Sorry, Sir we will take care..

During his college days, his class suffered the misfortune of a typical lecturer for a difficult subject. The lecturer exhibited the perfect exhibition of ambidextrous skill - using chalk by the right-hand and duster by the left-hand to wipe away without a pause. This virtuoso act managed to keep the students in perpetual confusion. The students did not get to see a word of the written matter. In place of the students, the blackboard enjoyed free education and a facelift! 

To lessen the impact of these ‘write-erase’ lectures, the students opted to spend their time productively, to combat the resulting boredom. They researched and brought out a seminal work, “Types, classification and genetic determination of posterior craniums”.  Left with little or no energy, they did not attempt to look for a more grandiose looking title -based on Latin, Greek or any other exotic language! Final year exams looming large, some of the students even suggested leaving this avenue open for further exploration to the next batch. In their view, such lecturers neither will retire soon nor change their method of teaching. This left a burning desire in Imaginch’s mind, that if at all, he would become a better teacher. 

This experience was an eye opener.  Imaginch did not want to take it in his stride. He thought, "Why not I do something to smoothen the pitfalls in getting an education".  He chuckled to himself and thought about it as a noble idea! He methodically honed his skills, crammed his mind with information on many subjects, to become a teacher. To deal with difficult concepts, he wanted to use scale models as visual aids. In his opinion it brought fun and clarity to the subject matter. Slowly and steadily, he was inching towards his goal – to become a practical teacher. 

Eagerly he waited for an opportunity. As it often happens in life, his dream gave way to reality, and it swept him away into a different career stream. Years rolled by. His son and daughter were climbing up the education ladder. Though explicitly they did not seek his help, Imaginch unilaterally volunteered, as he could not keep his ambition bottled up forever. Literally he snatched the chance to wear the mantle of a teacher. 

The “recap” classes began whenever he and his children were free. Impromptu improvisations, frivolous points from their textbooks and novel examples chosen were way beyond their requirement and comprehension. Confused looks invited even more elaborate explanations. After enduring the ordeal for some days, the children coolly developed an evasive manoeuvre  to end the session as soon as possible. They simply put upon a bright face and an all-knowing smile. Holidays were not any different. They could only envy the other children who enjoyed holidays with fun and games. 

The ‘all study and no fun’ policy of their father made them unhappy and sore.  Growing tired of the constant barrage in the guise of parental help, they even thought of appealing to the school administration, not to schedule holidays.  On the sidelines the brother and sister decided to-do something that could permanently close down the home-tuition center. Approaching classmates for ideas was discussed and discarded as a bad move. Direct approach promised an uncertain outcome – more of the classes or much more of the classes. It was trouble in capital letters. Out of their dilemma, a gem of an idea emerged. By running the idea under various scanners, they concluded – yeah, let us give it a try. 

Children started interacting with doubts and sought more and more clarifications. Imaginch was not blind to these subtle changes, his children started showing. He felt proud that his practical teaching methods has started yielding dividends.  Though once in a while, the inkling that something else was at play rose and fell in his mind. With term exams round the corner, he shifted his entire focus on it. He impressed on them, “It is important to be able to explain clearly whatever you have understood and don’t hesitate to bring it out” A few days later, two stacks of corrected answer papers greeted him, standing testimony for the children’s grasp and his teaching skill. 

With a triumphant smile, he started to go through them. He was surprised to not that papers relating to subjects he revised exhaustively were missing, in both the stacks. He knew- his son and daughter would not deliberately withhold them. Then what was the issue-this nagging unease started to worry him. The children did not say anything on their own, waiting for him to make the first move. Imaginch broke the ice at dinner time. The children dropped the bombshell - informed him that the teachers wanted to meet with him. The rest of dinner time passed in impregnable silence. Wearing a worried look, Imaginch  called it a day. Having unloaded their burden, the children too quietly withdrew from the scene. 

The next day at school, Imaginch endured an agonising wait. The teachers had classes to attend to. Finally, when they made their appearance, he felt nervous. The silently slid two stacks of withheld test papers in front of him. Growing anxiety and confusion replacing the earlier agony, he glanced through them.  Not to prolong the suspense, one of the teachers said, “Do you know why no marks have been awarded? The kids have been doing well and suddenly why this sort of elaborate and out of syllabus answers? Would you please enlighten us? Another teacher added, “Test papers help us to assess the comprehension of the student and it is important to fine tune outreaching. Sorry sir, we will   take care of them, if you don’t mind”. Then the teachers took time to award and total the marks scored without any further conversation. Imaginch understood the unspoken, subtle hint- “hands off”.

He returned home realizing his role in parenting – not to inject himself into the teaching profession. He admired his children for not having openly blamed him and the ingenious way they chose to send a silent message. Though he felt like coming out of storm clouds wondering, “Was there a need for my teaching?”