The First story of Gadha!

The First Story Of Gadh!

If any subject teacher is on leave, another teacher will be given a gift named substitution work. Gadha’s class teacher was on leave that day. She was Usha, stylish, good-looking and a new teacher. Usha did a catwalk to substitute Sreedevi Teacher’s 8th class. Usually, in the substitution period, the teachers will be drowning in note corrections.  But Usha, because of her inexperienced status, was enthusiastic to trouble the children with Math lessons.

Gadha, “O! This part, our Sreedevi teacher has finished. Getting bored,” spoke in her mind. She took a notebook, opened its last pages and drew something this way that way and all. Suddenly she fell in a thought, “Why can’t I make Unni a subject?”

Yes, she set about thus.

Unni, the Wayward

Unni was a simple, loving boy. He was my neighbour, reading in sixth grade. The only problem, games cuddle him firmly and vice versa, always. If elders want some help from him, he pays no attention to it. So, his mother in half affection and half ire, gave him a pet name Unni, the Obstinate.

His mother Vasanthi’s legs seemed to be trying her expertise, as she sped domestic, the kitchen corner pushed her stumbling and she got hurt. She broke her left leg with inexorable bleeding. Somebody informed Unni, but he thought, “Nothing; might be a small wound, Amma will manage.” He went on with his amusements. Anyway, his Papa from the work site arrived and Mom reached the hospital. As doctors expressed their helplessness, she had to bid bye to all. Unni burst into tears, but his tender age suddenly allowed him to attain normalcy. The nomenclature,  ‘Wayward’ his mother gifted, his villagers painted with his name, and he became Unni, the Wayward. A couple of years passed, and his mind started to sit gloomy, felt his loss, so one day he penned down all his tearing emotions on a sheet of paper.  

Though his father was not that educated to understand it fully, his uncle’s words did leap out with appreciation. Uncle, Raj sent the story to a leading magazine. The week followed, dawned with Unni’s story in the magazine.  Unni’s presence became life in the children’s columns of best-selling periodicals and his villagers decided to cut off his ‘ Wayward’ tail from his name. Later, Unni himself ornamented his personage with his mother-given term and his pen name.

“Gadha, what is up there?” A thunder broke into the class atmosphere.  Gadha had touched the end part of her narration; no sooner did she keep back the book in the bag than another student snatched it to the teacher. The teacher stormed to the principal’s room taking hold of Gadha.

“ Ah! Beautiful substance, Gadha, what a language! A writer I see in you,” the Principal said on reading the child’s work.

“Usha, you are fresh, have patience. Don’t worry. That is why.”

Yes. The principal’s words ended in a fulfilling dream. Gadha is a writer now.

A Story of Yonder!

 

Climbed it, the little legs, the tree,

 cheated the tender limbs, the plant tall,

or the legs cheated the owner,

fell, adorned the legs, the doctor

no, a nurse with a plaster,

when so, the doctor asked her.

 

Would have agony, cuddled Mom,

if had been with Dad,  my mother,

he cried endlessly at me,

Now, no suffering she has, oh!No,

you are cruel, God! With Father

 not there, Mom, to dry my tears.  

 

One and a half months ate away

 days, numbering forty-five,

throwing the child to bed indeed.

 I lamented in my heart and was sad

seeing my playmates

run, jump and shower with water.  

 

The great doctor, time patted

 on the wound and pampered

the child, I, to try standing

and with his pals, playing,

as before, yes, the child became

smarter than earlier.

 

 

Old-age Home!

  

 

Janaki just stepped out of her house for a beauty parlour, a man in his late fifties approached her and asked for a small amount. His looks revealed that he was educated, once employed and not impoverished. “ Why doesn't he have any money? Can’t believe, “ her mind wondered. Somehow she felt an intimacy to that man.

 

“ Ayyo! I do all the transactions with my phone. What if you want cash? For food? Common, I can serve you food.”

“ No, not for food, mine a long story, anyway you have no money, so goodbye!”

“Wait, it's not a big deal. I shall withdraw from the ATM. Come with me. It is nearby, only a walking distance.”

 

“ Your, good name child?” The old man.

“ I am Janaki, working in a multinational company. Today is a holiday.”

Can I know your whereabouts, uncle?”

