THE RIGHT THINGS ARE DONE JUST CLOSING OUR EYES

 



“Nobody cares how much you know,

 until they know how much you care.”

Theodore Roosevelt

 

I have been in the field of ‘education’ since the age of 17-18. That’s the time – when I was a F.Y. B.Com student, I had started teaching my friends the subject of Accountancy… Not because I wanted to earn some income (which was badly needed at home)… I was teaching for two reasons… One: It helped me feel good about what I was doing (It was helping me feel worthwhile, self-confident)… Two: I was helping my friends, who needed help in that subject…

Was it not the ‘right thing to do’?

The ‘right things’, which we choose to do in our daily lives, are seldom the things ‘agreed upon’ between us… In other words, they are not expected to be performed by us… They are performed by us, because, in the heart of our hearts, we know, that they are the ‘right things to do’…

Those actions are more guided by our heart, the conscience… and our heads have no role to play there…

Late last night, a woman called me requesting me to help her F.Y. BMS son. “Sir, my son had changed from Science to Commerce after his twelfth… As he had no Accountancy foundation, he has failed in the subject… He has to write that paper in two months. Mr. Rohit Lamba gave your number saying, “He was my teacher; put him under him and close your eyes.”

I was asked to quote the fees. I mentioned the annual fees. Before I could blink, the amount had come to my account… Yes, the mother had done it, as advised my dear old student – who is presently a Vice President of a multinational company – ‘simply closing the eyes’…

There must be something I must’ve been doing while teaching my students, for years and years, that made them feel, that everything their teacher taught was not necessarily from the ‘syllabus and textbook’…

The ‘right things’, which we choose to do in our daily lives, are seldom the things ‘agreed upon’ between us… In other words, they are not expected to be performed by us… They are performed by us, because, in the heart of our hearts, we know, that they are the ‘right things to do’…

Those actions are more guided by our heart, the conscience… and our heads have no role to play there…

Late last night, a woman called me requesting me to help her F.Y. BMS son. “Sir, my son had changed from Science to Commerce after his twelfth… As he had no Accountancy foundation, he has failed in the subject… He has to write that paper in two months. Mr. Rohit Lamba gave your number saying, “He was my teacher; put your son under him and just close your eyes.”

The mother asked to quote the fees. I mentioned the ‘annual’ fees. Before I could blink, the amount had come into my account… Yes, the mother had done it, as advised by my dear old-student (Presently a   Vice President of a multinational company) by ‘just closing the eyes’…

There must have been something  I  did while teaching my students, for years and years, that made them feel, that everything their teacher taught was not necessarily from the ‘syllabus and textbook’…

The ‘right things’, as I said, are seldom the ‘things agreed upon’ between us…



And, a few hours ago, this 18-something boy (wefast), probably living in a nearby slum area, was to pick up a parcel from my office (Chembur) and deliver at Virar. Some ten minutes away from my place, he called and asked me to keep the parcel ready. When he didn’t turn up for the next thirty minutes, I called him to check…

“Sir, I had just removed my helmet at the signal as it was too hot, and just then, the cops caught me… They are demanding Rs. 1,200, and I just have Rs. 500… They are not relieving my motor bike… But, I will do something.”

Another 20 minutes went by, and I called to check the status. “No Sir, they are not ready to relieve my bike,” the boy said.

Meanwhile, the parcel had to reach Virar by the next one/two hours… The boy sensed by annoyance… In next 10 minutes, the boy  appeared before me…

“How did you manage?” I asked…

“No worries Sir, I will take a train to Virar and deliver the parcel first,” the boy said, “I will relieve the bike after I return.”

My transaction was worth Rs. 320. His company would never take responsibility for whatever fiasco had happened… Boy’s clients, from both ends, were not supposed to bail him out of his misery, either…

So, what a teacher like me was supposed to do in this situation?

It was burning outside… That hot!

I opened the fridge in my office and pulled out a packet of  Amul lassi, poured it in a glass and said, “Please sit and have it.”

The worry was still writ large on the boy’s face… “He had to take a train to Virar… For that, he had to go to the nearest station, which was quite a distance from my office… God knows, from Virar station, how far was the delivery point!

“Don’t worry, Sir,” the young boy assumed me, “It will be delivered at the earliest.”

“Take it as an important lesson to learn, my boy,” I gently ran my hand over his shoulder, placing quietly two notes of Rs. 500 in his shirt  pocket…

The boy couldn’t believe what he was getting…

Just the way, I couldn’t believe the 30,000 bucks coming into my account, late last night…

Both acts had been performed, by ‘just closing the eyes’…


 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1.Son Bom  2. Almira

 

Video: MUIS Singapore

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