TEACHER-novella-part-1

Scholars, this being the first day of our vacation that you have

got from your busy schedule, I would like to entertain you

with a few stories, and some lengthy tale about my professor.

this teacher was especially attached to me that he was one nice

teacher, not only to me but all his students and was a dancer a

great scholar. he had best focused on the readings of Brecht

and Stanislavski and he was a moderately good poet and a

playwright. I had my sophomore and post-graduation under

him and he developed the critical talent in me and later this

talent became a bion and thing od praise. So, students, this is

our first day. You know, I mean a leader of the movement

specially designed for women and often times it takes to

places far and wide, enabling me to miss with cultures that are

subject to exploitation. these are serious issues, however, I

don't go immediately into its scope and contents. This is our

initial day of vacation. when I looked into the beautiful

landscape from the window of my private room,[I always stay

in single cabins, this has been my mode since the college eras

from the time I split with my parents for study purpose and

has to leave my house for the first time. Since then, they had

seen many excursions but emotionally this severance was

very tough and I think I remember very well, how I cried for

many days in my room thinking about my mother who was

exceptionally attached to me. we were like two good

girlfriends. And one thing that differentiated me from my

mother was age and of course the experience she had in life.

otherwise, she was just a close friend, we would crack jokes,

she loved jokes and had many volumes of such books. once

she presented me a book called Jokes for the John, and it was

very good, though some of them I could not follow. ok, my

first episode with my teacher.

Since I came from a village past my first days in the city were

excellent lessons for learning, making me discover many

ideas and partake several points with friends, particularly

my friends in the hostel, to share and laugh, one friend would

quite frequently send me notes of breezy news mentioning

friends and class episode, and her letters are full of the

expression haha. haha, This may be a not standard English

word, I think but an expression and this friend exposed her

spirit with these sounds. yes, she relishes laughing now and

then and when she was drafting those notes, she obviously

laughed a lot and she only wanted to convey the same

the sentiment to me. but I did not chortle like that. Once she came to the college with her father. An artistic type of man with a long beard and had a slender frame but his eyes were bright and the nose was prominent. His right ear had a tiny ancestral hoop. His figure was cocooned in the looseness of the dazzling apparel he preferred in meetings of this sort, and it was particularly the inaugural day of the college union. I was a bit serious about things and could appreciate something only if

there is anything challenging or if there is content.

Let me come to my professor. My instructor was a small

person may be five feet tall and since the members of my

family are, six-footers often, this change of stature fascinated

me remarkably. He was quite distinct to other male figures, we see

in film posters. They were mostly fair and handsome, but my

professor was not that. He was short, slightly black and he

was thin but you see he is a great scholar. He could speak

French too, very like a Frenchman in addition to English,

where our syllabus was dealt with.

This teacher had the habit of chewing ‘pan’ and his mouth at

times looked like a goat or a cow when the animal is in such a

process. His visage conveyed greatly, many expressions emanated in a short span of time, giving doubt to the beholder what his exact intention was. And sometimes when he bit the betel

leaves [mixed with tobacco] hard, it demonstrated the air of a fuming man, maybe he was thinking of some ill-fated ticks in life, where

he might have been subjected to some wrong .Or the thought of

the neighbour encroaching his farm[ he has a big farm where

he cultivated various herbal trees and also raised some new type of cattle]. In the evenings whenever I went to his house with a friend of mine, he would be relaxing in his laid-back chair and his

wife would offer us coffee and cakes. He had a son who was

studying in high school and would appear occasionally, giving us extra attention. And later when I met

him in another city in an enclosed square, near Victoria Terminus,

he recognised me and I was quite exhilarated but his sound had changed impressively giving room to a voice with rococo effect, and a slight bass, much unlike to his prior speech when I met

him in the teacher's house, that had a pistillate shrill. In those days

he performed in dramas my professor had written and he often played

the part of womanlike characters, like the Shakespearean times.

Sometimes it was challenging to get suitable girls to act the

female part, as some families opposed to their girls to be actors

on stage, even for schoolroom purposes, and my professor instantly

gave this role to his son, whose voice was just feminine and

sweet and since he was very good looking, only people close

to the drama group could identify that it was not a girl, but a

boy.

