TF Were They Thinking? (The Ones Who Never Left)

By: Aditya Banerjee and Sowmya Vaidyanathan

Important Note

If you are in your last semester and you’re looking for a way to hide from the real world a little longer retain the sense of purpose you felt as a university student while also exploring your love for teaching, you may be exhibiting the first symptoms of becoming a TF.

Do not panic. Do not fill out the form, and contact your primary healthcare provider as soon as you can.

What we Know So Far:

1. TF stands for Teaching Fellow; Temporary F(r)iend; Textbook Follower; Tryingtobe Faculty; Technically Free (to leave Ashoka); Theoretically Fun; Tragic Figures; Terribly aFraidtogetarealjob

2. TFs appear to look just like any other student at a distance. However, when you get a closer look, you'll realise they're translucent, like ghosts haunting a place they should have left a long time ago.

3. TFs believe that they are invisible. If you wish to be kind to one, pretend you don’t see them.

Encountering a TF in Your DS:

Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent encounters with TFs when they run the DS you're enrolled in (except not attending). The next best option is to be prepared for emergencies in case they try to engage.

If a TF tries to make small talk before the DS starts, DO NOT engage. This will only encourage them to keep coming back. If your TF asks you how your week is going or another inane question along those lines, just look them in the eye and scream as loud as you can. It might be hard at first, but it gets easier with time.

After the DS has started, your TF might ask you what you think about the assigned reading, or whether you have any questions about course material. You might be tempted to answer, but that's a rookie mistake. The appropriate way to handle these situations is to turn the question back onto the TF. If they ask you what the reading is about, accuse them of not having read it themselves, and then exploiting the intellectual labour of students to explain it to them. If they're smart enough to be teachers, they should already know what's in the book.

If all else fails, just raise your hand and remind your TF that they are free to leave. A surprising number of Ashoka students-turned-TFs don't realise this–they somehow interpret their degree(s) from Ashoka as requests to come back again. It's up to you to let them know that once they've graduated, they can go somewhere else now. One day, they might thank you for it.

Encountering a TF in the Wild:

The first thing you need to know is that TFs don’t have a natural habitat. To curb unwanted TF populations on campus, we haven taken measures to prevent them from sheltering in common areas. Every lounge, mess, and workspace on campus has been dedicated to either faculty or students, effectively thwarting a TF infestation. Unfortunately, they have proved surprisingly resilient to these measures: the TFs now inhabit unoccupied classrooms, university shuttles and the corners of the Dhaba.

You’ll know they’re nearby if you hear whispered voices rehearsing ‘casual’ pre-DS banter or mumbling the word “pedagogy” to themselves for hours on end.

If you do run into one, do not panic. Arm yourself with the following:

1. Potential grad schools (far, far away)

2. A list of notable alumni from the university, and a sidelong glance.

3. Your ungraded assignment.

4. A query about your attendance status.

Remember, they're more afraid of you than you are of them.