[dropcap]D[/dropcap]id the Prime Minister miss the wood for the trees, addressing students on Teachers Day or did the nation miss a larger ‘intent’. The ‘live’ telecast is over but its after effects will remain and this to my mind is what needs to be debated … moreso because much lies unrevealed, nuances which did not come across on the television cameras. Modi’s interaction with students across the country on Teachers Day, innocuous as it sounds should not have raised such high decibels of debate if its intents were ‘innocuous and noble’. So what was the Prime Minister trying to project? Did he want to come across as a warm and considerate human being, a mischievous child (as some of the anectodes he shared suggest), or did he just want to inspire the children on Teachers Day?. Just stop and think for a moment. Who would not like to be addressed by the Prime Minister and given a momentary recognition from the leader of the country? For those who argue that the children/ students were eager and enthusiastically participated in the ‘live programme’ they must also question why it made mandatory by the Ministry of Human Resources.
Many schools, certainly many in Nagaland bent backwards to meet the directives only to hear the PM speak in Hindi, a majority of them don’t understand.
What is going to follow after this day is going to define the ‘true’ intent of the Prime Minister’s address on Teachers Day. Just remember over one crore children listened to his speech in over 18 lakh schools. One message, one intent, the question is still out for the jury, what did students gain at the end of the day.
