Teaching is a passion for me. I have a special feeling for some of my students, and the sentiment is mutual. But good teachers are slowly becoming an extinct species. That is why this particular school teacher's act brought tears to my eyes. This is a rare but true life story
This Language Teacher in Semi Urban India retired just recently after more than three decades of teaching. She was invited for a function by one of her old students, whom she taught in early 1990s but was in touch only off and on.
She came to the function, opened her bag and carefully took out a bunch of papers which has aged visibly over the years.
It was the essay written by the student nearly 25 years ago as part of the Examination, for which the teacher had given 7 1/2 out of 10 (which is a top mark those days, when language teachers give only 60% to the class topper alone). She did it in the presence of all the other guests telling them that this was the best essay she has ever come across in her three decades of teaching, she preserved it all these years and made it a point to show to the students of new batches every year as to how an essay should be written.
The student and the guests at the function were astonished that someone took pains to preserve an exam answersheet all these years. The papers were in excellent shape, but for the colour change due to ageing.
The student asked the teacher to keep it with her, but the teacher insisted that it is the only gift she can give to the finest student she ever taught, and forced the student to accept it, which was duly done with moist eyes and a lump in the throat.
Why don't they make teachers and students like them anymore?
