The Challenge Continues.......

THE CHALLENGE CONTINUES

( My Dearest unforgettable Shourya)

One of the many aspects that make the life of a teacher very interesting is the challenges faced by her. As a class teacher, the lovely, lively, loving children entrusted to my care makes me feel responsible, a god-mother to my children in school. Every year it is a different class and in every class there is always a child or two on whom the focus light is to be turned on. It might be due to a variety of reasons, academics, behavior, disturbed family background, health issues…….

A typical class room setting in a Mathematics class, requires children to sit still, listen quietly, pay attention, follow instructions and concentrate. This year I have a child Shourya, a boy in class VI who grabbed my attention from day one. He would never close his eyes during the assembly for chanting the prayer. Though not very bad in academics, sitting in his place for a span of 40 minutes was a great task for him. He would get up from his place, take a stroll around the class as I turn to the board to explain a concept. Often one could hear me “Shourya, I am going to apply some glue to your seat so that you can never get up from your place”, followed by gales of laughter from the class. I got him seated in the first row, right under my nose, flanked by two accommodative yet strict and smart girls, who would dissuade him from moving out. Probably, a little more of personal attention would help. I blurted out one day “ Shourya I love you. Do you love me?” “Yes Miss”, came the spontaneous response. “Then I should not see you moving around in the class. If you move around, it implies you don’t love me. Thumbs up, he took up the challenge and it worked. We decided to extend it to a week and every day I meticulously made it a point to enquire both from him and his guardian angels on the bench, if he went strolling down.

Heart of hearts I was prepared to hear, “No Miss, I don’t love you” and was planning for an alternate strategy. I would sometimes hear “a beautiful melody of a recent film song” when I am in the middle of propelling a new concept in the class, disrupting and distracting me and the whole lot. These symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity could at times be frustrating. Every now and then I become “ Thaayae Yasodha”, ( class teacher!!!)as complaints from the other children and sometimes my own colleagues keep pouring in. Even during the lunch break, this “ Krishna Kannaiah” keeps me alert and busy all the time. He would religiously share lunch with all his classmates, himself eating from every one’s lunch box. I would do my best to ensure he completes his lunch, but somehow he gives me a slip. Often, I hear from the Ayah that lunch is being thrown in the draws of a desk, in the adjacent classroom, in a quiet corner of the corridor, and it is my Shourya. Any amount of advice did not work with him in this regard. I brought it to the notice of the parents who are really very understanding and cooperative.

Scribbling on the benches, on the walls was very common to him. Shourya is very good at drawing and art work. “Shourya, get a scrap note book and keep drawing in between the classes” I suggested. But mischief making and picking up a duel with his peers is more alluring to him. My patience was tested when some obscene words were scribbled on the walls. I was at the end of my wits as no one would own up and had to bring the whole class down to the Vice Principal for Shourya to finally admit to have done the filthy act. I proposed his name for group Bhajans, thinking this magic would work. By the end of the year, I was happy I had done my part to bring about a change in Shourya. Last week, one of his friends, a betrayer came to me telling “ Shourya says for all that GV Miss did to me I would pour some kerosene on her and light her with a match stick”. My emotions apart, I have not achieved my goal of getting closer to Shourya. My challenge………………… continues.