This happened in a small town surrounded by
villages and as there were no schools worth their salt around this location,
the parents sent their children to the town schools. Hence in the late fifties
it was the school and it's teachers who ruled the roost and the illiterate
parents used to tell the teachers to mindless torture in case, any child lagged behind in the studies.
“We are an ignorant lot" they would lament "at least let our sons go
for a government job earning good money." There was also a conservative
minority who thought that plenty of theoretical exercise and bookish knowledge
was a waste and hard work combined with working knowledge of literacy was good
enough for life.
As a
consequence a teacher carrying sturdy cane along with the text book to the
class was the order of the day! On that particular day the students were
waiting for their Tamil teacher to enter the class. Severe and stern to look at,
he was the terror of the truants and those who massacred the mother tongue with
their rustic slang!
An
unlucky boy from a nearby village had committed both of these heinous crimes of
truancy as well as a vernacularly challenged behaviour. The profoundly upset
teacher beat him blue and black and the boy was bleeding and had a limp as an
add-on. Another blow from the teacher was his last straw. The student blurted
out “My dad will come and take care of you properly” he shouted “Have you heard
of Pakkiri of Rajapuram.....? His knife had seen more blood than what I have
shed today and he will surely take care of you in a suitable manner….you.......
" Uttering that unspeakable word casually he ran out the class.
Yes,
the boys from that village had heard of this notorious man who revelled in
using his knife at the drop of the hat! Hesitantly they came near their teacher
to vouch that there were a few lucky one legged and single handed men in their
area and one or two unlucky ones safe in their heavenly abode! None in the village had had the audacity to
reprimand or annoy him.” Keep off the rouge’s way” was the motto around the
locality!
That
man didn't want his son to study further and wanted him to follow his trade
making money easily. But it was his wife who put her foot down and convinced
him to send the boy to school.
The Tamil teacher went numb with fear. The
daily report from the boys of the man cursing him and sharpening his big knife
further heightened his anguish and he decided to take the matter to the higher
ups.
After
verifying the facts about the man the principal called for an emergency staff
meeting with the Tamil teacher literally shivering in his pants. After advising the teachers to use their cane
sparingly the pros and cons were discussed. At the end it was decided that they
would go the ‘Gandhian’ way of peaceful negotiation.
But
who was to bell the cat?
“Can
we send the concerned teacher to his house to apologise?” was one suggestion
The
Tamil teacher had a panic attack at the proposal. He declared that he would
rather resign then and there than to encounter that horror." If not today
I can always get a job but, not my life back." he declared emphatically
Then
one among the teacher said “I will make a try.”
The
teachers were bewildered with this offer. They all knew that he had a big
family of young children and what if something untoward happened to this fool
hardy man?! Was he after some vain glory?!
He
landed in the village in his Hercules cycle as though on a holiday. The house of
the notorious character was not big but neatly painted in terracotta colour. He
thought that this reddish tinge didn’t auger well for the purpose of his visit.
But seeing the boy playing in the portico was indeed a good omen (instead of
lying in the bed) and the immediate absence of the man, at least near the doorway,
portended well. The boy, seeing the teacher, ran inside and was pulling his
reluctant mother to come outside, all the time shouting ‘teacher … teacher’.
She was frightened at the site of a tall man standing at her door step and
suddenly pulled her son away from that man! But the word 'sir' teacher aroused
her immensely and she started shouting
"You…….you beat my son, made him bleed and now you are standing at
my door step. If you care for your life run away from here before my husband
comes to tear you apart." The boy tried to pacify his angry mother and ran
and held the teacher's hand.
By
this time the other boys studying in the school from this locality gathered
around the teacher.
"Amma”,
said the son,..... “He is our good teacher. Ask the other boys. Will they come
to see him if he is bad?" You know he can draw the whole world map in five
minutes….. Would you like to see it amma? He is a big teacher ….. He can do it
in our front wall...please amma….. Then I can draw the world like my teacher……”
“Yes
amma…. The other children sang in a chorus…. The world map will be a nice
decoration to the house!”
The manner in which the children were clinging
to this teacher made the lady wonder and she requested him to sit in the veranda
and went inside to bring a mug of butter milk, the normal courtesy in villages those days.
This
man had the habit of having sweets in one of his pant pockets and chalks in the
other. He looked at the terracotta wall….
“This
is my good fortune.” he happily mused. “The terracotta wall which frightened me
has become my ally now in a beautiful contrast with my white chalk!” As he distributed the sweets
to the children he called them around and started drawing the map of the
Americas. The map progressed with the children identifying the countries and
the capitals! The village had gathered around in to look at this wonderment!
In
the meantime the father of the boy arrived in his full regalia. Before he could
fathom the situation and the gathering in front of his house his wife ran to
him and pulling him aside started talking to him, with great many hand gestures
implying some sort of warning. A man however strong he is has his own Achilles
heel and in this case it turned out to be his better half!!
When
he wished the teacher with folded hands the teacher was thoroughly
flabbergasted, surprised at the miracle that was happening before his eyes!
The
story indeed ended well with proper explanation of how concerned the Tamil
teacher was in his son’s education and an offer from our teacher to send the
boy to his house for free tuitions in the morning! The father was well pleased
and reprimanded his son for his truancy and lack of attention in the class.
Now
the scene shifts from the fifties incident to a current episode in 2017!
One
of this teacher’s grandson interested, now involved in organic farming and
interested in in greening his town, was looking for open spaces to plant
traditional trees. When he went to meet the concerned official in the
government department, there was an elderly man who also waiting. As they were
chatting the talk turned towards the family and when the boy informed about his
father the man got up and, affectionately
folding of both his hands with great reverence, exclaimed that he was the
student of his grandfather and his son was the student of his father. “But for
your grandfather our village will not be what it is today. People still talk
about him. If he sees a person smoking he would offer him a sweet and with a
pep talk request him to go off the habit. He knew all the families and would
smoothly sort out any problem of any house hold. He was beyond the staunch
adherence of the caste system of the villages and accosted all the male members
as raja (king) so much so that he himself was called “Raja sir”
This
stranger at the government office could not be stopped. “If there are so many
educated people with great values in the village today, the credit solely goes
to your grandfather. My dear boy if you go to any village around here you can
be sure of the repetition this same story! You are indeed a lucky man!” He
exclaimed.
The
grandson couldn’t believe what he had heard and wondered how this was possible
after more than fifty years! He was just an ordinary teacher but how could he
metamorphose into an enigma par excellence holding the place in the heart of
people? He was a handsome six footer but all the handsome men didn’t achieve
it? His sincerity……? All the sincere men
didn’t accomplish it. He is still a mystery, an enigma, yet a morning star ever
guiding humanity.
And
the young man interested in tree planting was none other than my nephew and the
noble teacher is my dad. I am sure that those
good genes would continue through his
progenies in varied form to enrich of
our society!
