U- Understand

One fine day, just when I was about to leave after my lecture from the center, a student came rushing to me. I could see her wary eyes and knew that she wanted to talk about something. As the exams were approaching, I thought it must be the stress of the syllabus. I allowed her to speak her mind and be all ears to her. What I learned next literally moved me, to the extent that I still think of her sometimes.

This girl, let’s call her Kavya, was 21 and lived with her parents. A confident, vibrant and an extremely hardworking girl she was in my class. She never understood anything at once but she never left the class without understanding her concepts. That is what I loved about her. But in spite of all the efforts, she was never able to score well in her tests and it was that day when I learned why!

First, she asked me about how to go about with her syllabus and the number of hours she needs to give in a day. I suggested her a few ways that she could follow in her routine like keeping away all the distractions while studying (phones, gadgets, etc), making a short doable timetable and following it religiously, keeping short breaks in between and let her mind get back with all the energy. But then I learned that she didn’t have a personal room to herself where she could sit and study peacefully. She stayed in a joint family and it always seemed like a party affair in the house 24*7. But what I couldn’t understand was that if there is a child or a student in the house, how could someone not let them study and give some peace?

Source

Talking to her further, I found out about her past. Kavya was a married girl. She married a guy she loved at the age of 18. Yes! She was only 18 when she eloped with the boy. The boy was a good guy who belonged to a good family and earned fairly well. The moment Kavya left her house; her family abandoned her and refused to keep any relations with her.

But destiny had some other plans for her! It was only after a month of her marriage, she lost her husband in a road accident! Devastated, as she was, bearing it all alone, just at the age of 18! Her in-laws blamed her stars for everything that happened with their son and asked her to leave the house. Her family wasn’t very happy with what happened and took her (because they were not left with any choice). And since then, all they have been doing to her is say cuss words, disrespect her in every way and treat her like a piece of garbage... they believed that the girl was good for nothing and couldn't do anything with her life. Kavya was any way guilty of everything that happened in her life, and that is why didn't say much to her family.

She wanted to study but no one supported her. She had no source of income and so she decided to take tuition classes for pre-primary students in order to have something in her hand. Her evenings went away teaching the little kids and later evenings went off making dinner for herself. No one in the house fed her. She made her own breakfast, lunch, and dinner and did other household stuff. Doing it all didn’t leave her much time to study. With the money she collected, she paid the coaching class fee and then later the book fees, all with her own money. Not a single soul in the family was either happy or supportive of anything. But she was determined to do something. She accepted her mistakes but it wasn’t her fault if her husband died!

Her family said that it was her karma because of which all of this happened in her life and that, it was meant to happen that way, that she can’t do anything fruitful with her life and is simply a waste in the house!

She always kept quiet and thought of giving an answer with her results. Sadly, she didn’t pass. And then she decided to give it another shot.

When I heard her, I was left speechless. I felt helpless! I gave her a hug! It was that day when I felt so strongly about anything in a long time. I agree, she shouldn’t have run away from the house. It was totally wrong on her part but her husband dying wasn’t her fault! She realized her mistake and was beyond sorry for that. Why was it so difficult for the parents to forgive her? Why is it so hard to understand their daughter, just for once! What’s done is done and no one can do anything about it. 

Source

What they can do is punish her if it gives them peace and move on! The girl feels miserable and just expects a little bit of understanding from her parents.

Today, she is working on other exams and is still struggling to earn that respect that she lost years ago! Do you think she deserves another chance?

Cheers

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Welcome to my Blog! This A to Z Challenge, my theme is ‘Let’s see the other Side’. Through this theme, I'm trying to giving voice lot of things that go around us and yet I can't do much to bring about the change. I feel, sharing my thoughts in my space here will somewhere make someone think and bring about the change we all want to see!
where I’ll be sharing about the daily nuances that we’ve been seeing in the same way since 1990’s! (:P) But this time you’re going to ponder over it a bit differently.

Feel free to express your thoughts and I'd be all ears!

I hope you have a great time here! 

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Q- Quit

It was during the middle session of one my previous batches when I felt something peculiar in the class. There was a student who found really hard coping up with the syllabus. Most of the teachers were annoyed with him because he had too many questions to ask and yet nothing really went in his head. He was always filled with doubts... self and in the books too. He stammered while speaking, he was different from the rest of the students.

He was never seen wasting his time, he was the most obedient student in the entire batch and also the most hard-working one!

But that wasn’t enough! Being innocent and different made his life a struggle. He was bullied by his classmates and was never informed about any plans that the class ever made. A few students did make an effort to help him out but kind of lost patience because of his questions.

A simple math problem which a class 4 boy could solve was a task for this boy.

I feared for him. I wanted to help him but I couldn’t understand how? I paid extra attention to him in the class, I made sure he understood everything well in the class by asking him questions and ensured he answered them as well, but then the next day, it all vanished! He wasn’t able to build bricks and connect dots. As it took a little extra time to explain him things, most of the class would often get annoyed with him, because this was something that happened in almost every lecture.

I was worried. With this kind of attitude, I knew he wouldn’t be able to clear his exams. Also, the current course is a simpler one, but the next level ahead wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, it would be so tough that he might end up leaving his studies forever. And I didn’t want that to happen.

What I couldn’t understand was if he was trying his best then why was he facing so much of issues in the class?

And then, one day I got the answer. I decided to talk to his parents to find out the real problem. And here is what I learned:

This student of mine was mentally challenged, with issues related to memory. He couldn’t retain a single thing, no matter how hard he tried. That was the reason he was always blank in the class. He couldn’t do his daily chores and his brain processed only half of the information thrown at him. He couldn’t figure anything at all for that matter. And yet, no one could ever make out his problem... that’s how well and perfectly normal he looked!

Source

I asked his parents the reason for choosing such a tough course? I mean, it would only hamper his self-esteem if he wouldn’t be able to make it. They could have enrolled him for a simpler course. But 

I learned it was his choice... he wanted to go ahead with this course and his parents decided to support him irrespective of the consequences. They wanted him to be happy and help him build the road that he would proudly walk on!

That day onwards, I had so much of respect for this student and I was so proud of him for he never quit. He always tried and found his ways. Despite all the bullying and being a laughing stock for everyone in the class, he didn’t quit! Yes, he took more time than an average student would take, but what mattered was he refused to give up... every single time!

Cheers

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Welcome to my Blog! This A to Z Challenge, my theme is ‘Let’s see the other Side’. Through this theme, I'm trying to giving voice lot of things that go around us and yet I can't do much to bring about the change. I feel, sharing my thoughts in my space here will somewhere make someone think and bring about the change we all want to see!
where I’ll be sharing about the daily nuances that we’ve been seeing in the same way since 1990’s! (:P) But this time you’re going to ponder over it a bit differently.

Feel free to express your thoughts and I'd be all ears!

I hope you have a great time here!

Read More

10 things I love about my work

Do you love your work? I sure do. Life as a teacher has been acutely satisfying. So much so that a part of my life revolves around my work and my students. 

C'mon!. Let's explore the perks of being a teacher,

One The World knows my ability to talk! Just talk! And what better place could it be than a room filled with people, younger than your age, who have no other option than listening to you?! ;) :D Okay, jokes apart, I always find it therapeutic to interact with my students. No matter how my mood is, it always gets better after each class.

Two Who doesn’t like to stay amongst the younger crowd? Not that there is much of a difference between our ages, but it’s always a good thing to stay and meet people who’re younger than your age. It sure adds a new perspective to your thinking and involves so much of learning.

Three Isn’t it rewarding to see when someone looks up to you? To me, it’s even more motivating to keep myself live up to the expectations of my students. And that adds another sense of responsibility at the same time.

Four Daily interactions in the class, cracking jokes in order to make the subject more interesting, giving examples and going back to the time when I was a student! It makes me reminisce my old college days and all of this helps in keeping the child in me alive. 

Five Sure it occupies my time and helps me stay busy. And this is so important to keep my sanity alive. I know how miserable I get and how handy I become when I have too much of time to myself doing nothing. Sure, it ensures peace in my life :P

Six Taking one batch after the other and seeing your students come out with flying colors automatically does the due. The sense of respect in the loud and clear, ‘Thank you, Ma’am!!’ after each class is immensely satisfying. Along with the perks of recognition, accomplishing the sense of identity other being someone’s ‘Mrs’ is contagious!

Seven There was a point in my life where feeling worthless was the only sentiment I could sense.  Things changed with my work and helped me come out of that zone. The love that my students shower upon me, I don’t even know if I deserve that, but it feels exceptionally gratifying.

Eight And who can ignore the lifetime relationships and bonding that comes with it?

Nine My profession has taught me to embrace life, to consider the pebbles thrown at you as the stepping stones towards success and above all to feel grateful for changing lives for good, for shaping the thought process and for thriving towards excellence! 

Ten There was a time when I used to lose my cool real soon. But with time, my work has taught me to be patient and empathetic towards my students. Now I know, keeping calm and being a patient soul can do wonder to your class and of course, your life!

Thank goodness, I've not become like this :P

Does it ring a bell to you? Nope, you don’t necessarily have to be a teacher for it. Tell me if this post reminds you of any teacher? How were your experiences back then with them? Share with me and I am all ears J

Cheers

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Reflections~ July

It’s almost end of July. Yah, yah... None of us know where the month and the year have gone by and pondering about it every month has become a new cliché. But what do we do? Time slips away without even letting us know?

July was a month full of work, events, health and family.

The month started with the birthday celebrations of a dear friend followed by the Felicitation Party that is hosted for the students congratulating them and refreshing them for the upcoming course. This little world that I share with my students is truly a gift in every sense. I cherish it, I feel happy about it and I am thankful for it. Every student of mine holds a special place in my heart. No matter if I teach them now or not, but they’re the ones who have shaped me as a teacher and made me who I am.

After a really long time, R (a dear friend of mine) and I shopped! Though I didn’t shop much but it was fun after a long time. Given our schedules and its timings, it becomes quite handy to meet that often. We shopped, we ate, and we chatted and poured our hearts! Doesn’t it sound enticing? I’m looking forward to doing it again next month :P

I’m grateful to have friends in the city whom I can meet share my woes and add happiness to our lives!

This month also invited non-stop eating. Yes, keeping an eye on diet was put aside and all I did was nurture my all-time-junk-cravings! Of course, at odd hours. I knew somewhere in my heart that I was crossing the line, but then who cares came into the picture! What am I suppose to do?

I saw Kabali and Madaari. Kabali, I didn’t like. At all. Madaari, I loved! Brilliant acting, brilliant plot and outstanding performance! The hard-hitting reality is pointed in the movie and if you have not watched it yet, please go and watch it! And thank me later ;)

Husband was out of town for a day and it was nice and I wrote a post in his absence: P :D

The party with the students was fun... actually more than fun! All of them were dressed up as hell and saying gorgeous would be an understatement! All my students looked stunning! And we danced... and danced non-stop! For full 3 hours and we didn’t stop... at all! As the DJ was changing the numbers, we were changing our steps and positions!

Lots of chatting with the students revealed lots of stories and it was fun learning them. Doesn’t it feel amazing when you come to know so many new things about yourself, something that had been there for a while but only you were oblivious to it?

It was a day well spent, bringing in lots of headaches for me along with high fever! I guess I danced way too much! And since then, I’m trying to come out of viral but just couldn’t!

Today is still better, but past two days, I was a mess! I don’t like falling sick! But then, who does?

I’m glad I could take the class today and didn’t miss it, like the other day!

I am grateful for taking up the #HalfMarathon Blogging challenge. It sure has made me do some writing and I’m glad for not leaving it in between. Two days back when I wasn’t feeling well, I simply didn’t want to write. All I could think of was how to give up, but then the word ‘challenge’ kind of motivated me to stick to it!

I know it my heart if it wouldn’t be for the challenge I would never have written a word! I’m happy that I took it up!

What are things you’re happy about this July?

Join me and others at Vidya Sury’s Gratitude Circle Blogshop.

I’m participating in Half Marathon Blogging Challenge with Blogchatter. Today is Day 12 of the challenge.

Cheers 

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Burning

‘Don’t go to the class. You have fever’

‘I’m fine. Feeling better.’

After a few hours

‘How did the first half go?’

‘It was fine. Couldn’t speak much. Left a bit early’

‘Now rest and cancel the other session’

‘I can’t. I called at the institute and it’s not possible. Students have arrived, already! I can’t ask them to return now’

o

‘Your temperature right now is 3   . You can’t even afford to stand at the moment, let alone take the class.’

With a heavy heart and deep guilt, I cancelled the class and let the lone tear escape my eyes!

I’m participating in Half Marathon Blogging Challenge with Blogchatter. Today is Day 10 of the challenge.

Cheers

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My #Cherished Moment

It was a beautiful Monday morning. The day started with it’s regular routine. But something was scheduled which was a bit different than the usual Monday! O yes.. no changes in the class. It was scheduled at its usual time with the only difference of having a felicitation program for students. The academy organizes a program to congratulate and felicitate the students who have come out flying colors, appreciating their hard work and boosting their spirit to strive for more! It is truly bliss to meet your students outside the class.

I was all in my formals, wearing a business suit. The program went well and then there was an after party organized. Wonderful opportunity for everybody to chill and enjoy the break from the monotonous routine. I was really happy for all my students for their performance! It was on that day I realized how much my students love me.. respect me.. value me.. It could all be seen in their eyes.. in their gestures.. in their words! Being someone’s inspiration is something that I have always wanted, and this need continues to be..! That day I realized, my students not only see me a teacher, but a friend, an inspiration, a true mentor, their guide for life. Its exhilarating what I felt that day, and to pen it down in words.. it's more than difficult!

All your effort, all the pain, helping by going out of the way.. everything seemed worth doing that day! And nobody can force such virtues on somebody. This is something that comes straight from heart. And it was all flowing in.. from students’ and mine!

That is something that I will truly cherish for life. It is something that gives me my identity.. my individuality.. makes me strive for more. And is one in a million reason for me to be happy about!

Life indeed is wonderful!

Below are the pictures with few of my lovely students :)

What is it that you cherish the most?

This post is written for The CherishedBlogFest, hosted by Dan Antion, Damyanti Biswas, Paul 

Ruddock, Peter Nena, Sharukh Bamboat. 

Happy Reading

Cheers

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Did I hear something?

Behind her she heard laughter, getting conscious if there was something inappropriate behind her back or was it the students laughing at her or was her trousers too tight that made students laugh?! She could think of all possibilities, all in one blink of an eye! For the first time she was all decked up, as there was a formal function to be followed. The moment she entered, that mere look, those astonishing eyes, said a thousand unspoken words, which echoed in her ears while writing a note on the board! While they were only trying to compliment her!

Linking with Write Tribe’s 100Words on Saturday prompt: A free write using opening lines: Behind her she heard laughter/screaming...

Happy Reading

Cheers

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