………………...

She was a physical instruction teacher at the school and had

three sons and a daughter. she bought a big farm in the suburb

of the city and erected some additional portions of the

building and gave for the rent. he was pious. she wanted to

make money too. she was accommodating but she was

sometimes hard to deal with often quarrelling with the dwellers

on the amount of water they used. All her care will be on the

use of water, the bathrooms were sometimes leaking and

when the bathroom of the upper story leaked, it affected the

ground portion also, giving the tenants who stayed there cause

malady. Same as the people called her making their legs

swollen and black. I just came from the visit to the hospital to

see my elder kinsman who had an allergy with an application

and later found the feet swollen and it was detected that he

had sugar, a long time sugar undetected and it was anyhow

safe that they could detect it. She plants One brother at the counter

and the other kin, waiting in the lobby. They had agents at

their beck and call who would get the business, especially at

lean times. It so happened that the younger brother’s health

started to fail and the elder brother kept the business going in

spite of the odds and the former was sent on a tour to another

salubrious spot for ayurvedic treatment and oil massage.

When the younger brother came back, he could hardly walk,

and his spine was never straight and spent a lot of hours

during the day reclining on the sofa. His father was also

repeated subject to serious health issues, his eating sweets,

now and then had made him considerably diabetic and

consequently, it became harsh and severe that his right leg was

amputated and for the rest of the years, he was to spend his

life on a long couch, behind the staircases and his wife, would

bring him some unique meals and portions of medicines from

the apothecary now and then. The old lady gave money on

small interest to ladies she knew personally and who were not

troublesome when collecting the money back. In all cases, she

avoided the wives of society leaders, as they will cause harm

to her business. Sometimes, she would be having pricks of

conscience and will visit a shrine where the priest gave a

special oil, that the pilgrims considered as holy.

Sometimes, she would be having pricks of

conscience, and visited a shrine where the priest presented a

peculiar oil, that the pilgrims considered as holy and apple

sins, but there was a lot of controversy about this topic, and

the lady inevitably believed in the miraculous qualities of this

oil, and took it herself and sent to her two sons abroad. The

the eldest son was a harm maker and thought very highly of his

body and contacts and always talked in such a way to others

as if others owed him something. I also met him once or

twice, and he tried to create an impression on me as to the fact

that he knew many things and had several contacts and could

get things speedily done. But his wife told my wife

view when they spent a couple of good hours in a cinema

theatre cold her that this chap was suffering from fluctuations

in b.p. Levels and wakes at nights without any reason and

perspires unnecessarily.

They had already owned a portion of the building and them

were brothers and they were doing joint business. In the

summer months, they will give the key to the shops to the

managers and by all means went to Simla or Mussoorie or

Nainital and after many boat rides and roaming and winding

car journeys and dip in holy waters came back rather

refreshed to keep the business moving.

a giggled ominously and her strawberry, cheeks were

beautiful when she expressed timidness.

From the deck, one could get a flawless sense of the

encompassing regions and a person often would read the

paper from the porch of this homely premise and he would

cower and study for hours and sometimes will go to the

nursery and attend the seedlings that he had planted in the

drizzly season. The other neighbour was mostly absent during

the daytime in days as he had a night work and the eldest son

was a musician and studied music from a famous teacher. by

the man appeared sometimes in the early morning to the

balcony and put on the motor and started washing his clothes.

the son will be pursuing some of the music lessons he learned

recently. but he wanted to present an orchestra to the public in

the presence of some parents objected and sent him against his

will to a professional course. however, he practised music in

his spare moments.

the third son of Marie teacher was a socialist and I had many

talks with him. he said he did not read religious texts and the

texts he read a communist manifesto. which nobody came

across recently in life read. I also have not read it. though I

had heard a lot about it. This man had a peculiar habit of taking the

pickaxe and operating with other artisans in the backyard and

his mom could barely dispute it. the workers usually esteemed

him since he was loving and caring and asked about the

wellbeing of others. in a couple of conversations, we had, I

knew that he was the lovely chap with some interest in people.

