8 mins read . by Sandeep Mahagaonkar . August 7, 2015
The school building was dilapidated and there were weeds sprouting from the cracked walls. There was an immediate need to resurrect the structure, but the management was least bothered. The children sat on the benches and waited for the mathematics teacher to turn up, but it appeared he was not going to – like he had not done for the last 3 days. The children were fighting, screaming and swearing at each other. No teacher in the class meant freedom and there was no one to stop them from behaving erratically.
In the last bench, at a corner sat Nitin who was not participating in any of the nonsense that was happening, and was oblivious to the paper balls landing on his head fired by his classmates. Few of them provoked him to join the “fun”, but he turned a deaf ear to them. He was thinking of something else. He was thinking of his family – particularly of his mother. He was feeling sorry for all the violence she tolerated of her husband. Not a night passed when his father didn’t abuse his mother in an inebriated state. He had been drinking for years and it was now a habit.
He was thinking of how his father yelled at his mother the previous night for not serving hot food and how he cursed her for the misery she had brought in his life. He painfully recollected how his mother silently listened to all the flurry of abuses and when they subsided (as the man collapsed to the floor and went to slumber), turned to him and told him not to be disturbed by what had happened. She wanted him to study well and get educated. She told him not to be like his father and be good to his wife and children in the future. There were tears in her eyes that Nitin could see, but she had mastered the skill not to cry. He remembered eating the food that his mother gave him without uttering a single word.
He loved his mother and the food that she prepared. He knew it was the same dish that was served the previous night and that it was slightly modified to give a different appearance and taste. It tasted the same nevertheless. He ate all that was there in the plate only to realize his mother had nothing to eat. He was livid at her that she hadn’t told him there was limited food. They could have shared of whatever was available. She consoled and told him she has eaten plenty in madam’s place (where she worked as a maid and used the money she earned to send Nitin to school) in the afternoon, and that she was not hungry. He knew she was lying, but pretended to believe her.
He wanted to grow up faster and support his mother financially and emotionally. He wanted to give her a good life and take care of all her needs. A book landed on his face and he was brought back to reality. The kids were still fighting and the classroom had become a war zone. He was furious on the management at the apathy of infrastructure and lack of professional teachers. He wanted to study, but there was no one to teach. His mother’s earnings were going a waste he thought, just as he stood up and shouted “SILENCE!!” He repeated that word three more times more out of frustration than intent. The entire class of 40 students fell silent. They all were stunned and clueless at the same time.
Nitin walked up to the front and shouted “Can’t you all be silent and solve problems by yourself if sir is not around?” He looked around and continued, “Show me who all have completed their earlier homework.”
None of them had done their homework. Nitin shook his head and pulled out a chalk from the drawer and wrote “Algebra” on the board. He prodded the class to open their books and solve the problem that he was going to write on the board. The children obediently followed him. There was leadership on display and there were followers. Nitin helped them solve few problems and this repeated almost every day for the next couple of weeks. One day, as Nitin was conducting his class, there was a surprise visit by the invigilation squad to check the attendance of teachers. There were reports of teachers being absent for extended periods of time and this had not gone well with the management. As they walked in the corridors of the school, they noticed a young boy teaching mathematics to his class.
They were wonderstruck and observed the proceedings from a distance. The boy – barely 13 years of age – had the required skills to teach and manage a group of students who were his age. After watching for a while, they decided to walk in to the class. The children rose from their benches as the elders walked in to class. It was a custom that they stand-up should any elderly walk in to class. The children didn’t know who these people were but they unanimously chanted “Good morning sir!”
One of the persons from the group waved the kids to settle down. The kids murmured among themselves and took their seats as the man turned to the make-shift teacher. Nitin went back a couple of steps and tried to hide the chalk that he was holding his hands.
“So..” said the man, “what’s happening here young man?”
“I..I..” Nitin fumbled a bit, but mustered courage to speak. “I’m trying to teach them what I know.”
“Did you hear that friends,” the man mockingly said as he turned to the rest of the group, “if all such kids start teaching, we don’t have to rely on the experience of our faculty.”
“Who authorized you to do this?” asked another man from the group.
Nitin stared the floor and spoke as gathered his thoughts. “The whole class was a mess. They all were shouting and screaming, I felt I had to control.”
“Good lord! Since when do we have ring masters in school!”
Nitin fell silent. A boy somewhere from the middle benches said “Since about 15 days, sir!”
“And you all have been silently listening to what he’s teaching?” the man asked critically.
“He teaches better than our maths sir, sir!”
The gentlemen looked at each other, their expressions marveling the audacity and capability of the kid handling mathematics better than a qualified teacher!
“We would like to meet your parents!” said Murthy, the senior most from the group. “Can you bring them here to meet us?”
“I am sorry, sir!” Nitin said with despair, “I assure this won’t happen again.”
“His house is just two blocks away, sir!” said another boy from the class.
“Can you go get his parents to school?” Murthy said to the boy.
The boy rushed out of the door to carry out the instructions as the men grouped together and discussed among themselves. The boy arrived 10 minutes later with Nitin’s mother – her face bearing an expression of cluelessness. This was the first time she was summoned to school and was looking for someone to break the suspense. She saw her son standing at one corner and a few middle aged sitting beside him. She couldn’t comprehend whether they were teachers or other authorities. But what was the matter, she thought.
“Are you the mother of this boy?” Murthy asked as he pointed his finger towards Nitin.
“Yes, sir! He’s my son. But what’s the matter?”
“I would assume you know what’s your son up to in the classroom of late. I am sure he would have told you!”
She looked at Nitin, but he had set his gaze to the floor. “No sir! I’m not appraised of anything.”
“Well, your son has been substituting the mathematics teacher and teaching the class for the last two weeks!” Murthy said.
She looked at Nitin again to receive some acknowledgement from him, but she received none.
“This has never happened before in any of the school that we have been to.” Murthy continued, realizing her dilemma on the matter. “This is an extraordinary feat!”
“I am sorry.” Nitin’s mother said unsure of how she should react. “I’ll tell him to refrain from acting smart in class. Please give us a chance.”
Murthy smiled and asked “Can you give us a chance?”
Nitin’s mother was clueless what Murthy was asking. “What do you mean, sir?” she asked inquisitively.
“Look! Your boy is no ordinary. My team and I believe that leadership qualities displayed by Nitin should be adequately rewarded. Teaching mathematics to a class better than a qualified teacher and exercising control over the class at the same time are exceptional qualities to have.” Murthy said with a twinkle in this eye and pride in his tone. “As you were making your way to school, we spoke to the technical director and made a unanimous decision that Nitin should study in the top school of this state. The institution will bear all the expenses.”
Nitin, who standing with his head lowered to the ground, suddenly looked up, as his bright eyes stared at Murthy. Murthy smiled at Nitin and asked “What do you think young man? Are you game for this opportunity?”
Nitin looked at his mother. She stood there motionless with tears flooded in her eyes. Although she spoke nothing, her silence managed to convey all the emotions. There was ecstasy of her son getting high quality education coupled with anxiety of him having to get along with children from affluent families in the city. She closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks and she offered a silent prayer to the almighty. Faith was her only hope now. She sunk to the ground on her knees and Nitin came running to hug her. The whole class stood up and clapped in appreciation.
The boy had led and was adequately rewarded!
~~o~~
–My writings in Just Like That are a work of fiction and bear no connection to any real situation.–
