What Makes a Good Teacher?

Mrs Sathe entered the classroom and as usual greeted the class ‘Love you all’ before she started teaching.

But, today, she wasn’t sure if she really meant it or it had become a ritual. The reason was Shailesh. She had failed to connect with him in the last three months she was teaching class VII. Shailesh was withdrawn and did not have any friend in the class. He appeared to be in his own world and could or did not answer even one question asked. After few attempts to get him answer the questions or to check if he has understood, she gave up receiving no response.

He appeared to be a child who had no curiosity or learning desire. After the first terminal exam in which Shailesh did very badly, she was not sure what she should write in the space provided to record positive qualities of the child in the report card. She decided to leave it blank when she couldn’t figure out what to write.

When the headmistress Mrs Kaul called her to enquire why she had left the space blank, Mrs Sathe told her about Shailesh’s lack of interest and zero response in class. Mrs Kaul did not fully accept her explanation and wanted her to dig deeper and find out what ails Shailesh.

Mrs Sathe discovered that Shailesh had recently moved to their school from another school. She asked her friend who was a teacher in Shailesh’s old school to find more about him. What she learnt jolted her out of her comfort zone. Shailesh was a bright kid till class IV. However, his marks showed rapid deterioration starting from the first terminal exam in class V and it was downhill after that. His mother was diagnosed with the ‘cancer in the last stage’ and was in and out of hospital for chemotherapy for almost 9 months.

His mother finally succumbed to cancer when he was in class VI and after that Shailesh became a recluse. He stopped mixing with other children and kept to himself.

Mrs Sathe was filled with remorse and told Mrs Kaul that she will try her utmost to bring Shailesh out of the shell. With new determination, she started paying special attention to him and started chatting and spending time with him after the classes. Shailesh started responding but a bit slowly.

Soon, final exams took place and it was the last day for class VII. Shailesh had improved and had scored decent marks. As usual, all the students had brought gifts for Mrs Sathe, as she was indeed a popular teacher. One of the gifts was wrapped in an old newspaper and contained a used perfume bottle and a lac bangle from which the precious stones were missing. It was not difficult to guess who had brought it.

Other children started sniggering looking at the gift but Mrs Sathe sprayed the perfume on herself and wore the bangle. Shailesh smiled for the first time, hugged her and said, “You smell just like my mother”. My mother had worn the same perfume and the bangle on her last day. In the accompanying envelope, Shailesh wrote – ‘you are the nicest teacher I have ever had’.

Shailesh kept in close touch with Mrs Sathe and shared his joys and achievements as he progressed at school. He subsequently secured admission in an IIT and wrote to her occasionally. Gradually, he stopped writing and it was almost 10 years since Mrs Sathe had heard from him. She had meanwhile retired from the school.

One day, a courier rang her bell and delivered a letter from one Dr S V Joshi. It was from Shailesh who had done his Ph D and was working with NASA in USA. The letter said. “You are the nicest person I have ever met. I am getting married and I want you to kindly grace the occasion. You have to come”. He had also sent a return air ticket.

After deliberating a bit, she decided to go and attend the marriage. At the venue, she did not know anyone and decided to sit in a corner when a person came looking for her and requested her to come in front and sit on a chair marked ‘mother’. Shailesh came to meet her with his wife and introduced her to his in-laws. He told them that had she not showered him with love and affection and not taken special care of him, he would not be what he is today.

Mrs Sathe responded, “If Shailesh was not in my class, I possibly would have never learnt that every teacher needs to first look after the child like a parent, and then only she can be a good teacher”.

translated from a whatsapp message in Marathi - author unknown.