Wednesday 30 July 2014

IWBAT experience love and happiness

After days of complaining and whining abut insensitivity and disinvestment from my class, I chanced upon Eid, a day which meant something completely different for me. One day in which I was with them, surrounded by them, loved by them, fed, fussed over and bullied by them. I felt like a friend and still like a respected entity in their life.
Dressing up I was skeptical about going because I have been a monster in school (at least I thought that, but the children had a different story to tell their parents). I ventured out in the pouring rain and searched and hunted to find Rahat's house. A comfortable home in a centrally located building, Rahat's house was decorated with beautiful carpets and bedspreads. Everyone was dressed in Kurtas and churidars. The men were wearing caps and the women has their head covered in an interesting fashion. I was greeted by everyone and looked at with affection and a certain reverence. Never before had I felt more like the teacher I had grown up seeing. The tone with which Rahat's grandfather spoke to me reminded me of my grandfather who would talk to my teachers about me. Her father slyly asked me about her academic performance and gave me an account of her past achievements. As she stood blushing and smiling, he praised the quietest girl in my class and spoke about how talkative she is.
The sheer korma was a delight to taste. A foodie by heart, stomach and mind, I had the best time in my life. I (expected some biriyani and other stuff but was not as comfortable with them to ask for it straight away..) ate two bowlfuls of the milky seviyaan mixed into roasted dry fruits. I  almost asked for the recipe twice but was always stopped by Mahima's non-stop chatter. (Another hero of my class, Mahima is my measure of success during Math class. He question-face is my only enemy during Math lessons. I work hard every minute to get rid of it and in most cases I succeed :) )
As Rahat's relatives came in to wish Eid Mubarak to the family, it reminded me of the Diwali Greetings we gave to friends and family when we visited them during the Diwali season. It suddenly felt strangely like home.
After that we all left for Afiya's house. Full of sheer korma, I was sure I would say hi and leave. But as I entered Afiya's house, her grandmother came and sat with us (I am sorry I forgot to mention. I carried with me a train if VIIIA students: Mahima, her sister, Samruddhi, Riya, her brother and Rahat). Her mother showed off the dresses she bought for her and spoke about the celebrations in her area. Mominpura had the area around their house was explained to me with details of every shop, mela and masjid present. As a result, being so happy with the closeness she expressed, I refused to refuse the sheer korma she offered! That my students bullied me by calling me a well and saying that I would become fat was pardoned for the day..
Post the eating fest, we all went to the mela. I was about to offer to get them tickets when they started insisted that I try a ride. I literally ran away to save my life :)

Now this blog might make even lesser sense to you because I have just written and not really expressed, but I was missing blogging and also was really wanting to document that day.
I feel that there is love in their hearts for their teacher (that is me yeeaay!) but it won't show until I express it for them as well. I have a new something to work on now and that's my "next-steps" for post-unit test plans.

I am troubled by who I was and who I want to be, but I am untroubled about who I am now.

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