CAN I PLEASE TALK TO HER?












Some days ago, a parent called me. His daughter studied in S.Y. B.Com in one of the best Commerce colleges in the city. He wanted me to teach her in some subjects.

“Sir, I can certainly teach your daughter,” I said, “But, can I please talk to her?”

That’s the time I realized, that the young girl was a deaf-and-dumb and wasn’t able to talk on telephone. So, we met, here, in my office yesterday.

The young girl was a tough girl. She wanted me to help her for the entrance exam (CPT) of Chartered Accountancy. “Sir, she says she doesn’t need help for S.Y. B.Com,” the father explained to me, “She is determined to get into Chartered Accountancy.”

I had not taken up any CPT commitments this year, and I only taught one of the four subjects. So, I suggested some good classes, where professional coaching was provided. But, while I was politely making this suggestion, a silent guilt was simmering in my heart. I did not want the father and the daughter to misunderstand me… that, I was dodging… declining because she was deaf-and-dumb.

Well, that was a silent guilt and it lasted for a few seconds. Yes, I did feel inside me, that it was best if she had chosen a little less stressful field… But, how stupid my feeling could be! Who was I to certify this young girl’s capabilities? I was just seeing her from my own prisms…

Perhaps, I would never ever be able to comprehend her world… her dreams!

All along the discussion, I felt humbled by the way the young one’s father was conducting himself. He was not giving her contradictory suggestions… He was allowing her to express, however uncomfortable it made me… I was ‘straining’ myself to understand her… feeling a little bad for the situation… But, her father was perfectly comfortable…

“She had scored great marks in her tenth and twelfth without asking for any extra time, use of calculator or a writer in the exams,” the father said without sounding boastful, “She does what she decides to do.”

I rarely get to hear such statements from parents. Almost never!

I really wished I could help her. But, I knew, it was best if she got help in all subjects under one roof.

“It’s okay, Sir,” I could feel what the young lady was saying to me as they were leaving. The least that I could do was to gift her a few books written/published by me, which I did. One of these books was ‘My Achilles’ Heel’…

In Life, our physical weaknesses can break us or make us. It, always, depends on how weak or strong our spirit is!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Suyog Surte


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