Religious Dogma and Change

Well, I have so many things on my mind. Let me put a few of those down here:
On Facebook, I see a lot of Sabarimala related posts, and a few posts about Mother Teresa and her sainthood. 
My thoughts: I am an atheist and so, I tend to feel detached from religious matters...unless they threaten lives. In matters where people protest and call for change, I am inclined to be on the side of science (as I know it) and morality (again my morality: including feminism, humanism...)...
And yet, my knowledge that my loved ones, who have different spiritual orientations and preferences, carry such an emotional depth and conviction in their hearts encourages me to desist from laughing at them, ridiculing them or from even motivating them, of my own volition, to change status quo. This, is not because I am a status-quoist! Anyone who knows me a bit, knows I'm all for change for the better. But, I know how religion and beliefs are held so close to the heart and can drive deep wedges between people. Also, I have seen my loved ones derive solace from their beliefs and faiths. When I cannot provide them alternate ways of succour, who am I to argue with them and drive them out of their idea of godliness?
In the same vein, I shall desist from 'asking' (for want of a more non-violent and neutral term) for women's entry into certain temples or for calling awards of sainthood as fraud though you may well guess what my stand on these matters are... By selecting outrage on certain issues, we run the danger of leaving out certain other issues which are more urgent and not taken.
Peace!

TEACHERS' DAY

On this day, I would like to do two opposite things: one, humbly pay tribute to all my teachers, right from my parents and grandparents, my teachers from early school years to the ones who taught me at university. A large part of what I am intellectually, politically and also as a human being is because of all my teachers. 
Two, more importantly, I would like to acknowledge the immense contribution of the early audience of my performances as a teacher - my classmates at school (KV BEML), who sat (or seemed to) with delight and encouraged me to perform :-). They suggested without saying it, that I would do well as a teacher and I joined RIE, Mysore, for a teaching degree.
When I did 'practice teaching' at Basel Mission school at Dharwad, the students sat with admiration... This too egged me on to surely take up teaching as a profession.
When I joined Sawan Public School, my first full-time teaching job, my dear colleagues were good role models for me, and my very dear students showed me the power of being a caring and loving teacher. The respect they still shower on me is without parallels in my life. I am most grateful to them for that.
When I joined DPS-Doha after that, my amazing students, apart from enjoying the informality I shared with them, showed me how rewarding it was to respect students as thinking individuals themselves, in a very Paulo Freirean way. The ideas of knowledge co-construction (Vygotskian perspectives) took seed in my mind here... Thanks to all of the amazing students I had there, some of who still remain active in discussions with me on diverse matters...
I carry the cumulative sum of all these micro-learning experiences in my heart and mind as a teacher at SSNCE now, and I still continue to learn from my students. A big collective thank you to all my students for the growth they showed, making me a proud teacher in reflected glory, and more importantly, for helping me grow as a teaching professional. Much love to all of u... I am a lucky teacher.
Disclaimer: By no means am I suggesting that I have reached the pinnacle of learning, as a teaching professional. Hardly... If I'm better today than in 1999, when I set out teaching, I owe a large part of this to my students. That's what I imply here. Cheers...!