My First Teacher Saraswathi

Remembering my teacher Saraswathi. Madame Saraswathi was my first teacher. If my memory is right, my impression of her is a lady of about eighteen years old who wore spectacles and was plain-looking and she wore a sari. She taught me languages. Our house was small, an independent edifice of two small rooms and a kitchen, and one had to ascend granite steps to reach the compound. There was a sweep in front of the house and some cyclists would fall down as they moved faster and take a sudden turn. Accidents were not rare. There stood a fort in front of our house and it was termed the Western fort, as there were many such forts in that town. I was later to study in that city in my university years, and when I reached that place, the fort seemed smaller than I had imagined. My mother was in the state department after she left the British service and after the Independence and the country’s partition, she chose a transfer to this state as the public spoke our mother tongue. My father was working then in another metropolis faraway. I started writing the first alphabets in rice as was the custom. This was done by my teacher Saraswathi. We had a neighbour after a few houses, named B.amma sir. We called her by her full name as she was a teacher and well respected. Their family was a family of musicians. The eldest son sang well, and a few lines of his lyrics I remember even now. Sublime themes in praise of heritage and culture. I was then attending a play school which was run by Saramma teacher and she was a loving lady. We had a great time with kids of my age, singing and dancing. Our house and the small compound was surrounded by a big wall and the other side of the wall left a residue of mystery in my childhood. My teacher was loving though slightly detached, if my memory is true. And she had sober manners and mute body movements and talked only when needed. She was loving and if my memory is correct, a little detached too.. My mother got a transfer to another town in the north of the state. Though we had only a fleeting term of acquaintance, I adore my first teacher greatly. This meeting happened many decades ago and I wish her all the best.