Srinagar, Sept. 4 -- I entered teaching with a sense of awe. Since childhood, I had been told that teachers were almost prophetic figures: guides of truth and justice, carriers of light in a darkened world.

Iqbal's verses rang in my ears:Sabak phir parh sadaqat ka, adalat ka, shuja'at ka. In our tradition, even kings once bent before their teachers. Hazrat Ali's words, that the one who teaches a single word deserves lifelong respect, seemed to sum up everything I believed.

Then I began teaching in Kashmir.

My first assignment was in a Srinagar college. I carried the load of five classes a day, preparing lectures deep into the night, driven by both duty and hope. Yet my position was never secure.

I was called "need-based," as if my yea...