After a gap of nearly 10 long years, life almost practically repeated itself for me yesterday. The first incident happened during my School days and the second one at my work place.
Pic: The School I studied, KV NP Nagar , now titled Bhavan's Vidyalaya.I can't obviously tell you what happened at my office, so the school story is coming up for you. I bet flYandCrash readers are intelligent enough to guess how the repeat story was enacted at my work.
I was in class 10 then. My board exams were fast approaching and everyone was busy with preps, mock exams and endless tuition classes. I studied in 'Kendriya Vidyalaya' and we have something called a Parent teacher's association there. It calls up routine monthly meetings which are generally harmless in nature. But this time around, half yearly results were out and they had planned a feedback session to every parent. This was necessary as all parents quite naturally had high expectations on their kids’ performance in the upcoming board exams. So teachers & management of the school thought it prudent to hold a meeting with the parent and give them a realistic picture of their wards performance.
And so we were all ordered to turn up with our parents on a Sunday. Either mother/father would do. But the catch? Half yearly report cards would be handed out only in the meeting to the parents. If they don't turn up, No report cards. (This funda of course is practiced across most schools in India I guess).
And so we poor souls who didn't have the faintest idea about the Half yearly results queued up on the D-day with our parents. All respective subject teachers sat in classrooms and I remember the queue to meet them extending well outside the rooms.
And so there was a 15 year old too somewhere in the Q, holding the hands of his mom (Not that my father was not interested in coming, it's just that I never told him about the happening hooplah).
Me and my mom were carefully watching what was happening with people talking to the teacher before us. I was assigned to collect my report from Mr Vijayakumar, our then Geography teacher whom I have oodles of respect & admiration. One of the finest teachers I have met through out my student life, he knew very well how to rev up the hidden spark within his students and then guide them until they become full fledged volcanoes. Hats off to you sir!
And so we were seeing the party happening right in front of our eyes.
'He just doesn't believe in working hard!' I can't really help this guy. You really don’t deserve to sit for the board exams.' That was our Math teacher talking to one of the parents. I was really pissed off at the way a Parent was being told about the incompetence of his/her ward in front of other Parents. Partly due to the fear that I too would be facing the music in another couple of minutes and partly because of the fact of mine thinking that this wasn't the best way to do a feedback session, come what may. I silently resolved that whenever I become a teacher, I would never subject my students & their parents to anything even remotely like this.
The same type of comments was coming up for almost everyone. I even thought for once that the teachers were playing safe by giving poor comments for all, so that they would not be questioned if the results went the wrong way. I could see depressed faces all over. Mostly those of parents. And then I looked at my mom. She was already depressed.’ Is this what you brought me here for ? ' I had no answer but to wait quietly for my turn.
And so the guy standing before me went on to his turn. The bashing session went on for nearly 30 minutes. I could see my mom getting more and more nervous. Not to mention my condition which was naturally worse. I should admit here that I shared a good relation with Vijayakumar sir. I had keen interest in his subject and I also was a good performer in class, almost always coming in the top 5.But today was different, everybody seemed to be facing the music royally.
The guy before me departed with his report card. By now a section of Parents who had completed their feedback sessions had gathered near the door to watch the fun happening with their peers. This is one thing I 'll never understand. Indian Parents are almost always concerned about the performance of other students in their ward's class.’If he can do it, then why can't you?' is a common line amongst parents scolding children for poor marks.
My turn came up and Vijayakumar sir looked at me. 'Ranjit, come over'.
I collected myself and tugged towards him after a 'What to do now, but go?' look to my mom.
He asked me and my mom to sit and took out my report card.
Till now, the discussions at his table had been at a feeble volume. Vijayakumar sir very well understood the sensitive nature of the issue at hand.
He now cleared his throat, raised his voice and declared 'I have absolutely no problems with this guy’, absolutely no issues. All the best for your board exams, young man'. Here is your card. It’s all yours. Congrats!
That one moment changed many things. As a immediate consequence, I could see a dozen heads in the room turn towards me and my mom. And then I looked at my mom. I remember my mom's expression at that moment to this day. It is of course beyond words to describe that here and I am not going to attempt that.
I collected my card, thanked my teacher and walked towards the door,my mom following me. Everyone had a mix of appreciation and envy in their look at my mom. And of course, I was having a blast of a party deep inside me.
Life moved on. I completed my Schooling , did my Engineering and then joined a good company. I did receive appreciations at many stages during this period. But a repeat of that class 10 incident never really happened. At least not until yesterday. All I’ll say is that something very similar happened at my workplace yesterday when I was called in to my boss’s room. This time again with my fellow associates in a queue before me. And then something was conveyed to me. In style ! And I couldn't help but smile. Images of the ever active Vijayakumar sir & the D-day started flashing before my eyes almost instantly...
p.s : This post has been written on the
request order of a very sweet little thing called romi and so is dedicated to her and her awesome artwork (read rangolis , posters etc..)
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