WHY DID SOME BUDS BLOOM... AND WHY SOME DIDN'T?






One of my eleventh-standard students’ mother said to me, the other day, “Sir, my son needs ‘personal attention’.”

“Ma’am, what is that?” I asked her.

Well, she, perhaps, was not ready for that question. So, she managed to say this, “Sir, he is not comfortable in a large group… He is comfortable in a small group, say two to three students.”

“Is a group of twelve students too large, ma’am?” I asked the mother.

“Sir, I think so,” the mother asserted.


It is about three months since we started this group. The students in this group belong to some of the best commerce colleges in town and they, also, belong to fine families… educated, well-off and cultured.

None of these students has any physical, mental or learning disability… They are all ‘normal’.

But, there is only one disability: They are all casual… What is called, in their own lingo: ‘Cool’!

I have been teaching them the way I have been teaching thousands of my students over almost thirty-five years or so… In fact, with age, I have become even more passionate and mature… even more compassionate and loving. But, they frustrate me with their casual and skin-deep attitude… They miss classes … they don’t even inform me… They don’t do homework at all… Never. The strong or loving words, they do listen… yes, they do listen to… I can feel that, I can sense that… So, I do not lose hope… I do not shut my mouth… “I am your teacher,” I keep reminding them in the midst of my intense monologue, “I love you and I care for you… So, I will tell this to you as long as you are under my care.”

Many melt with those words… Many do not show their emotions… Some even look at each other and laugh…

“That’s not any bravado, darling,” I run my hand over the heads of those few who laugh as I break my heart…

They do become serious, and mumble, “Sorry sir.”

“I have been a student like you, don’t forget,” I remind them, “I have a son who has been a student just like you.” … They understand what I mean by those words…

This morning, I recited a small poem, which I had written in my book – ‘The Late Bloomer’ – some twenty-five years ago…


“Sun shines on everyone,
Moon smiles at everyone,
Stars twinkle for everyone,
Rainbow appears for everyone,
Raindrops fall on every one…
Then… Then, why should luck smile at only some?”


God, who has created us, is the same God… The same sun, the same moon and same stars give us light… The same raindrops and the same rainbow… yes, no discrimination there…

The same teacher, darling…

The same passion and the same love and care…

Then, why did some buds bloom… and why some didn’t?

“Personal attention! … Ma’am, did you ask this to God… the sun, the moon and the stars?”


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...