Have I lost my fingerprints?

I used to walk in the morning not because I like it but my doctor friend has advised me to do so. Last night was terrible for me because it never happened. After having dinner with my father I came to sleep. It was like seconds changing into minutes and hours but I was restless. I was thinking about Som Dutt who is one of the most decorated teachers in my school. In our country school teachers are not less than army men. They have the potential to perform every kind of work either they know it or they learn it through potential trainings performed on the attendance register. Somu was deputed as a night supervisor of the quarantine camp. My shift time was different and I used to meet him in the morning. He often smiled and greeted me like a brother lost and found in the fair of Kumbh. He said me that I too ll loose my fingerprints. I was amazed to find articles on Internet about fingerprints. Every person has different finger prints. It means that we all have different fingerprints. In my childhood days my maternal uncle has said me that I was very lucky because I got mountains in my finger prints. I was delighted that even mountains were present on my fingers. Somu was a very intelligent man who came here to work from Bengal. He remembers his school days when he never came second in his studies. I too was confident that he will rise in his life. School teacher’s especially contractual teachers are looked down in our society. Nobody cares how much knowledge you gather. Information and knowledge are important but not more than labels. We have been Labeled as contract teachers and we hardly get salary on time. I often indulge in debates that being a teacher matters a lot. I can change the world. Even Chanakya was a teacher. It is not a post but a responsibility. Somu was more practical when he said that responsibility cannot be fulfilled with brothers like poverty and hunger. However, I looked my fingerprints and remember Blake who said that “without contrary there is no progress”. If people are criticizing us for our duties it means that we are moving forward in our life. Nobody hits a dead dog. We are capable to fight with locust attack in the fields. We are like Achilles who can fight and contribute medals in the Government museums. Achilles was a great Trojan War hero who fought unto the last. In Rajasthan teachers were commanded to cope up with the locusts attacks. We are fighting invisible viruses at the quarantine centers. Apart from teaching we have learned all the new skills. Teaching is my passion which has been covered under the red carpet. When I see myself as a teacher I think that in my life I have trained more than ten thousand students who will become sensible citizens of our country. Somu was haunting in my mind that why he said that I too ll loose my fingerprints? I was restless and I couldn’t stop myself and I picked my cell phone and dialed his numbers which I remember. There was no response and suddenly I found him standing by my side at Samastipur College. We were in the same line performing duty to submit reports and boxes to the election commission. We were scared that it might rain but it was such a hectic day that nothing was more important than those reports and boxes. Finally the night passed and I went at the centre to find Somu. I got the information that he was absent from the duty and the circle officer was drafting his suspension letter. The letter was forwarded to the District Education Officer. The most decorated teacher of our school was missing and officers were discharging their own duty. Nobody asked where was he? Everybody was happy that they are dutiful and Somu was not… I looked at my fingerprints and found that some of them were not standing in line…I thought…Has Somu lost his Fingerprints??