3

in the evening will to the centro where I used to stay and as a

hotel where once three of my friends joined in a

celebration treat when one of the friends won in the table

tennis competition, I was an assessor, though I had not

much knowledge about the play other than computing the

digits, I was to be the umpire, on a night. wai had already

made the board tennis room my palace of study along with

another senior scholar. that time was giving one week to a

particular author and reading the notes at night. I gave a week

to this author. The senior scholar gave a fortnight to another

writer of his subject of study and reading towards the end of

the night and sleeping late. Another senior, boy, a magician to

assist me. He was an atheist too. I did not meet him afterwards.

and I was the umpire and the game was not competitive. the

one who was a senior chap was playing on the other side,

though I witnessed the play later in life because my wife was

proficient in many games and was a national athlete and had a

box full of medals, a gold commemoration she coerced into an

ornament because they were broke at that time and desired

jewelry. And I was the umpire and witnessed the game and

the game was one side, the other Chao, a great champion of

the game won the two matches[i guess[ when the opposite

candidate for one or two points. it was quite heroic, and the

other chap was a rich fellow who came to who was a hostel

fellow, hir whose house was not very far came in an

automobile and gave the dinner. I was to witness the event

from the balcony of the hotel, at dusk time and a ground afar,

a few young girls are met by eerie one-night lovers, a very

miserable scene that I could not forget for the rest of my life.

the dinner was excellent, yes the food was good and the spirits

were high.

I patrolled mostly by a small path like a trail and saw the

area of that dump, but forthwith it was outmoded by offbeat

one, and often took the snack when I would see off the ward at the

interurban depot and will either go to the archives and linger by

the old multiversity area viewing the dining sections and

inn and a furlong on, my own talk stage that was

the origin of erudite lectures of old era among whom was writers of standing

and the others all scientists. And where are my mates now? I reminisced I just desired to see

one singular friend, D. no idea where that friend is and

had to ignore the business.

Once dumped into an auditorium of fame with my godchild and the

book inauguration was taking place, and the work was by a

civil service personality and there I met my old buddy an illustrator

who also made documentary flicks and he had large sideburns

and he called me to his apartment. Since my ward was young and

well outfitted she was to bestow boutonnieres to an impresario and also the renowned lyricist who was now at the program. The conference was

about the wideness of drives. The gratis copies were given and it

was a felicitous occurrence. I had to go to the restroom often, as I had

some prostate predicaments and treatments were progressing on. Then I

went to the university hall and stood before the fencing and from there you get copies of second-hand paperbacks, a line of

second-hand stores stod. and I bought them all good ones, and the

sellers were jovial fellows, lighthearted and always cracking

jokes now and then. there the state bus has a stop and I will

take the bus which will arrive at .took the bus to the railway

junction, and on another day it rained. that the place was

memorable that it was there on one evening by dusk we three

stood to discuss the fate and an artist friend whose painting

was rejected by a publisher that evening and we were all

dejected, the artist later was to go to Europe and do some

other services.

That day I took the minibus to the railroad station crossing,

inevitably the conductor carried me with some regard, because

I was attired in flawless white and often the legislators

groomed like that and it was a capital town, and I got a good

place since a chair was ready. Another day, I was to drive in

one of those lanes where rested the house of the dentist and

the lanes were frequented by people in the evening as a shrine

was near and you get a glimpse sometimes into the brightest

pair of eyes, we don't know the owner of it but they inevitably

spoke a deep language which we normally concourse in usual

evenings, nowhere with the people you know in daily life, and

it is possible one of the readers of this post share that brightest

eyes, that spoke a language these ones. That, of course, is a

feast. I could not obtain the second appointment after my

contour of the tooth is taken due to sudden shifting.

