Friday, September 5, 2008

Teachers' Day & School Days

An Ode to Teachers.
This is for all the teachers who have formed an integral part of my life and help me mould myself into the person I am today. They have deserve a lion's share in creating the person I am today.As I look back, i would say that Had it not been for some of them who showed interest in me,loving me and treating me as special, I would never be here
being wat I am, a source of Envy for some and topic of criticism and gossip for others...and by that i know i am successful...As I heard somewhere.. That if a person is being criticized and constantly gossiped about, then it should be understood that the person is progressing in life...

Most of the times in my pre-primary school days I saw love everywhere maybe coz i was the daughter of a teaching staff but the primary schoool days were a nightmare in the later half...I actually slogged a lot during school days...Imagine Not even a single day absentieism in all those 5 years only not to be recognized because a silly lady
forgot to mark me present and was adamant in staying by wat she said. Last few years in primary school were spoiled coz the principal happened to be my relative and all thought that I would be getting unnecessary and undue favours from her so they tried to set me right by being extra-torturesome..I agree i was naughty actually more than
needed. and now that I retrospect it were simple attention grabbing techniques to get love from classmates and teachers...Being brought up all alone i did feel a need of sibling...I used to shower my love on the classmates I took for brothers and sisters I never got...Acted,Danced and was Practically a Joker for them. I did as they wanted to
befriend them...Smiled and Cried all to beget friends. Naive as I was till a long I never realized at that age that you never win friends like that. I dont know whether I knew how to make friends or not but then I dont think i have learnt the tricks of trade even now..But still I can boast of friends who are gonna be there for me till eternity...

But Unlike that time, I never had to insult myself and self-respect begging for friendships to the various groups formed amongst the class. The guys wouldnt have me then and the gals hated me...Thats when the guys pass through Girls are Icky Phase and the gals are desperately trying to dominate others. So practically I was a loner in school days. Dunno wat made them get pissed off at me...My overt-vibrant self, my knowing all answers or the fact that I was better off than them in all things simply cudnt be digested and to top it off they wudnt wanna give the credit for my knowledge and wat i was to me but to my relative's presence as a principal... I mean would the senior classes come running to pinch my cheeks,ruffle my hair and plant kisses on my cheeks just coz i was related to the princy??? i dont accept that..If that fear was so inherent in students then why would almost all of my classmates complain about me and that too almost everyday....and reasons?? i flew my hankie in air and she cudnt see the blackboard for a fraction of second and lo...i had to stand outside the class...one gal found me picking my nose and she felt it yucky......i tried to tease her but before i cud she yelled and made me bend down on knees...or stand on the bench with raised hands...that sowed seeds of eternal revenge..so in the evning i pushed her and plop.. she fell along with the bag...next day i knew wat was in store for me...the class teacher made me sit on the floor as she claimed she got Rib Cage Fracture and she had trouble breathing untill she saw me punished...guess her parents might have told that wud help and she was breathing very well wen she smiled ear to ear at her victory on seeing me stand outside the class...well i will dedicate another post to the wierd punishments i got and the fights...i wudnt blame the kids..they were all kids too albeit 2-3 years elder to me and myself being the youngest having cleared prep. classes earlier than others. and by the end of 5 yrs i got irritated the mentality..couldnt bear it any more. The last nail in the coffin was the following incident. I used to be a studious kid. so write and write pages full of questions and their answers,give reasons,short notes,idioms,phrases and everything..U dont become a ranker in class without working hard. I had this fetish for new compass boxes and getting a whole new geometry set or color boxes for exams...so by mistake while revising i left a note in my compass box...halfway thru the exam i needed to change my pencil instead of wasting my time in sharpening it I discovered a note with questions and answers that i wrote for practice. Oh shit !!! i got scared...10-11yr olds dont copy or cheat in exams and that too taking notes..so i tried to throw the paper..the teacher caught me. and verified...that question wasnt even there in the paper...but she felt i had been given the questions by my relative who was actually a very upright lady who wudnt ever dream of such a thing and neither wud my parents who didnt want me to score but to learn well...wat made the teachers think i had guts to do wat even college goin students dont do... they scolded me left and right...and that became a joke amongst students..everyone wud come
over and enquire how i fared in that particular exams...some also started chanted CRIMINAL CRIMINAL CRIMINAL as i passed them...Heights...it still makes me go red in the face... Only One Teacher amongst this period is worth remembering and I still love and respect her...My english teacher.......She somehow understood me well and loved me...

Too much of primary school stories...Entering a new school in Secondary section...i made all teachers fall in love with me except 2 of them whom i abhor till date.i swear i had plotted to kill one of them, who used to hit us badly with foot rulers and dusters, when i grew up..i had planned her accident meticulously....Lolz... maybe she had a particular aversion to me...she almost passing marks when she taught us sanskrit and the next year and for all the years to come after that she taught us Hindi and gave me the lowest marks in that... somehow after she stopped teaching us sanskrit i scored brilliantly...and hindi where i had got the highest marks until she took the chair became the weakest link in my report card...its to put her down i worked hard and hard and improved on my all skills and handwriting which earlier resembled heiroglyphics..guess i shud give her the credit for scoring the highest in boards in hindi... yet the same disdain after I joined the school post the declaration of results. and yes...she dint even knew i scored that high..and the trend for giving me the lowest and criticizing my handwriting continued for the last 2 years of school life...guess...even in this era i loved my new english teacher... infact i had the rest of teachers eating out of my hands... they actually loved me for wat i am...once i fell damn sick that had to be operated upon and guess wat? the teachers came over to my place coz they were misssing me...had a reunion some days ago and they still miss me... and i wud love to quote my english teacher here abt wat she said regarding me.." The era of students like (my name) is completely gone...Now you dont get students like her...Such control over the language...passion for language... now cant be seen in this new breed of students..i still remember her..and you know why she excelled coz she loved the languages...she understood the simplicity as no one else did. i can never have a student like her..." Thanks Maam... Love u... its not that i dint have tiffs here..i did..but some other post for that as i remind myself..
School taught me lot many things...numero uno being how to adjust with people...i mean i agree i was a brat and cudnt mix up with ppl being pampered with love and affection...school made me realize i dont get the princess treatment everywhere.. i learnt to be treated as trash.i learnt wat the worst in the world could mean...and that made me learn how to cope up with the worst life throws in my face...
I have learnt to hit back at the right time.
i have learnt to keep mum..
i have learnt to show my strength who need to be intimidated

but school dint teach me few things...and they are...

everything is not just black or white. nothing can be divided by a thin line of righteousness
actually there are times when there isnt a happy ending
there are times when angels dont come to the rescue of people
constitution and judicial system dont work as they say in textbooks
geography of the actual world and smiling people shown as illustrations in the books are not the true replica of the citizens of any
history was written and is re-written by winners and victors
poems dont sell in this age.the era of wordsworth and tagore is gone...hardly few appreciate verses and those who do actually dont understand wat it is...
art sells only wen u have connections...

Anyways...few more things that life taught me and school didnt might be added on later... gtg as of now...waiting for your comments...this was the first insight in my life... At the end, would like to thank all the teachers who were a part of my life since childhood till today and that includes my parents and friends who taught me many things and all those who taught me things in all walks of life...Adios for now...

2 comments:

Rambler said...

And you still don't admit that I guessed who this is. I didn't even have to wait for this all revealing post. See how well I know you! :-)

Bei-mutlab said...

Amazing as always ur n it is like my sketch of urs gettng filled vth colors.But hv u learnt these thngs fully?

i have learnt to hit back at the right time.
i have learnt to keep mum..
i have learnt to show my strength who need to be intimidated