Watched Stanley ka dabba on Sunday.What a delightful movie!The teachers in the movie, were typical school teachers and I remembered a few special ones myself.Hobbs(hubby) and cookie(daughter) also contributed, we had a late night chat session again, and my post was ready.:p
Mrs M ,the tenth grade math teacher,was a stickler for discipline and in-charge of uniforms.Now,everyone who has ever been to school, knows, that the time taken to reach school from home( five minutes or fifty,immaterial!) is more than enough for students,especially boys to have tucked-in shirts pulled out,trousers threatening to fall down,sauce dropped on the shirt,buttons broken and hair looking electrocuted.Post first recess,appearances are supposed to be ignored ,but Mrs M being who she was,picked on a particularly naughty tenth grade kid repeatedly.
"Why is your shirt out boy, tuck your shirt in now ,tighten your belt and make sure your hair is not unruly.One more time I see you like this,I will take you to the Principal"
That day,post lunch, in the Math period,the teacher was surprised to find only girls in the class.One by one the boys started trickling in ,"Excuse me miss,may I come in?" A nod from the teacher and the boy entered with a painfully slow gait and after a deliberate halt at the teacher's desk,took his seat.The boy had wet- combed his hair flat on his scalp with a mid parting,shirt firmly tucked inside his trousers which in turn were held high by a belt almost on the chest.As the first boy took his seat,the second one asked permission,then the next and so on .They all had wet flat hair ,trousers riding high and shirt tucked -in.
image courtesy google images
The whole foyer saw the scene and the Math teacher had no choice but to join- in the fun.
Once,Mrs. M found a boy emerging from the rest room (if they could be called that, in those days!) his hair Mohawk styled.Her booming voice could be heard till the end of the foyer"Look at you,you look like a cock. One more time I see you like this,I am going to cut your cock- hair ".After the guffaws and giggles across the tenth grade foyer,she gave the next period off.
History teacher Mr.D,had devised a special method for himself to discipline the kids in his class.He would stand behind the child very quietly,rubbing his earlobes gently, without disturbing his teaching.The ears would feel hot after a while and turn a deep shade of RED from the rub.No,the student getting the rub was not exempted from writing in his notebook while being rubbed!Other students who laughed were next in line for the 'rub'.Not a rude word uttered , no caning or murga pose for Mr D.After the class, 'RED EARS' were tell tale signs of homework not done,'chitchatting' in class,diary not brought etc.The recipient rarely repeated his mistake.
Ms K was very fond of scribbling little complaint notes in students' school diaries.From a benign,-chitchatting in class,looking out of the window and disturbing the class,homework not done,spilled water on the desk,opening and eating dabba in class(eating without opening?How?),to more serious ,threatening notes.
One particular note, worth noting, read thus,"Poking partner's bottom with rounder."The girl's mom, after a bout of ROTFL (in the privacy of her room of course) had a tough time searching for words to write a suitable apology.It was easier calling up the aggrieved party and share a good laugh with that parent.The two girls concerned, were busy gossiping on the other line ,injured bum forgotten!
That was years back,when teachers could take the liberty of disciplining the kids.The system had its own pros and cons.Now even a stern word can have the parent approaching the school administration to lodge a written complaint.Those days,parents hardly bothered and now parents are a bother.Today,new age schools with hi-tech teaching aids are churning out smarter kids, but in general I find that flair for writing largely missing.The advantage of the new system is, letting them think on their own about an answer to a particular question and not binding them to someone else's answers.Once I was surprised to find a one line answer in Muffin's book.It was a personal response question .
Q: Do you think miracles exist?What do you think about miracles?
A: I know miracles do not exist so I do not think anything about them.
The teacher marked the answer correct and respected my boy's opinion.Had he been part of a regular school ,I am sure I would have been sent a note and he would have been chided for the 'cheek'he had!
By the way, we have many late night laughter sessions but this one was slightly different .Muffin could not believe that I was a naughty kid and could play pranks.I have to correct that ASAP.
Did not realize, when my serious profession took over my personality.Planning fun things for coming long weekend in August is top priority now.Any ideas?
