it was a magificient sight.after almost 30 years , i was back in ambasamudram my native villege.raghu my class mate brought me to our school.the school had a very regal look. while the building had been extended on either side to accomodate more students,the greenery and trees around the school ensured an old world charm.we walked in to the school hoping to find some one we knew.the commitment of the teachers and the staff was everywhere to see. the glass covered cupboards at the entrance were full of cups and sheilds won by the students in veriety of championships.as i had hoped, s.r.v.s high school had maintained its stature as the most sought after school in the district.a well polished wooden board had the names of all the teachers with the divisions they represented, appearing against their respective names.
we started talking of the good old days at the school recalling every teacher.the topic veered to kalyani teacher and mrs mathias.
for a long time, kalyani teacher was the only female memeber of the teaching staff at the school.she kept pressing the mangement for another female teacher for sake of company.it was rumoured that she planned to lodge a complaint with the inspectors of the school. the mangement sensed that she might leave the school.it was unthinkable.kalyani teacher was the best and the excellent academic results the school secured had lot to do with her exraordinary talent of opening the thick skulls of the students and stuffing in the lessons. the management relented. mrs mathias joined the school when we were at the ninth grade.as mrs mathias arrived all the boys and girls were at the entrance,jostling each other, trying to get a glimpse of the new teacher. as she entered,kalyani teacher walked down gracefully down the stairs with a beaming smile.she put her hand out to mrs mathias, and guided her to the staff room.we could see they had taken a great liking for each other.whispers went around among the girls as to who was better looking of the two.
for some strange reason,it became a routine for many of us to wait at the entrance every morning looking for both the teachers to arrive.they walked the pathway to the school in animated conversation,puncuated by occasional burst of laughter.we felt happy and safe.in the evening when the two left, we stopped our games , waited till they dissapeared ,before resuming our play.
sadly the comradiere did not last.when the quarterly results were out, the "A "division had topped in all the subjects.in the staff meetings the principal commended the results acheived by the ''A" division, attributing it to the rare skills of kalyani teacher.she was capable of teaching a rat the pythogorous theorem,he said.
while the 'A"division did so well,in our division the results were disastrous.more than half the class had failed in more than two subjects.many had secured zeros.though this was not uncommon,we felt we had some hope of salvation. we decided to entrust ourselves to mrs mathias, our teacher.it was obvious mrs mathias felt humbled looking at the marks we secured.she put up a brave face,and started checking out how much of the simple sums we knew.it became clear many could not solve the sums from the previous year's syllubus.mrs mathias smiled and said"let by gones be bygones.if you cooperate, i can ensure every one of you
promoted to the next grade".we shook our heads in agreement.
thereafter,mrs mathias became possessed.the extraordinary effort she put with each student was remarkable.she never tired of teaching the same lessons any number of times.at weekends she conducted special classes and regular tests.it seemed she was punishing herslf for the failure of the earlier teachers and us.her commitment and sincerety caught us.we pledged to give our best, more to thank our teacher for what she was doing for us.
one day, mrs mathias declared in the class that the lakshmi ammal memorial prize for mathematics will be won that year by our division.none of us responded.no one thought it was possible.she repeated the prediction.we were not convinced and knew she was doing to boost our morale.
the monumental efforts of mrs mathias did not go waste.in the half yearly exams,anandi topped the school.the principal visited our division and congratulated mrs mathias on the wonderful result.he went over to anandi to pat her on the back.anandi stood up and murmered. we did not hear what she said.but as she spoke,mrs mathias went absolutely pale in the face.she slumped in to her chair.she was fighting her tears.
the bell rang.mrs mathias stood up."anandi are you sure of what you heard"?we were looking intensely at mrs mathias.
"yes teacher"
mrs mathias broke down.she looked vainly at the walls.in a feeble voice she asked" did i give you the questions before hand"?her voice touched us.we did not realise then what she was so upset about.she repeated"did i give you the questions before hand"?
the silence that followed tore at our hearts.
"god knows the truth"she said and went out.
we were aghast at the insinuation that mrs mathias had leaked the questions to her students so as to help them do well.how could kalyani teacher make such an accusation?we felt terrible.
mrs mathias did not attend the school next day.rumours had that she was leaving the school.we bemoaned our fate.
fortunately, the following day, just as the bells went mrs mathais came in.
thereafter, we never saw kalyani teacher and her together again.mrs mathais continued with her tremendous enthuthiasm and commitment.she wanted to prove a point.
as the final exams neared, mrs mathias brought up the sad episode.we never expected her to talk so ruthlessly reminding us of the baseless accusations of the past."we must win the lakshmi memorial prize"she demanded.
anandi stood up and said"yes for sure teacher".mrs mathais said"this time the question papers are being set out side", "i cannot leak them to you"she added with a wry smile.we knew how hurt she still was.
we swore that we will do our teacher proud and win her the prize.we felt as warriors set out to defend the honour of our teacher.nothing else mattered."we must win the prize"', thats all we lived for.
it happened on the last day of the exams.the maths exams were on and there were just five minutes left.anandi ,on whom we had pinned all our hopes,stood up to surrender her answer sheets.mrs mathais had one look at the papers,and whispered "whats the hurry.?still time left.check yr answers again".though the teacher talked softly, i heard what she said.i looked at her face which had drained.
anandi took her papers back and started checking her answers.
the last bell rang.mrs mathais rushed to anandi blabbering,"did you check the last sum?why do you hurry?" and went on to collect the papers from the other student.
i saw anandi, making some desperate corrections.
"i object this strongly" the hall reverberated.kalyani teacher was thundering with her hands on her hips.mrs mathias looked helplessly outside.kalyani teacher stomped off to the principals room, gesticulating at the direction of mrs mathias.
the enquiery started.
mrs mathais stood still, with her head bowed, failing to answer the questions posed by the principal.
"this is my last question"."when you asked anandi to check her answers,did you think of helping her correct her answer?"asked the principal.
after a long silence, the teacher said"yes"
the principal went back to his chambers.
as we moved to the verandah, we found the shadow of our teacher moving out slowly.
we never saw her again.
SOURCE:SHORT STORIES BY SUNDARA RAMASWAMY.