“ I am Devdas, a retired senior manager of a private company. It is only two years after my retirement. My daughter and her husband are staying in the  USA. They don’t want me to stay alone. So, they made arrangements for an old-age home. It couldn’t make me happy there. Ailing old people, some rejoice, but some bewail, remembering their kin. Hardly I cut two days there. I want to go back home, twenty kilometres away.  My daughter kept all my bank records herself. She fears that I may return home. Yes, I want to stay in my house, though alone.”

 

As the amount reached Devdas’ hands,  Janaki said, “Uncle, you look tired and hungry. So, come to our residence. You can have lunch and go.”

 

 The stomach of Devadas did not allow him to hesitate. Offering him a seat to sit, Janaki went to the Kitchen, where her Amma* was the sole authority. Amma and Janaki, a twenty-four-year-old girl, were looked after by that house, father no more. When the story went to her Mother, she turned to the sitting room. Devdas’ and  Premlath’s meeting brought back memories, fluttering in their minds. Devdas was her tuition teacher turned lover. Janaki, who knew the story, stood for their reunion. As Premlata wavered, Janaki said, “ Youthfulness has no age, Amma.”    

 

The Great Master!

O! Time, the great mentor, janitor

no hesitation, trots and trots, forward,

doing things  for beings forever,

opening a folder, saving animate acts,

 keeping his mouth closed, he travels,

travels, no stress, no end nor any beginning.

 

Watching and catching everything

walks at a smooth pace, for mentoring,

rushing as in a supersonic plane,

allowing no speed or slow pattern,

and giving people not much to learn,

as what he is doing is pure and clear.

 

Saving the misdeeds of ruffians

silky and glossy actions of great ones,

languid and lazy  acts of easy-goers

well in his twenty-twenty-four folder,

he walks and trots, with no pause or slip,

to open a new folder, twenty-twenty-five.

 

On opening wide, the old folder,

the acts one did will loom in front,

blaming or praising each and all

for their creations, useless or useful

for one can value and measure himself

or weigh its weight to obtain the fees.

 

Wish you all a peaceful 2025.

 

   

Teachers’ Day!

 

First of all, I extend my warmest wishes to all the teaching community of the entire country of ours. Gurur Brahma gurur Vishnu gurur devo maheshwaraha

Guru sakshat parambrahma, thamaai Shree gurave namaha.

(गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु र्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः I गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः || )…… the essence of this Sloka is O, Guru! Thou art the creator, Thou art the preserver and Thou art the destroyer. O Lord! We salute you. The Destroyer here means the destroyer of ignorance or the reformer of knowledge,  so Guru is considered the equivalent of the supreme God. Teaching is a divine process and learning is divinity.

 

This gracious day right now drives me over my memory lane to my good old days of teaching as well as schooling. Today's teachers are energetic, enthusiastic, have ample cognition and are ready to refresh their knowledge, whereas the retired teachers are thought to be old drying streams. whatever water of experience is left with them will be worth sharing,

 

At the outset, let me quote a few of the experiences I encountered as a teacher. It is not only my experience because almost all the teachers will have such ones in their lives.

 

Once I went to Amruta Hospital to visit a patient. After the visit, I came down to the compound. The Sun was at the summit of His brightness. Suddenly, a youth headed to me unfolded his umbrella and kept it over my head. I wondered who he must be. “ Ma’am, I am Vinod, you were my class madame and I was a bit naughty too,” he said. I remembered him. 

 

One day my spouse and I went to a daycare for my grandson. Suddenly the headteacher stood up from her chair, came to me, bowed down and touched my feet. She was my student. She was touching my heart at that time.

 

Some other time I was admitted to a hospital for my polyp surgery. The gynaecologist Dr. Latha  came to my room and said with concern, “ Ma’am, I read your name on the name-board, my instinct asked me to see if it was you.”

 

I was delighted at all these occurrences. There will be a good many numbers of such experiences, which are the real accolades or awards, we the teachers bag. 