evenings were found near a reliquary and a square where

gatherings are often conducted, sometimes some band.. and

shops extended on both sides a bit market of generations old

whereas a little child I came with my mother, and I wanted

among all things only one thing- the tamarind. Hereby the side

of that line I had a couple of hotels where I was a denizen and

after a walk withdrew o my present resting place and this was

a routine and since it was I made acquaintances with some

people who followed this routine one was an old film

producer, who had a large capital once, but living humbly,

still in a decent way. he asked me if I was interested in buying

a house in that area and I said probably not sincere mu in the

wife's interests are elsewhere

the evenings to the Fort area- a busy place with so many men

and automobiles, people in all moods and physical conditions,

engaging in diverse activities. You watch for half an hour

such a crowd and you get a glimpse into the universe you live

in, multiple talents, multiple ways, multiple life patterns. But

basically, the human with the pathos and frailties and shame that make a human. in the ordinary seasons whenever the

sun sets and rises again the next day he was thinking of all

that happened. to the brim of the happiness that exudes the

mirth and the special glory that makes a man worth

remembering- when he passed the bylanes and went to fort

maidan, he had patted on the shoulder with great confidence

and rhythm. That lady with ardour and resilience in crisis who gives hope to her family - But in the long run, it is only a story remembered by her close friends and folk. it subsides,

anyhow. I used to see the crowd and also went to some

of the coffee shops to have coffee.. it was pleasant in the

evening, and I will pass by certain streets that were familiar to

me in the university years. after all, I stayed in this port city

for two years enjoying the breeze and the loving company. I

decided to see some of my old friends and classmates but

could not do so. Once I went to a beach and the visit, I had

postponed many times and had also made an unsuccessful

effort to visit when I studied there. The port has not evolved

greatly, and the excellence is in a way lightly dissipated due to

contamination and deficiency of hygiene especially the waste

removal ventures that were quite sluggish. Waste was coming

from all sections and the organization and people found it

laborious to cope with the problem. And the corrective strokes

are yet to arrive. Sometimes amazing ballad concerts will be

yonder in the principal Plaza, some community stage

production or some sacred gathering. There was diversity in

the functions.

5

This reminiscence will be quite half-done if I did not name my

first teacher. My first teacher was Saraswathi who taught me

the fundamentals of their language. She trained me in the

parent lingua and the first standard English textbook, some

readings when I was quite little maybe four or five years old. I

recognize my tutor, a young lady coming to my dwelling

bespectacled and I think, she was fair, but not very sure about

the fact. We were staying in a rented house, which was part of

a royal cousin's household. she taught me vernacular and

English and I was supposed to be an intelligent student and by

the time I joined the first class, I knew pretty well, perhaps

better than my peers. My mother was an educated lady and

though my father was not academically qualified as her, spent

many years of his life amidst cultural stalwart in Madras, he

worked in a press in Madras and it seems he knew many

cultural icons personally on a friendly level. Father was quite

ahead of his time, though much educated academically and

taking into consideration, the conventional setting from where

he grew. My teacher taught me very conscientiously and I was am very thankful for her, and even though I desired to see her many times later in life, it did not happen...

Patrice was coming from the auto rickshaw when Simeon who

used to wear cool tailor-made apparels came with his

friend. I was standing beside the bougainvillaea tree when all

the girls came to the classroom. Derik was holding on the

rungs and he was conversing with the misses, his beloved pastime.

At the opposite row, one may perceive the other departments, German.

Russian and likewise thronged by fine males and

females in good attires. The professors were clearly nonnatives. I had once a chat with the head of the department who was an

Italian, and he inquired about political things and

since these are not my fields of interest, the conversation

ended abruptly.

My professor had a beard, something similar to the season,

though he was one among us. probably a class belonging to my

father. They might have common folks as relatives in some

town in middle kernels. my professor was short but an erudite

man, and the fact that he knew French, I knew only after I left

the institute. I heard that he engaged in a debate in French

with a pretension french scholar. these are all heresies and

cannot be validated. as some of the folks involved are

somewhere far away and some are already dead.

the professor was humorous. though the ea head of the

department who was senior to him, academically, this

professor known in many circles, inside and outside the state

because he was the great poet, and had travelled in many

countries as a poet or an academician. he always came in a

three-wheeler. this practice made me respectful three-wheelers,

and the ownership of the car is not an essential thing in life.it

does not affirm one's journey to greatness.and some people

whom I had seen later, at a certain point in life, could not

drive those things as they did in youth and had to employ a

driver or shift to an auto rickshaw, or cares the time

permitted. Indian auto rickshaw, I prefer, because they are

cheap and more over the air will come from outside and it is a

most informal vehicle, and at least for the rest of the rise, you

have a friend, that is the auto rickshaw driver. some of them

are learned people, scholars, and some are good fellows and

some have even helped me get a doctor in some I had medical

issues while travelling. I think that young man, who waited

outside the emergency ward, in one my travels, getting g me

doctor and medicine, till I could contact m mt relative

somewhere not far. those days, I was in frequent travels and

had to be away from family for many days in succession.

the professor was poet.a known one. sometimes younger poets

will come there in the Institute for his audience, and I saw

some of my favourite poets in that manner. there were poetry

readings in the institute, and some of those students who read

poetry they later became well-known poets.

7

Ocean town, another day. Ward was to write the examination.

he came with another. We were three staying in a small hotel

room, when the time came and I wanted to see my local

guardian's wife, the lady is old. the local guardian is no more.

she stays in the same house with almost the same furniture, an

erudite and humble lady with a humble and elevating lifestyle.

one feels like emulating. When the examination was over, I

had to leave. before that, there was a celebration feast in the

palace hall grounds. a feast with country rhythms and dished

about puddings that are seven or eight. if you dine at this rate

every day, you will get diabetes. but we do not dine like that

every day. even once a month is also too much of a burden

for the body. bit once in the year is quite palatable a schedule.

but you must have digestion ability and should also be free

from other diseases. there was a big queue when we got in. the

people were coming more and more. there was a token and the

manager of the feast was a hefty gentleman, the food was

excellent and the rhythms were traditional and musical. There

a country and earthly tough everywhere. The songs they sang

were antique and were significant and were formed by

glorious bards.

Months after that when the ward was admitted to the major, I

was to arrive anew. A house was taken on rent in the gorgeous

countryside with fresh wind and breeze with a view of the sky. The

first part of the sojourn was in a pad in a line of ateliers where

quarters were facing that housed many families. Then I moved.

At nightfall, the vermins will enter into some cubbyholes. At the

start, it was a huge annoyance, but later, their approach

was handled somehow. The true cause is perhaps obscure.

The rats habituated in the vicinity of the lots because it

was a large mixture with many trees, of the fruit-bearing

family and apparently, the muskrats have much to pick and also nurture their babies. From the house, the city square was at a decent

reach, perhaps three or four miles. the passing scenes are

fantastic and there are a couple of streams, and a leading

clinic also on the side, where I was admitted for a night due to

some sudden ailment but was discharged at midnight. the first

feeling after discharge was to have a meal or food. where will

you get it to the peak of the night? the one who accompanied

met the hospital was a man who had been brought up

somewhere near and knew the places and eating huts very

well. he drove confidently and found out one. a very modest

setup, but was having you get, eatable, indigenous cuisine,

clean and hot. I along with the others took food. the

assignment I went to the counter to pay the bill, the friend

who took me- he was only doing it out of love and was known

to me for adding a fleeting period. The companion compelled

that he pay the bill. what noble gestures at the mid part of the

night, not for exhibition, but out of sheer love and

consideration for a fellow human being.

The chairperson of the activities came and he was nice chap

from the north and was well versed in the classics and she was

quite determined with the studies and she wanted to have a

good grade. another friend came on a van at the usual time.