Mrs M ,the tenth grade math teacher,was a stickler for discipline and in-charge of uniforms.Now,everyone who has ever been to school, knows, that the time taken to reach school from home( five minutes or fifty,immaterial!) is more than enough for students,especially boys to have tucked-in shirts pulled out,trousers threatening to fall down,sauce dropped on the shirt,buttons broken and hair looking electrocuted.Post first recess,appearances are supposed to be ignored ,but Mrs M being who she was,picked on a particularly naughty tenth grade kid repeatedly.
"Why is your shirt out boy, tuck your shirt in now ,tighten your belt and make sure your hair is not unruly.One more time I see you like this,I will take you to the Principal"
That day,post lunch, in the Math period,the teacher was surprised to find only girls in the class.One by one the boys started trickling in ,"Excuse me miss,may I come in?" A nod from the teacher and the boy entered with a painfully slow gait and after a deliberate halt at the teacher's desk,took his seat.The boy had wet- combed his hair flat on his scalp with a mid parting,shirt firmly tucked inside his trousers which in turn were held high by a belt almost on the chest.As the first boy took his seat,the second one asked permission,then the next and so on .They all had wet flat hair ,trousers riding high and shirt tucked -in.
The whole foyer saw the scene and the Math teacher had no choice but to join- in the fun.
Once,Mrs. M found a boy emerging from the rest room (if they could be called that, in those days!) his hair Mohawk styled.Her booming voice could be heard till the end of the foyer"Look at you,you look like a cock. One more time I see you like this,I am going to cut your cock- hair ".After the guffaws and giggles across the tenth grade foyer,she gave the next period off.
History teacher Mr.D,had devised a special method for himself to discipline the kids in his class.He would stand behind the child very quietly,rubbing his earlobes gently, without disturbing his teaching.The ears would feel hot after a while and turn a deep shade of RED from the rub.No,the student getting the rub was not exempted from writing in his notebook while being rubbed!Other students who laughed were next in line for the 'rub'.Not a rude word uttered , no caning or murga pose for Mr D.After the class, 'RED EARS' were tell tale signs of homework not done,'chitchatting' in class,diary not brought etc.The recipient rarely repeated his mistake.
Ms K was very fond of scribbling little complaint notes in students' school diaries.From a benign,-chitchatting in class,looking out of the window and disturbing the class,homework not done,spilled water on the desk,opening and eating dabba in class(eating without opening?How?),to more serious ,threatening notes.
One particular note, worth noting, read thus,"Poking partner's bottom with rounder."The girl's mom, after a bout of ROTFL (in the privacy of her room of course) had a tough time searching for words to write a suitable apology.It was easier calling up the aggrieved party and share a good laugh with that parent.The two girls concerned, were busy gossiping on the other line ,injured bum forgotten!
That was years back,when teachers could take the liberty of disciplining the kids.The system had its own pros and cons.Now even a stern word can have the parent approaching the school administration to lodge a written complaint.Those days,parents hardly bothered and now parents are a bother.Today,new age schools with hi-tech teaching aids are churning out smarter kids, but in general I find that flair for writing largely missing.The advantage of the new system is, letting them think on their own about an answer to a particular question and not binding them to someone else's answers.Once I was surprised to find a one line answer in Muffin's book.It was a personal response question .
Q: Do you think miracles exist?What do you think about miracles?
A: I know miracles do not exist so I do not think anything about them.
The teacher marked the answer correct and respected my boy's opinion.Had he been part of a regular school ,I am sure I would have been sent a note and he would have been chided for the 'cheek'he had!
By the way, we have many late night laughter sessions but this one was slightly different .Muffin could not believe that I was a naughty kid and could play pranks.I have to correct that ASAP.
Did not realize, when my serious profession took over my personality.Planning fun things for coming long weekend in August is top priority now.Any ideas?
How about starting with an unsuspecting patient with an oops I pulled out the wrong teeth and laughing loudly.
ReplyDeleteThinking about school and the pranks we played brings out the child in us...
No I don't miss those days but reminiscing about them takes me back to the time when I was a giggly school girl.
Purba,
ReplyDeleteWrong tooth??Ha Ha..no retirement plans yet,paapi pet ka sawaal hai.
Yup,being a child is fun.
the miracle question ...ya i knoW!!!! lucky him & u! no note by teacher
ReplyDeleteand the history teacher seems to have devised a very original, fool-proof,highly effective method there :) and i can only imagine the fun the others had