A great man once said that of all his experiences, nothing gave him unmixed joy as when, on a crowded street, a little child gazing into his face put its tiny hand in his big one and said, 'take me across to the other side.' Educators must be humble enough to realise that a similar honour is ours because we lead the children in our care through the tough streets of life ahead of them. For some difficulty they might meet, a strong arm they might need to cling to or even a shoulder to cry on, I believe God wants them to put their hands confidently into ours so that, together, we can delight His heart.

The demography of our classrooms has changed radically; as educators, we come across a wide spectrum of young minds and hearts that we can make or mar by evoking in their dreams or shattering hopes, for their potential is endless. The teaching 'vocation' is a life-giving and a life-enriching one. The cathartic effect of our vocation manifests itself when joys and sorrows are shared with learners because, as educators, we deal with hearts and souls, ideas and ideals on a daily basis. This leads to a continuous flow of energy that is reflected and recharged.

As educators, we can draw strength from the enriching words of John Dixon: "A true educator may well be proud of the title for his work, which is akin to the Master Builder, the creation of a temple not made by hands." Genuine educators expecting fulfilment would do well to recall the inspiring words of Mahatma Gandhi: "The first thing needed is sufficient self-sacrificing people devoting themselves to educational work as a labour of love and there is no calling so sacred."

What, then, is the hallmark of a good educator, one may well ask? They are distinguished from others by a genuine professional and vocational attitude. They are the ones who realise the unique qualities of their vocation, such as being able to collect more smiles in the memory than scorn, greater sympathy than sighs, and more hope, optimism and joy than in any other profession. They are the ones who, through a personalised style, creative methods, and approaches to education, teach not only the prescribed curriculum but also subtly reach out to the learners through indirect suggestions, body language, gestures, tone, and enunciation. More importantly, they are the ones who look for feedback to improve and strengthen personal good qualities and simply enjoy being a 'lamplighter.'

In my opinion, a good educator would be one who, as an enriched person, lends credence to the words of Tagore, "An educator can never truly educate unless they are still learning themselves. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame." I think it would be safe to say that to be an effective educator means to be one who is innovative, not conformist, to be one who creates a cohesive, enthusiastic learning atmosphere, to be one who continually finds new meaning in one's work, friends, home and life in order to become a GLOW – ON person lighting other lamps around.

All easier said than done. In this tech-savvy age, students seem to know more about everything (sometimes even academics, if we are honest) than we do. All around, we hear educators bemoaning the lack of student discipline, complaining how it is an uphill task to get them to just focus on the now and forget about listening and being serious in the classroom. Allow me to share a small anecdote about the great Thomas Edison, who would work endlessly at a problem using the method of elimination. If a person asked him whether he was discouraged because of so many attempts that proved unavailing, he would say, "No. I am not discouraged because every attempt discarded is another step forward."

So, my dear co-educators, this Teacher's Day, I invite you to surge forward in love, uncaring of the murmurs of dissent or the seemingly insurmountable hurdles. It would definitely help to remember that if we have chosen to answer the call to be educators, then God's grace is sufficient for us, and His hand is always over us.