Of loving students, past and present

I LOVE INTERACTING WITH MY STUDENTS. IT IS SO SATISFYING TO KNOW THAT EVEN AT THE FAG END OF MY LIFE, MY STUDENTS FIND ME BEAUTIFUL; THAT I AM STILL LOVED, RESPECTED AND WANTED

Decades after having resigned from the education department of Arunachal Pradesh to join the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), I got a pleasant surprise in the form of a phone call from a minister from Itanagar. He called to thank me for having been his teacher in the middle school at a place called Siejosa in Kameng district. A few days later, I got a parcel of hand-woven dress material with a lovely note attached to it, “Grateful to you madam for making me what I am today.”

Shopping in a mall the other day, I was surprised by a lady dashing towards me with two children in tow. She embraced me and said, “As beautiful as ever madam, you still look the same. Remember me? You taught me economics; 1986 batch madam at KV.” She looked into my eyes, hoping to see a gleam of recognition.

Waiting at a gas station in Jalandhar to get my car filled, I was taken aback by a handsome young man coming out of a luxury car parked beside mine. Opening the car door and touching my feet, he said, “Gill madam! How good to see you after so many years. I am with a bank, thanks to your wonderful teaching of money and banking.” Sensing that I hadn’t recognised him, he was quick to add, “Mohit, KV2 2000 batch ma’am.”

A note in my letterbox awaited me when I returned from the outing. It read, “Had come to pay my respects dear madam. I am a Major in the army now, recently got posted here. Shall call again. In case you do not remember me, I was the naughtiest boy in the ’87 batch at KV 1 Amritsar. You saved me from being suspended from the school many a times, I would not have been what I am but for you. Thank you.”

And then a Facebook friend request led to regular chats with a girl student, who had a failed career, a bad marriage and a bleak future ahead. After much goading on her behalf, I recall that I had not been particularly kind to the girl and had even acted against her for bullying her classmates. I agreed to be her agony aunt and counsellor after she told me that her mother was no more and that she needed me to unburden herself, and come out of her depression. “Thank you madam for being there for me, I would not be alive if you had not come along,” she often tells me.

My Facebook friend list is becoming longer as more and more of my students are getting added to it. Through them, memories are revived, pictures and experiences are shared. I love interacting with them. It is so satisfying to know that even at the fag end of my life, my students find me beautiful; that I am still loved, respected and wanted by the children I once taught so sincerely and lovingly.

I wonder if my life would have been so beautifully enriched were it not for my dear students.