Some memory of school days

Subbu being twice as tall and more than two times the weight was chasing his priced catch Sajini. The whole world of PPEC watched Subbu push himself hard around the corner of the pole to catch his victim, but Sajini, slender, agile and athletic ran at lightning speed and was getting far and away. Just as one had given up, just as it seemed impossible, our great Subbu did something that the pundits of Ko Ko couldn’t have imagined, something all of the Ko Ko expert PPEC players still feel ashamed of, something Shekar sir couldn’t have represented in his math class.  Subbu defied logic, he ridiculed gravity, he mesmerized the physicists, suddenly one saw Subbu high up in the air, he had launched himself like a missile and was now clearly more than 6 feet up, higher than the tallest boy/girl in class, he was flat and straight as one could imagine, hands and legs stretched as far as possible, just as one was marveling this rare spectacle, a celestial like event which seemed to last for ever, some milliseconds later Subbu landed flat on his belly with a big plump but indeed having his priced catch. No doubt it was the “dive of the century!”

Laxman and I [having met after 17 years in person] were blessed to meet our Asha (Headmam at PPEC) at her residence, last sunday.  Her physique and demeanour, as evidenced in the picture, is much different now. She has worn out, she looks thinner and shorter and it took a while for me to re-adjust my current perceptions to the [fond] vivid visual images I had formed of her during our school days. Meeting her after nearly 3 decades meant it would be a short meeting with some catch up of  good old memories.  

Spending nearly four hours or more [having lunch & hibiscus tea - made from her own garden], I witnessed (so did Laxman) that this woman who was once an embodiment of courage, discipline, style, a revolutionary at our time, an intellectual and most of all such a wonderful human being is still the "same". Maybe we have witnessed some changes in our Milky Way through our bare eyes but not in her.  I just sat there in bewilderment as I listened to her expeditions impregnated with so many struggles of society [some physical too] and yet there she is unscathed in her mental strength, her dignity, morals and principles. 

What she has done for us and to our society is just unfathomable. I know at-least i don't need to investigate that because as Laxman pointed to her daughter said "See this white (clean) socks i am wearing, it's because of headmam", He also remarked "the house i keep in order, which surprised and got my wife's admiration came from our habit of cleaning our own classrooms". I distinctly remember how she taught us to make a handshake, to put our shoulders back and keep our head up (literally),  to clean our shoes and trimm our nails. Most of all she taught compassion, not only for us but for other teachers towards us.  [ Did i mention that, on one occasion, she saw me entering class in my crumpled shirt and immediately called for the watch man to take me near to the Ganesha temple. There I stood in my baniyan for some time while the old istry man took his own time to iron my shirt [ and it was paid for by Asha ma'am] , while all of you were learning biology during that time?] 

I felt ashamed that I couldn't remember so many things that she recalled with ease. She called out each one of you by your name and asked about your welfare. She even recalled what we did long after school. 

WOW what a great human being!Never have I come across another teacher who taught real life's lessons. We were extremely elated to get her  blessing for the day. Cheers!