Every year on Teacher’s Day, I call up one school teacher to
wish her. I may not call any body else, but I have to call her. This year, when
that did not happen, I couldn’t sit still. I kept fiddling with my cellphone,
trying her number many times. I wondered, when she did not pick up on any of
the calls, whether she had shifted; and whether I would ever be able to wish
her a Happy Teacher’s Day again.
This is my class teacher and Maths Teacher of Class 9 and
10, Mrs. Siraj. She was new to our school and was given the responsibility of
our class. She was brilliant. There is no other word to describe her. Maths teachers
are always intelligent, but she had a way about her. She was strict and, at the
same, sweet too. She treated us all equally, a quality so needed but so
unfrequently found in our school. She was partial to our class, obviously. The
number of times she scolded us for making too much noise (and our class was
above the Principal’s Office) are too many to count. She said that since we
were her children, it reflected upon her ability as a mother, when we were
unruly and noisy. She scolded a lot of girls for being unlady-like, but you
could always see that she really cared.
Did she pick me out to be her special one? No. But, she always
supported us when it came to sharpening our talent. When our school had to send
the 8 brightest students for a ‘Catch ‘Em Young Programme’ by Infosys, she
chose me. When I got selected amongst the top 30 in the city to attend this
program, she told me that she knew I had it in me to be the only one selected from
our school. When I did bad in Maths, she was always there to guide me (in the
process criticise me for my silly mistakes). I remember that we had Practice
Exams before our ICSE boards. She gave me a 92/100 in Maths, despite my having
solved all the sums correctly. She told me that she had cut my marks for the
steps I hadn’t written. Nobody was going to look at my Practice Exam marks, but
I was not to make the mistake of skipping steps in the Boards. When I got that
99/100 in my boards, I was disappointed because somehow, I had still managed to
skip a step or two. She let me solve so many different papers during my
Preparation Leave. My mother used to go to school to meet her so that she could
correct those papers. And she did it. Without a word about the extra work she
had to do.
I still remember that last day of school…we were all so emotional.
Our days in school had been cut short by our Principal. We were to sit at home
a week earlier now. It was a Friday and we had a double Maths lesson at the end
of the day. Usually, this lesson was reserved for tests. This Friday was no
different. We complained to all our other teachers that it was our last day at
school, and Mrs. Siraj was giving us a Maths test to end school life with. The other
teachers must have talked to her, because she came into class and said she
wouldn’t want to disappoint us so much. She cancelled that test. Instead, she
spoke to us for an entire hour…talked to us about life, about how whatever
happens, we stood stand strong and confident about ourselves…how our parents
are the foundation that we should never let go of…friends may come and go, but
parents always remain there…so even when they become old and tired, we should
stand by them, because they are the ones who made us…there were so many other
nice things she said…there wasn’t one person in class that wasn’t crying when
she ended when the bell rang. She had made cards for each and every one of us.
Individual cards with different messages for each of us. She made us realize how
much we had loved school, how much we had loved her and how much we were going
to miss when we got out of that school.
I say I owe everything I am, to that great school, St. Mary’s
School, Pune. I also owe the same amount to Mrs. Siraj. She managed to keep me
grounded despite my school values that inculcated a somewhat different idea.
She made me a more focused person with the will to do something with my life…to
make her proud that I am her student.
The year we got out of school, I called her up first to wish
her on 5th September. I called up other teachers too. But, as the
years passed the calls reduced, the contacts were lost, and I probably became a
long-gone memory in my teachers’ minds. With Mrs. Siraj, that was never the
case. I make it a point to call her up every year. It makes my Teachers’ Day
complete. It is magical to hear her voice when she says, “Thank you so much!”,
in her typical accent J
It’s been 6 years now…and 6 phone calls down the line, when I couldn’t wish her
on Teacher’s Day, I couldn’t rest. The idea of not wishing her for the rest of
my life, in case she had changed her number, was too huge to digest. I sent out
messages to all other teachers that I had numbers of, to tell myself that I
hadn’t wasted my Teacher’s Day. It wasn’t enough though. I tried the next day
too. When she didn’t pick up then too, I had to believe that I had finally lost
contact. I’d lost contact with another favourite teacher of mine 2 years after
leaving school. This had at least lasted 6 years. A little disappointed, I
turned back to studying when I got a phone call from her!! She wanted to know
who’s number it was. When I told her it was me, she was delighted. She actually
told me that she had been waiting for my call the previous day, because I call
her every year J
That made me feel so happy!! I could finally wish my favourite teacher on a day
that is made for this very reason. Now, I have her cellphone number. She said, “Now
you can call me any time and I’ll pick up.” Thank God. Now I won’t lose
contact.
A lot of students in BJ gave our HoDs and HoUs roses and
bouquets on 5th. I wondered whether I should have done the same for
them too. After all, they are going to take our Vivas in the Univ Exams. It’s
always nice to know that you’ve done your bit too. But, then I thought, “Do I
really respect all of them?” And my answer was no. Yes, I respect them as teachers.
But its not real respect that I feel. It is more the respect that you’re
supposed to give people in power. Mrs. Siraj, now that is what respect feels
like. No matter what, I know I want to wish her on Teacher’s Day. When that is
the kind of respect I have for a teacher, I shall wish them or gift them too.
There is one teacher in college that I respect. That’s Dr.
Khadse, the HoD of the Dept. of Paediatrics. That woman is one hell of a person.
She is intelligent, loves her work, manages the Department really well, takes
an active interest in us UG students and is a disciplinarian too. That is a
woman to respect. And, that is a teacher I took blessings from. Whether she remembers
me in the future or not, is a different matter. The point is that such people
are rare. There was another teacher I really really liked, but she got transferred
to another college a few months back. That was my Guide for the
Hospital-Acquired Infections seminar – Dr. Mrs. Dube. A very sweet, soft-spoken
person who naturally emanated a radiance of joy and freshness wherever she
goes. I missed her on 5th and made sure I got through to her. Lucky
for me, she still uses her Pune cellphone number J
Lastly, that teacher I lost contact with. She
was my Hindi teacher in school. Mrs. Joshi. And the very best Hindi Teacher I’ve ever had.
My Hindi literally flourished under her guidance. I even got an all-time record
marks of 87.5 and 88 out of 100 each in my papers Hindi grammar and Hindi
Literature. There was something about her and the way she taught us the subject.
There was so much enthusiasm and love for the subject! It just made you want to
do well in that subject! I loved her and her personality. I wish she hadn’t
moved to Nagpur and from there elsewhere….maybe someday, I shall meet her…till
then, its through this blog that I say, Happy Teacher’s Day, Mrs. Joshi. Thank
you for making sure that my love for Hindi only grew J
