captives of Femme Fatale Susan or should I learn to balance my thoughts and learn to ignore certain aspects of student behaviour.

I have taught before and on many occasions I undergo this sudden rush of meandering thoughts where I question my conduct and role as a teacher. After all these years of teaching, I still struggle to resist finding a middle path and stop myself from complaining as to how how my kindness is mistaken for tolerance by the students.

Of eating beet and still feeling hunger's heat!

I can still feel the mawkish taste of the beet that I had for lunch last week. It so happens that if I tend to eat anything that I don't much like, the hunger never seems to be satisfied. I don't know whether it actually happens or it is the dissatisfied state of my mind which negates the feeling of having eaten a meal.

Last week, I had three dry (oil-free) chapattis and beet curry. I must mention that beet, however prepared, does not excite me the least bit. I cannot manage to eat it, for its sweetish taste has never been compatible with my idea of curry. Even carrot and peas fall into this category. But carrot I can manage and peas - I never even try.

Coming back to the subject of beets -- Inspite of having the usual fare of three chapattis, I still felt as if lunch was incomplete. Surprisingly, I went forth and made two dosas which I happily consumed with a smile and a tune in my head. As the process of giving in to my taste-buds was in progress, I could not understand the whole game of my hunger not being appeased. Was it my feelings rather than my body's signals, I can't understand. Even if I had listened to my feelings, how come I was able to gobble up the extra two dosas which was a foreign practice that day. Maybe the dieticians are right when they say that craving is a false signal let out by the body. But I didn't crave for dosas on that afternoon!

Well, I rest my arguments here by crowing the beet as the vegetable that is solely to blame for all this furore. Nevertheless, the beet gave me a whacky post!

What are your hunger stories? Do you like beet?

Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet