This post has been published by me on the occasion of the Teachers’ Day as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 2; the second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

I saw him coming. I leaned on my SUV so that he could notice me. It was time to pick up Varun from the school, and I felt glad that I volunteered for the task. Gopalan Sir, dhothi clad, looked older and leaner. Still, the walk was brisk, with sharp occasional glances to the road side.

Oops, he noticed neither me nor the car!! This was one moment I have waited for, in my whole life. To see that look of appreciation in his face, where I have seen only contempt and anger…

I hurried my steps to overtake those passing feet. “Do you  remember me, sir?” Ofcourse, he wouldn’t. Who remembers the worst kid in a class!! That too, from 40 years back. Gopalan Sir  looked up. “Sir, I am Ramakrishnan, your student in school 40 years back. Right now, I am working abroad as the manager of a private firm. Just waiting here to pick  my son from school”. Putting my one hand on the SUV, I carefully stressed the words. I wanted to see the regret in his eyes, regret for punishing me harder, regret for thinking I am a waste, regret for all those he couldn’t see in me.

****

Adarsha Vidyalay.

It did stand for that name. It took poor children like me and tried to make their life better with education. Somehow, I turned out to be the worse kid of the class. However the teachers tried to instill big goals in me, I was foreseeing my future in my father’s grocery shop. I learned mathematics, to add, substract, divide and multiply. Any Mathematics beyond that or any other subject seemed a waste of time. Especially, English Language taught by Gopalan sir, never met my screening of essential things for future. He was kind enough to advise me, meet my father and see my family circumstances etc. Nothing worked, and he turned to punishments.

That was the spur. I hated him. With all the hatred, I longed for a revenge. I wanted to become someone big, much above Gopalan sir, and crush him like a mosquito. I aimed higher and higher.

****

Gopalan Sir squinted his eyes. I was surprised by the reaction in his eyes. “Ramakrishnan!! The naughty boy!!” Yes!! I gritted my teeth. “So, you are not following your father’s business”.  No, I am not. “Good son, I am very happy for you. I always wanted to see you aim heights. I had felt sad when you didn’t. Glad that atlast you are well positioned, have a happy family too”

I looked hard into those eyes. Regret? No. There was love and compassion only. I saw my revenge and pride melt in front of those eyes. I was surprised to see me asking, “Sir, should I drop you somewhere?”. “No, son. You have made my day. Whenever I see a student of mine, happy and strong, it gives me the strength to go on. I can walk”.

I couldn’t push since it was time to go to Varun’s school.

****

“Varun?” Miss Lekha looked up.

“Yes, I am his father. Varun told me I am supposed to meet his teacher today”

“Tell me his full name”

“Varun Ramakrishnan”

Miss Lekha’s fingers danced on the computer keyboard. Varun’s photo and details came up.

“Ah, I see. We are going to dismiss Varun. Look for another school for him to attend the final examination”

“Ma’m, why, why? Why would you do that?”

“Look, Mr. Ramakrishnan. You know that our school has 100% result every year for the final examination. That is the reason why you too, like every father, enrolled your student here. Having 100% result every year, we didn’t have anything higher to aim. So, we had targeted to make every student score 90% and above last year. We could achieve that too, and we have increased our target to 95%. See, Varun is very smart, still he hasn’t scored 95% for English. So, we cannot afford to have him here.”

“But, ma’am, think about his future..”

“That is something for you to worry about, Mr. Ramakrishnan”

I came out, gathering all the strength to face my son and explain the situation. I was angry, hurt and insulted. Suddenly, a dhoti clad figure flashed in front of my eyes.  A figure I had hated so long, suddenly looked justified and reasonable. For a moment, I placed my right hand on my heart, to feel that warmth.

Note: Its time to remember all my Gurus in my life. When I sit and think, I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t made an effort to develop my character. No need to say, I dedicate this post to all teachers of min

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton are Vipul, Rajalakshmi, Dhiman, Ranee[1], [2], [3] , Avada, Indian Pundit, Sojo, Aneet, Pramathesh, Aativas, Sid, Pra, Ajinkya, Lakshmi, Govind, Shilpa, Bharathi, Shankar, Mytuppence, Azad, Pawan, Pankaja, Saimanohar, Guria, Shruti, Vishnu and Richa. Click on their respective names to read their posts on Teachers : Aaj Kal. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.