 

The tale of Teachers’ Day in India starts in 1962. Teachers’ Day was born on this soil on the birthday of Dr. Radhakrishnan.  Dr. Radhakrishnan was the first vice president and the second president of independent India. He was a highly celebrated teacher, a thinker, a philosopher, a writer, a statesman, an academician too and above all a great scholar. He was the Vice Chancellor of two universities. In 1962, when his followers were about to celebrate his birthday, to salute him on account of his scholarship, he opined that the teachers should be honoured instead of his birthday celebration. So, his birthday, the 5th of September of every year happened to be Teachers’ Day. Our Mother India was lucky enough to give birth to an eminent patriotic son on the 5th of September 1888 and he bade farewell to the nation on the 17th of 1975.

 

We, the pedagogical community strive through a path paved for us,  which of late, is not so smooth as it was. The education process earlier was marinated with values and ethics,  somewhat till a decade before. But now values have vanished hither and thither. The teachers do not acquire as much respect as their predecessors used to. We feel a dearth of respect and concern now. But one cannot say that they have fully evaporated. Sparks of good behaviour loom in children.

 

The word teacher can be expanded thus talk, encouragement, action, care, help, efficiency and righteousness. Moreover, the teachers love, pamper, inspire, guide, correct, support and advise their students. They are noble and set examples for the students. They instil values in children and serve as role models for the students. Parents and teachers are the two categories of people who don’t envy the young ones. Teachers expect nothing but only the fragrance of hard work and its good upshot from the students. If teachers run short of empathy and sympathy for the students, they should enter into an introspection. The teachers and students should analyse the day’s actions every day and plan to settle or fix the lapses and falsities.

 

What can be the position of teachers in young minds, first, second, third or none? An easy answer you cannot pull out from the inner chamber of your mind. Your heartiness should shake hands first with your parents of course, who only take you to teachers, and second to the Gurus and then God. Math, Pitha, Guru and God(मात पिता गुरु प्रभु) is the maxim.

 

Siblings and kin are separate entities and they deserve their seat in your mind. 

Drive, determination, dedication and devotion are the keywords to attain the destination.

 

Students, you are brought in the form of fresh seedlings,  the teachers sow them in the classroom soil, water them with care, manure them with love and nurture them with knowledge and they grow and become beautiful blooms, ready to exhibit sweet smiles by the time they are about to bid adieu from the school. And in the now, you are capable of choosing a way which will carry you to a bright future.  The teachers are the sculptors, who mould young minds into mind-catching sculptures.

 

Along with love, trust, good conduct, peace, and non-violence, the students should listen, adapt and act with guidance from the teachers, you can reap gold and diamonds in your life.  The teachers help you directly or by expressive style indirectly to be noble, humble, and pure in behaviour. When you imbibe all these qualities you will become powerful and be able to conquer any heights of success.

  

Quotes from Dr. Radhakrishnan-  The true teachers are those who help us think ourselves. Teachers should be the best minds in the country. Knowledge gives us power, and love gives us fullness. 

Yes, these quotes proclaim the important role teachers should play in shaping the nation’s future. 

Teachers, please remember that it is the the students that make you the teacher and beloved students please understand that your Teachers make you students in your life.

 

 

Dead Ears!

 

It was then that the silence took charge of the sky,

many eyes of the terrain were closed,  no stars in their

 Kingdom, though starry the night was, the clouds

 dethroned them, breaking boundaries of acts set,

 and sitting on the throne started beating the Earth;

 throwing thousands and thousands of sticks.

 

Mother Earth, pouring affection and abundant love

on her children, feeding them, providing them

 air and water and solving problems of heat 

and cold by fitting natural coolers and heaters, 

humming a lullaby tune for sleep-care for them;

but tear away her children, their Mother's skin. 

 

Shave her hair to sell for lakh-lakh rupees,

 do Surgeries on her flesh though no ailments,

 hurt her and injure her, causing unbearable pain;

she pleads with them, cries, bewails and complains,

words hers fall into dead ears of unconcern,

she laments, sheds tears and goes insane.

 

On turning left to write one day, seeking a soothe;  

high hills she pampered in her lap as her darling,

toppled, fell down and in haste, swallowed all

that they met with- houses and inmates in hundreds,

And the Flora and fauna that looked evergreen 

and  Yama* well sent them to the gibbet. 

 

The cloud flowed and flooded, drowning the 

 lives, which hurt the soul of the Earth, which

lie yielding romance-filled  glances to him

 always; the lesions, her progeny rendered her,

 threw her in agony and that provoked him

for adding fats to the irrigating river.

