Of Bellingham and Ford v Ferrari

'Madrid bank on Bellingham in city face-off.' The headline caught my attention as I skimmed the sports page and could not take my eyes away from the news item accompanied with a picture of the footballer. In an honest admission, my knowledge of football players is unimpressively limited to a few popular names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, and Diego Maradona; Bellingham is a fresh addition. As I read the news, I was superficially interested in the brilliance of the Real Madrid star but felt genuinely delighted about the reason I remembered his name.

Once during a class discussion on role models, a few students fervently talked about Jude Bellingham, his mastery over the game, and in doing so provided me with an information update that I needed in my repository. I can recall the excitement of a few students as they punched the air while declaring him as their favourite sports star and rattled away his achievements. I have often moderated spirited discussions on sports in my class, and it was from one of those sessions that I first learned about Ronaldo's celebratory "Siu.”

As a teacher, I have often experienced moments of cluelessness among Gen Z students whose information index is extensive. However, what I really cherish is the new information I receive from these young minds, which makes teaching a humbling experience. It also gives me an idea of what they are feeding their minds, how they are shaping their perspectives towards the world and society, and who they esteem as their role models. I was particularly relieved when my students used their power of judgement while expressing their ambivalent views about the controversial American and British social media personality, Andrew Tate, during an interactive session. While they outright rejected his controversial idiosyncrasies, they approved of his entrepreneurial skills. 

My insipid knowledge of car racing went for a rigorous overhaul when a group of students decided to do a project report on the movie Ford v Ferrari, and I had to comb the Net to read enough about the 24 Hours of Le Mans to be able to evaluate their submission. Till that moment I was complacent with my rudimentary understanding of Formula One racing and knew why Grand Prix should be pronounced grawn pree. But my students burst my small bubble of information and helped me make a new one where I was familiar with names like Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles.

It would not be wrong to say that given my students' tech savviness, I have appointed them as my honorary technical and social media advisors. I wonder if I would ever have the urge to find out what distinguishes YouTube shorts from Instagram reels, but a few moments in their company reboot my knowledge of the latest trends and viral videos. Not just that, even my taste in music has opened a cranny for something different; if I now play Bones, taking a break from ABBA, I owe it to my students.