Yes , I Am Acting Tutor , Not Acting Trainer

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           OCTOBER 12 , 2012           00.45 A.M.

IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS , THEN IT IS FOOLISH TO BE WISE ; A Proverb

My country has unique quality . Here you will find people who claim that they know everything . Without reading literature , they can teach literature . Without watching old classic films , they can endlessly give sermon on films . Without meeting a single film legend , they boast about being in touch of all the legends of cinema . They can claim that they are polyglot and can write and speak impeccable English . It is another thing that their knowledge of language is limited and their spelling is horribly wrong .

When it comes to languages I am puritan . I did my Post Graduation in English Literature from Allahabad University , which is known as Oxford of the East . Therefore when I see a wrong spelling or a wrong sentence I squirm . I admire and try to follow Queen’s English .

In olden days , standard of education was so high in India that even a wood-cutter could speak impeccable Sanskrit . Let me tell a story . Raja Bhoj , who is known for his erudition and knowledge , was roaming around in a forest . He saw an old wood-cutter . That old wood-cutter was walking with difficulty because of the woods he was carrying on his shoulder . Raja Bhoj thought of helping him . He asked the wood-cutter , ” किं स्कन्धं बाधति ? ” [ Is your shoulder paining ? ] As per Sanskrit grammar , the verb should have been बाधते and not बाधति . Old wood-cutter looked at the king and answered back , ” स्कन्धं न बाधते राजन , यथा बाधति बाधते ” [ My shoulder is not paining but the use of wrong word बाधति is definitely painful. ]

But this is an old story . This kind of knowledge and education is a thing of past . Much water has flown down the holy Ganga . So wrong sentences and wrong spellings are order of the day .

Let me come to the point . Recently I was made aware that I am just a tutor and not the trainer of acting . Acerbic tone of the statement made it clear that it is a gibe and not a genuine praise . Gentleman who made the barb does not know the real meaning of Trainer . Just look at the meaning of trainer given in the dictionary :

TRAINER

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noun.

1. a staff member on an athletic team who gives first aid and therapy to injured players.

2. a person who trains athletes; coach.

3. a person who trains racehorses or other animals for contests, shows, or performances.

4. an airplane or a simulated aircraft used in training crew members, especially pilots.

I don’t find any reference of acting or fine arts here . Word Trainer is used for the coach of animals , machines or athletes .

Now look at the meaning of tutor :

TUTOR

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noun.

1. a person employed to instruct another in some branch or branches of learning, especially a private instructor.

2. a teacher of academic rank in some American universities and colleges.

3. a teacher without institutional connection who assists students in preparing for examinations.

4. (especially at Oxford and Cambridge) a university officer, usually a fellow, responsible for teaching and supervising a number of undergraduates.

5. the guardian of a boy or girl below the age of puberty or majority.

-v.t.

6. to act as a tutor to; teach or instruct, especially privately.

7. to have the guardianship, instruction, or care of.

8. to instruct under handedly; coach: to tutor a witness before he testifies.

9. Archaic.
a. to train, school, or discipline.
b. to admonish or reprove.

-v.i.
10. to act as a tutor or private instructor.
11. to study privately with a tutor.

Trainer is associated with animals and tutor is associated with study , knowledge and fine arts . We can find first reference of a tutor in 1631 . You can see the photograph of Prince Charles Louis with his Tutor posted below .

Prince Charles Louis with his Tutor (1631) by Jan Lievens (1607-1674), Dutch painter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Almost 240 years later we find another eminent tutor of Oxford University . You can see the photograph posted below .

Mandell Creighton, Oxford tutor in 1870, a year before he met Louise. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Peter Neumann, British mathematician and Senior tutor at The Queen’s College, Oxford (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There was another tutor of repute in that era . I am posting portrait of Vilém Gabler (1821 – 1897), Czech teacher, who was private tutor in rich families .

Portrait of Vilém Gabler (1821 – 1897), Czech teacher, private tutor in rich families, long-time director of high school for girls in Prague and author of textbooks and travelogues. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now go through the following synonyms of tutor :

Synonyms of Tutor :

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coach, direct, discipline, drill, drum into, edify, educate, guide, instruct, lay it out for, lecture, let in on, ready, school, train, update

So it is amply clear that in the field of art , fine arts and acting , there could only be a tutor and not trainer . I don’t know how and when it started but these days the word Acting Trainer is in vogue . I have no problem with the word Acting Trainer . But Tutor is not derogatory . On the contrary Tutor is the right and most appropriate word for an acting coach .

But as I have written in the beginning :

IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS , THEN IT IS FOOLISH TO BE WISE ; A Proverb

There are Acting Trainers of Mumbai , Acting Trainers of India . Some Bollywood Acting Trainers use the title Acting Guru also . All the reputed and not so reputed Acting Schools of Mumbai and Acting Schools of India take pride in the fact that they have employed Acting Trainers of repute . Let them take the cake .

I state with all the humility that I am the one and only Acting Tutor of India . I am fully satisfied with my life as an Acting Tutor . If people think that being tutor is inferior than a trainer , it is their complexes . It is their limited knowledge of Queen’s English .

But as I have stated in the beginning :

IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS , THEN IT IS FOOLISH TO BE WISE ; A Proverb

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

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