 

And she, the river too started gulping the lives

of the masters of that domain, taking a deep

 slumber, dreaming about their ensuing plan; 

Nature though cares for us and nurtures us, 

she will surely punish us if our apathy 

to her reaches unfathomable depths.

 

 

 Yama*- God of Death in Hindu mythology.

 

 

പകപോക്കൽ!

              പകപോക്കൽ!

       വൃത്തം-മണിമഞ്ജരി

“മഴയെ!നീ കാട്ടുവതെന്തെന്നറിയുന്നോ?

മിഴികൾ നിറച്ചീടും ക്രൂരകർമ്മം.

ദ്യുവിൽ  ഞങ്ങൾ  വേനലിൽ നിന്നെ കാത്തുനിൽപ്പൂ,

അവകാശമല്ലെ നിൻ സാമീപ്യങ്ങൾ?

കരുതലും സ്നേഹവും ഞങ്ങൾ വയ്പ്പൂ ഹൃത്തിൽ

തരുവാൻ  നിനക്കായ്, ചൊരിഞ്ഞീടുമ്പോൾ.

പരമായി നീ വന്നു മന്ദമാരിയായീ

അരികിലെത്തീ ഞങ്ങൾക്കിഷ്ടമായീ.

മണിമുത്തുപോലുള്ള നീയോ പ്രബലയായ്

മരതകപ്പച്ചയേ തൊട്ടുണർത്തീ.

ഇരുൾവീണ വേളയിൽ  പരിചോടുറങ്ങുമ്പോൾ

നരരേ ബലമായീ പുല്കിയില്ലേ?

ഉരുവായി  നിന്നൊരാ  കുന്നിന്നുരു ഹൃദ്യം ,  

ഉരുൾപൊട്ടലായ് വീണു കവർന്നു ജീവൻ.

ഉരുൾപൊട്ടി ഉൾനീറീ വിടചൊല്ലിയനേകർ,

അരുമയായ് കെട്ടിപ്പടുത്ത സ്വത്തും.   

ഉടയവർ,ഉടയാട, സൗഹൃദം, സ്വത്തുക്കൾ,

ഉടമസ്ഥരേ വിട്ടു പോയ് മറഞ്ഞൂ.

തനുവിന്റെയംഗങ്ങൾ വേർപെട്ടു പോയവർ,

മനവും പ്രതീക്ഷയും  ബന്ധവും പോയ്.

തടിനിയും  തടിച്ചൊരു വന്യമാം പുഴയായി

അടവിയേ,വിഴുങ്ങിയൊ? കാണ്മതില്ലാ.

വ്യഥതൻ കരിമേഘം പരന്നവിടെയെല്ലാം,

കദനഗാനം മൂളിയന്തരീക്ഷം.”

“ മഴയെന്ന ഞാനെന്നാൽ പണ്ടുപണ്ടേയുണ്ട്,

കുഴയുന്ന കാര്യം ഞാൻ ചെയ്യുകില്ലാ.

മനുജരേ! വേണ്ടതാം സാമഗ്രി നിങ്ങൾക്കായ്

മനമോടെ തന്നില്ലേ ഭൂമിദേവീ?

അവനിതൻ  മക്കളാO തരുലതാദികളേ 

അതിമോഹമായ് നിങ്ങൾ കൊന്നതില്ലേ? 

മനവും കടുത്തോരു വിങ്ങലിന്നിരയായി 

തനുവും ക്ഷതത്താലേ   നീറിക്കാണും.

വസുധയ്ക്കു നൊമ്പരം സഹിയാതെ വന്നപ്പോൾ 

വശംമാറിയെങ്ങാൻ കിടന്നതാവാം.

മടിയിലിരുന്നോരാ  കുന്നു തലകുത്തി

അടിയിൽപ്പെട്ടുപോയ്  ചെറുമക്കളും. 

ക്ഷമയോ ക്ഷമയുടെ നെ ല്ലിപ്പടികണ്ടു

അമിതമാം ദ്രോഹം പൊറുത്തില്ലവൾ.

പ്രകൃതിമാ നിങ്ങളെ സ്നേഹിച്ചീടുന്നെന്നാൽ

പകപോക്കിടും  നോവസഹ്യമായാൽ.”

ഉരു= ദേഹം, ബൃഹത്ത്