Life’s experiences lead us o some point or destination, one after another. Sometimes there are mentors, while for some inspiration is the only fuel.
I wrote this article during the midnight hours of Sunday 16th October & Monday 17th October 2011. Both these dates have a remarkable significance. On 16th October the 27th SPELT Conference concluded. While 17th October marks the birth date of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the pioneer of Muhammadan Anglo Oriental School that later due to his passion & vision, over the years was upgraded to Aligarh University. This was way back in the 19th century. Sir Syed’s passion can be measured by the fact that he called himself a learner never a teacher, to the point that he used to wear the uniform of the institution to set practical example of what he believed in.
The SPELT Conference came at a time when I as a teacher & trainer was getting disillusioned about my abilities, with accelerating self doubt & complaints about my work & students. I was on the verge of loosing all hope. With the ‘push’ of my mentor Mr. Abbas Husain, I half heartedly attended the inaugural session, with the mind of attending the next two days partially. I had no idea how it would all transform, infact create a makeover for me & my profession. Mr. Peter Grundy’s presentation was the turning point. The next to days I attended the entire conference.
The workshop titles, presenters with their zeal, the high level creativity & vastness of approaches are just to name a few. Not only had all these rekindled my creativity, the energy, dedication & community, re-ignited my passion. I am a solution oriented person. Creating simple, easy & time effective solutions that save, effort & time are my specialties, which I have been working on & with since over 20 years.
The challenges I was facing or thought them to be as challenges now seem to disintegrate, are manageable & handleable just because of those who were generous enough to share the vastness as well as depth of rich experiences. Also the astounding attendance of seekers & believers in ‘better future can be built today’, was a source of strengthening hope. It recreated for me the meaning & value of education, learning & creating not just as words or concepts but as concrete strategies & support network. Participants turned themselves blind to the constraints & limits. Some amazingly motivated ones attended the conference along with their little ones tagging along in the workshops or waiting patiently outside throughout the day while their mother pursued her professional commitment.
My special thanks & salute to the School of Writing who set up opportunity to aspire writers to voice their thoughts & visions. They also distributed encouragement prizes to the best line writers.
The variety & uniqueness of all events, many occurring simultaneously was too overwhelmingly difficult to choose from. Thought it is wished (suggested) that workshops be reshuffled same or next day & repetition of events be reconsidered for next year. Secondly, it is suggested that the event be next time scheduled during December winter vacations to allow more time & opportunity to all those who are hungry & craving for all that SPELT stands for & has remarkably achieved. May we have many more (preferably every six months)! What do the rest of you, fellow SPELTers say?
The writer Shireen Khan is a teacher & freelance trainer, with a voluntary support platform – Goodwill Network for healing & Life management. She can be contacted on soishireen@gmail.com
