Graduate in English Literature and Philosophy from the University of Allahabad gives tuitions to students pursuing their graduation in Philosophy (English Medium)

Find out more about Saurabh

• Tell us more about your subject. How did you develop an interest in this field?

  Philosophy does not interest many. Neither mainstream people like to read about philosophy, nor listen (especially Indians, unless it is from some mystic over a kirtan/discourse, which generally seems to me a shallow talk in order to attract people).
  
  And Philosophy doesn't seem to give any promising career opportunity as well, unless one wants to write a book and sell it, (totally depends on one's own self-confidence that people will buy it and one will make money from it), or one wants to be a mystic, like Osho (he used to be a philosophy student).
  
  I think the interest in philosophy arises when you have some very puzzling questions in your mind about life, or you have gone through them in your life, which you are yet to solve, and you are getting fascinated by answers provided by philosophy.
  
  Or it could be that neither you have a puzzling question about life, nor you have an answer, but you get fascinated by such open ended questions which philosophers pose, and the different perspectives on how it is answered, seems never ending.
  
  Or it could even be the fact that you have been in that puzzling situation, and came up with some answers or hypothesis about what exactly the reality is, and want to convey your hypothesis in philosophy.
  
  I've been through all the stages mentioned above and that's how I developed an interest in the field of Philosophy.Philosophy does not interest many. Neither mainstream people like to read about philosophy, nor listen (especially Indians, unless it is from some mystic over a kirtan/discourse, which generally seems to me a shallow talk in order to attract people).
  
  And Philosophy doesn't seem to give any promising career opportunity as well, unless one wants to write a book and sell it, (totally depends on one's own self-confidence that people will buy it and one will make money from it), or one wants to be a mystic, like Osho (he used to be a philosophy student).
  
  I think the interest in philosophy arises when you have some very puzzling questions in your mind about life, or you have gone through them in your life, which you are yet to solve, and you are getting fascinated by answers provided by philosophy.
  
  Or it could be that neither you have a puzzling question about life, nor do you have an answer, but you get fascinated by such open-ended questions which philosophers pose, and the different perspectives on how it is answered, seems never ending.
  
  Or it could even be the fact that you have been in that puzzling situation, and came up with some answers or hypothesis about what exactly the reality is, and want to convey your hypothesis in philosophy.
  
  I've been through all the stages mentioned above and that's how I developed an interest in the field of Philosophy.

• What or who is the motivation behind you choosing to teach & why?

  A good teacher cannot begin or continue to inspire learning without being a learner.
  
  Thanks to my mentors who ensure that I constantly learn what is new in the discipline. In fact, my mentors often help to create new knowledge. To live this belief, I continuously examine my teaching methods and find new ones.
  
  To remain connected to my students, their lives, and the schools in which they will practice their professions, I must be a student of society and the constantly changing worlds in which students live. I eagerly and willingly learn from my students as they learn with me. That should justify my motivation behind choosing to teach.

• How does your work help society?

  I believe a teacher lives to serve. A teacher's life is dedicated to learning, to his or her discipline, to his or her students, and to making the future the best possible place for all of us to live.
  
  These are the challenges I accepted when I chose to be a teacher. I remain committed to them.
  
  The knowledge of the subject isn't sufficient, one has to figure out how to help students learn those subjects.
  I agree that a good teacher must have a deep appreciation of how knowledge is created in the discipline, how it is organized, and how it is linked to other disciplines.
  
  I use my knowledge of the discipline to expose my students to modes of critical thinking, encouraging them to analyze, apply, synthesize, and evaluate all they read and hear.
  
  I love the subjects I teach, and I know how to make them come alive for my students.

• If you had to think of a role model for your work, who do you think of & why?

  I believe a teacher is the most powerful role model. I am ever aware of the awesome obligation I have to "walk my talk" with my students. If I ask them to live their values and beliefs, I must do the same. I expect the best - of myself and others - and, therefore, I usually get the best. I try to treat all people with dignity and respect, and I expect my students to do so also.

• Tell us about your hobbies outside teaching.

  I might come across as a boring person, for despite teaching philosophy, I really prefer to think about learning and helping others learn as opposed to teaching.
  
  I believe many of us have come to accept a working definition that teaching means giving information, which I believe is only the beginning of teaching and certainly only a small part of learning.
  
  When one gives information, it is so easy to equate learning with the memorization of that information. Memorization is not always learning because learning requires thinking. I am beginning to understand that the teacher's greatest gift to the learner is helping the learner be motivated to think, and then to want to learn more.
  
  I believe in the power of questions and questioning strategies to cause thinking. I constantly try to ask questions for which there are no "right" answers. I constantly work to become a better "questioner" for the effective use of questions is the most powerful strategy a teacher has to help students learn.

• Do you have an anecdote to tell us about your student or professional life?

  Ah, ask a teacher what the best bit of their job is and the answer is pretty much always the same - it's the time they spend with the students.
  
  From the funny anecdotes (because students have zero filters) to the 'lightbulb' moments when a student grasps a concept they've struggled with or really engages with a lesson (and forgets about trying to look cool).
  
  When discussing myths and legends with my niece who is 9 years old, I asked her to give me an example of each and she replied: 'A myth is like a mystery; you don't know much about it. A legend is like my dad because he buys me KFC'.