By : Radhika Malekar
Two Weeks as a TA
A group of 5th years, so tired and drear
Applied to be TAs, for a module full of first year,
They bonded over beards, birds, veils, and bamboo,
With charcoal, jute, cloth, and chai, in the crew,
Now back to their thesis, reminiscing with a tear.
TA to be understood as Teaching Assistant was our job. We did assist them in many ways but I’m not sure about the word “teaching”. Its meaning somehow exists somewhere far away from my experience of the module.
What does it mean for a person to teach another?
When does one adorn the hat of a teacher and the other the hat of a student?
Could these hats be exchanged?
We were as much a part of their process as they were, slowly learning and understanding with them. We nudged and pushed them in ways we could comprehend and constantly reminded ourselves to leave a lot of wiggle room to let them do their own thing and figure things out on their own, allowing the module to become a space of thinking and experimentation.
And what better to think about than the strangeness of this world and others?
I found the trope of the strange as an interesting entry for the first year as a module. It baffled them to separate themselves from logic and rationality, and made us all think about everything around us through that idea of madness and absurdity.
Kaushik said the other day, “This module is a part of your thesis”
I don't think I’ve quite understood how, but what is a thesis if not a person thinking about a question and everything around them in all its madness.
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