A small gesture...

It is teacher's day today.I remember one such teacher's day, some five years ago.I used to tutor a little girl. She was plump and tall, fairly taller than me. It had just been a few months I had started teaching her. I maintained a friendly relation with her, just to make sure she asks everything that she couldn't ask her teachers in school. That day, something happened that got etched in my memory..still so fresh that is making me write these lines...

That day, I was in a bad mood for some reason..I don't remember. I carried that mood along with me when I went to teach her. May be she could see that on my face. A usually cheerful little girl was sitting silently with her head bowed down.

I had asked her to solve some mathematics sums the previous day. I started evaluating. She had made some mistakes (this was not unusual). I started shouting at her (this was unusual). I did not realize how bad I was until I saw tears trickling down her chubby cheeks. I stopped, but I dint know what to say. I stayed silent.She didnot raise her head and continued scribbling on her notebook. I was still stern. and started preparing to leave.

As I stood up, she said that " Didi, please stay back for five minutes." She wiped her face and left the room. I was wondering what happened when she came back with something wrapped in a glittering paper. Still her head bowed down, she gave that to me. The sticker on it read, "Happy teacher's day, to my sweet didi ". It was her handwriting, I knew. The gift was not so neatly wrapped which meant she had done it herself.

I was speechless. For a moment, I froze. In no time, my eyes started getting wet.

I did not have the faintest idea that she liked me so much. Usually, she would speak of her teachers with disrespect and I would correct her that she should respect them. I had never known that she would be so thoughtful about me.

Still sobbing, she said, " Didi, happy teacher's day. I got this gift for you.And I had asked mummy to prepare your favorite dish. Please have it before you leave."

I could not hold anymore. The lump in my throat started getting bigger.I just hugged her and said sorry. She started sobbing hard. I don't remember for how long I kept on caressing her hair. Aunty (her mom) came into the room with bowl full of gulabjamuns.
She just asked me to have them, smiled and left.

I explained her the sums again. We both had the sweets together and then I left, happily.

I was touched. After that day, I never scolded her again, and she never gave me a chance to do that. Each day when I went to teach her is a memory worth cherishing.I am missing her a lot, right now....