WHEREVER WE GO, WE CARRY OUR HEARTS, TOO
“As
long as I am breathing,
in my eyes, I am beginning.”
Criss
Jami
“Boys
will be boys.” My student Sanil* simply hates whenever I say this. He gets
angry, thinking that I am biased towards him. He belongs to a small batch of five
students in which he is the only boy. The classes, as you know, have been happening
online throughout the lockdown period. Our girls do not give me any headache… neither
when it comes to their attendance nor when it comes to their attention. They
join the Zoom sessions without missing any of them and before time… Sanil needs
to be coaxed and pushed. The girls show full attention – answering the
questions and asking questions… Sanil is not bad in this respect though. God
has given him a fine grasping capacity. But, as his parents say and I agree, ‘He
doesn’t put his brain into use as far as his studies are concerned’. All these things
are okay, tolerable. But, as several of Sanil’s online contemporaries do these
days, Sanil, too, does this: He suddenly disappears!
“Sanil are you
there?” No response…
“Sanil, can you
hear me?”… Blank…
Video, as
our policy, is not kept on. So, you cannot make out whether Sanil is there or not.
There is no response on Chat front, which confirms, that our boy has kept the
Zoom on and gone out to chill…
“No Sir,” there
was an internet issue… “Power went off”… “You always doubt me, Sir,”… “You always
say, ‘Boys will be Boys’… Not fair.”
Right since 24th
December till yesterday, Sanil celebrated Christmas and New Year with his
friends and cousins. Because he is good in catching up, I let him enjoy. Late
last night, while sending him the Zoom invite, I wrote, “Sanil, please don’t
miss, tomorrow.”
He quickly responded,
“Yes Sir, I will join.” He added, “Can you please call me tomorrow to remind me
before the session?”
The session was
scheduled for 12 noon today. His WhatsApp status eternally tells us ‘Sleeping’!
So, I smiled and wrote back, “Yes beta… I will.”
Thus, 15 minutes
before today’s session, I called Sanil. He was kind enough to join when I
started the session… All the four girls and one boy, as usual. It all went very
well… Our girls and Sanil were very responsive… Just when I was about to take a
sigh of relief – that is some 15 minutes before the session was to end – Sanil went
out of radar…
“Sanil, are you with me?”... Blank.
Sanil, can you
hear me?”... Blank.
Nothing from the
chat box… Nothing in the message box…
I knew, Sanil was,
once again, playing ‘Hide-and-seek’ or ‘Catch-me-if-you-can’.
He was the first
to wish me ‘Happy New Year’ on the 31st Night… “Hope you will be a
good Boy,” I had teased him.
“When was I a
bad boy, Sir?” Sanil tried to tell me, “Sir, you are, always, biased towards me.”
“Chalo,
chill now,” I had pacified Sanil.
Today was the
first session with Sanil in the New Year. When he was not responding, I was
getting annoyed, angry… “This is how the online sessions go,” I was grumbling, “Boys
will be boys.”
The girls were
silent…
I didn’t know if
they were in agreement with me or in disagreement. That was making me feel lonely!
After the
session was over, I sent a message to Sanil, “Sanil, please call.”
“The blue twin-ticks
means, the other person has read your message.” My students had taught me this.
So, this is almost night now; Sanil hasn’t called me, yet!
Boys will be
boys?
I find myself
grumbling…
I am expecting
Sanil to become a good boy – a good student - in 2021. And, Sanil, perhaps, is
expecting me to become a good boy, too… become a good teacher. So, who is
supposed to change for the good in 2021?
I remember this
old story…
THE
TRAVELLER
One
day, an elderly man was resting in his veranda. A traveller stopped his car to
ask the elderly man, “How are the people in this town?”
“Young man, how
were the people in the place you travel from?” asked the elderly man.
“Oh No! They were
the meanest and the most disgusting people one would ever find,” grumbled the
traveller.
“Well then, you
will find the people of this town to be the meanest and the most disgusting
ones… Drive on.”
Some days later,
another traveller stopped his car and asked the elderly man the same question. “Sir,
how are the people in this town?”
The elderly man had
the same counter question: ”Young man, how did you find the people in the town
you came from?”
“Wow! They were
the kindest and the most affectionate people one would ever find,” said the
traveller.
“Well then, you
will find the people of in this town to be equally kind and affectionate...
Drive on.”
Am
I the traveller or am I the elderly man?
Am I supposed to
travel into the New Year with a new heart or am I expecting my students do so?
“Wherever we go,
we carry our hearts, too,”… Na?
*Name changed
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic’s.: pixabay
Video: The Voice UK
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