THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY

A gentleman called me the other day and wanted me to help his daughter in the Accountancy subject. Now, that’s nothing special to talk about, here. Let me tell you, in this Post, what makes this case special.

The girl had done exceptionally well in her latest twelfth-standard CBSE-Board-exams. They were planning to enroll her in one of the select engineering-colleges; and, if that would not happen, they would make her switch over to commerce and settle for nothing less than Chartered Accountancy!

When the call came to me, that night, from the father of this girl, I was a lot apprehensive. Switching over to commerce after twelfth, without any foundation of the core subject, Accountancy, is nothing uncommon. I do get to teach many such students, every year. But, directly jumping over to CA… Yes, I had to grill this gentleman. But, throughout the discussion, he sounded extremely confident of his young daughter. “Sir, we have done our enough home work,” he assured me, “It will not be a casual decision.”

All right, then, I thought in my mind, and invited both daughter and her father the next evening to enroll. When we met up, I was very convinced that she would do well in her newly chosen field. And, right there, I decided to provide her with the best foundation. Let me be frank, here: It is a great delight and a matter of pride to be a part of someone’s success story. I quickly sensed that I was now set to raise a winning horse in my stable…

Yesterday, I spent more than two hours with this young-one unfolding before her the very, very fundamental things about the subject, keeping in mind her ambition. Yes, she did not disappoint either her father or me. I was hugely impressed at the end of the session.

“Beta, I am extremely happy about the way you have picked up the subject, today,” I expressed my gladness without holding it back, “You are really brilliant!”

“Thank you sir,” the girl blushed as she left for the day…

“Thank you sir for making my day!”… Was she saying that?

Oh yes, yes… She was.

But, then, why didn’t I hear that?

I do not have to…

And, what about me… Were I dying to hear from this young-one the same: “Sir, I am extremely happy about the way you taught me, today… You are really brilliant!”?

I don’t want to lie. Yes, I was dying to hear that…

 For, I had put my all when I reached out to her!

Had my student said that to me, it would have, certainly, inspired me to tell her, “Thank you dear for making my day!”

The student might not be even 18… The teacher will be, soon, 55…

But, look, how, surprisingly, the two hearts thirst for such simple drink: “Thank you for making my day”!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Vimmi Batra