Why And How I Became A School Teacher -Part 2

I entered Triloki Naths office .He had a organized mind –his table was neat ,and he found things easily on them .  “Come sit down”,he said while he stapled some papers and signed them .He rang the bell.Kathuria came in ,he gave some instructions to him ,and then told him that he should not allow anyone to enter as  long as I was with him .He looked me straight in the eye .I waited for him to speak first .  “Why don’t the boys attend your classes ?Why is there such a thin attendance ?After all you have knowledge ,you can speak well,-what is the problem.When I chose you I thought you would revive the subject .It seems to have become more unpopular ?”.His voice was undulating,soft, and he choose his words as if he cursed himself to part with them .In measured quantities .I haven’t met anyone else in my life who spoke so less ,but yet with so much of passion .There was something about him that made you want to listen to him .Something i cant define -maybe in English we give it a name -aura .!!I kept quiet and waited for him to answer the questions that he had posed to me .

“Have you seen Jindals classes ?Have you seen how boys run to his class to get the front seats ?Have you seen how some stand near the windows to listen to his lectures ?”,he asked .I continued to look at him .And ,this is something that I remember so well –it was the  the fighter in me that then  took over .
I was sitting slightly hunched ,with my hands folded and arms resting on his table .I sat up straight and rested my back on the chair on which I was sitting .I put my hands on the arms of my chair –I had shed dependency on him and his table  .It was a defining moment of my life  .  I could have pussy footed my way out of the whole mess and taken the simple and easy way out and said “sorry sir”.In which case I  would still be lecturing in the college ,or perhaps risen to become a Principal .But I have never believed in simple solutions ,because they only temporarily solve ones problems .Life had taught me swimming  by throwing me into the deepest part of the pool .Even at 22 years of age ,I had undergone many upheavals that could have broken my spirit –loss of parents ,battling addiction,broken relationships –everything .This meeting with Triloki Nath was like a storm in a teacup .The fighter in me had to win against the pacifist in me . I spoke .I began slowly

“Yes Sir, the attendance in my classes is thin.But so are the applications for the course .How many people apply for a course in History Sir ?Who are the boys who don’t attend my classes ?These are boys who come to college on tractors sometimes .These are boys who threaten me to give them attendance or else face the consequences .These are boys who don’t understand my English ,what to talk of the History I teach .”And my voice had now picked up and risen to a a crescendo

“Please don’t compare me to Jindal Sir .Only compare me to him if you gave me children who are as serious and as meritorious as them .Compare me with him if all the children of my class are as obsessed to get into the I.A.S, as they are (by they I meant the children in Jindals section),in getting into IIT .Otherwise you are comparing oranges with apples .”My ego took over now “And Sir ,I can teach better than Mr Jindal .!!”I was not sure whether I was speaking the truth –but that is something I wanted to believe .!!

Triloki Nath was a experienced man –he did not get ruffled ,by what had been a passionate self defense of my credentials .He told me to sip water which was in a glass which was lying in front of me .I took a few sips and then told him .

“Sir ,I am leaving the job .I wont be coming from tomorrow because you have been able to convince me that I am getting a unemployment dole”.

His reaction was sharp “What nonsense are you talking .I am like your father .Cant I instruct you ,cant I scold you?. I did not mean it that way”,he said .But I would have none of that .My pony tail once again slapped me on  one side and then  the other as i shook my head No,No,No,.!!

“No ,my father would never have said something like  that to me .YOU ARE NOT LIKE DAD”.He was reopening a wound that would never heal throughout my life .My Dad was just not my Dad .He was my hero ,my role model .I have never become like him inspite of trying all my life .And I started to choke as I felt the void of my father in view of impending unemployment .I felt lonely and insecure .I felt completely empty and exhausted .I remember it so vividly………As if it was yesterday .

“What will you do”,Triloki Nath asked me .  “I will beg ,borrow or steal ,i will rob Peter to pay Paul,I will stoop to conquer ...." and i paused ,before i continued "but horses cant keep me here now” .David had taken on Goliath .!!As I look back ,I was a very adamant  and egoistic youngster .I got up ,went to where he sat ,and touched his feet .I told him to wish me well and pray that whatever I did in life ,I should not ever feel that I was getting a dole for it .I left his room and was out into the brightly lit corridors of DAV College.A quick look at the college building and the young college lecturer was on his way back home, on a Bajaj Scooter ,PNT 1976. Without a job !!.
I was staying with my brother and started looking at the old newspapers for vacancies .I came across one in the “Tribune”,which said that a History teacher was required in the most prestigious school of Haryana-MNSS RAI .I applied for it .I got the job .I became a school teacher .

I had a great run as a school teacher .I fell in love with Rai .The children loved me –I loved them .They still sustain me .I am in touch with each one of them .I met my wife there ,my son was born there .It was the beginning of a passionate love affair with life .I wanted to meet Triloki Nath .I respected the man for his values and his achievements ,though I thought he was not sensitive enough to tackle someone like me .Or maybe I was being oversensitive .True he had spoken  those words which still ring in my mind “I am not giving you unemployment dole”.Maybe ,i had overreacted .But then, as the famous Punjabi  poet put it

“Kuch shahar de log vi zaalim san,

Kuch sanun maran da shaukh vi see”(translated ,it means “,that true ,the people in the town were cruel,but then even I wanted to die” )

.Maybe i had a death wish .It all happened in a day .Swiftly and decisively .

Triloki Nath passed away 5 years afer I joined Rai .I took a bus to attend his funeral .As I looked at his body ,I thanked him silently –he had changed not only the way I think,but also the course of  my life .As a token of my thanks to him ,I had taken a bunch of roses .Which I placed on his dead body .And I continued to teach –till today .In a school.

(Concluded)