She had the most adorable simper ever and there was another

buddy who was also very confident and good-humoured and

came from the harbour section and she saw the chairman

crossing the road. The chairman was holding the hand of a

blind man and was helping him cross the road. She

immediately likes the chap in a way and was all smiling at

him, but he was also the shy young man and did not talk to

girls much. Then one day she incited the chairman to her

house. he came with him a close confrere and eventually, they

were introduced to her parents. and the parents were very

happy to meet him, because he was a good-looking and

well-mannered chap thought the girl was obviously attracted

to the smartness of the boy, the parents were more concerned

about his character. and he neither drink nor smoke, which

fact they got from secondary sources, and they were happy.in

the institute many thought that they were Shakespeare by

writing a bit of poetry and with its aid talking and impressing

fellowmen. there was one dainty chap who had no talent nor

character but thought high. I was told that he was a

kleptomaniac and whenever he went to the library or

bookshops, he stole books, but he was a very gentle man

personally, very hospitable and a good musician though slightly

towards the preferring the band of girls, I don't know what he

talked with girls for hours. But generally, the girls liked him

because he was an innocent chap at the core and his vagaries

were just a way to assert his strong nature. when I went to his

residence once, his younger brother a gentle lad of ten or

twelve will oblige at every ten breaths and will propose you if

you fancy decoction or bites. I figured then that his capers

were emanating from the act to affirm his machismo,

sometimes in incongruous flashes, because his father was

much smarter than him, at least either of them thought so. He

may have looked like the movie star of our generation. and he

felt second-rate to his father in looks as he thought, but what

are looks after all in the terminal threshold of life-. I had gone

to his house for joined research and he was good at British as

was fluent in literature and speaking and has already printed a

bunch of staves, which was titled a fruit, I forgot the name...

Since I am coming back to my old town of theatrical studies

after another seven years, you may wonder what

happened in the meantime. I was having a

temporary assignment with the university as a ballet teacher as

I have become famous in these years and my performances

are mostly outside the country. And the University of my

hometown thought that my expertise in this field may enrich

the new generation in their courses. And I accepted and I am

now into that. Stephanie married my teacher and after his death

went to her hometown which was about four hours journey from here

and she stayed there. I came in fact for the funeral of my

teacher after getting the news but due to the fact that I was

delayed by the abrupt change of the trains and buses and

other means of conveyor I was held by a day.

.I was delayed as I took several additional hours at some

of the halts and as my health was not very fine and could

reach only after a day. I could not attend the funeral and left

the town the verb after two days, seeing some of my old

colleagues. some are already dead or obscure, as life

sometimes allows deems us to take different routes quite

different from our original pursuits. this happened in the case

of some of my best friends at the college and I have not met

those recently in these years. As for Stephanie and myself- we

meet only once in the past seven years and that was at a

gathering and both were speakers. We did not talk and

exchanged only a glance at a private moment that lasted for

only a few seconds. These seconds carried a long story told

and untold and the meanings of that only we both new. It was

a sort of intense private language, the coding of it has not

however happened. To put it in the simplest terms, they were

meaningful, I did not talk to her and she also did not talk to

me. But I knew from the glance that she was not either amicable or hostile but was all sympathy to me. What can we do- my

obsessions to certain items have induced to reach such a state.,

making me lose some of the best relationships. Stephanie I

think is not totally free from fault. She could have waited for a

year or another year with assiduity to accommodate a fool like

me into her life. But that is even a foolish thought, quite

irrational. When we live a single life, from her point of view,

we must make the best use of time. and probably that

happened. Stephanie's son by the teacher was to write my

biography. Though it did not become the best seller, my fans

liked it. But Stephanie has not told her son about the most

important minutes of our life together. her son told me that

mama did not aspire to speak about that finished section and

he accumulated the threads from common buddies and I was

also varied about the special portion of our bonds. Such feats

befall only once in a lifetime and maybe to share it in

multitude will carry away the sacredness of it.

8

Today I am leaving the town. Since my telephone is under

replacement, I called from the public booth and tried at the

last minute to say goodbye to my biographer, that is

Stephanie's son. Meanwhile, I attended a book release

ceremony in a hotel which in my college years I labelled as too

aristocratic. I have only heard the price on the menu for the

student friends. I also tried to contact the editor of a publication

where I worked as the proofreader, to get some additional

amounts to meet my stay when I had to linger further in the downtown,

away from the university hostel. I sought to reach a proprietor of

the modest hotel where I used to eat, gratifying nonvegetarian

items, which I liked then, after walking through the alley

several times but could not spot that place. I might have to give a

few hundred rupees then. My roommate was the hotel staff

and we both shared the room, as the accommodation was

cheap and I could not afford an expensive one. I could not

locate. I was not to be blamed completely for the amount as a

couple of my friends also dined on a few events on my

account. I can only pray for that owner.

……………………………………………………

m the glance that she was not either amicable or hostile but was all sympathy to me. What can we do- my obsessions to certain items have induced to reach such a state., making me lose some of the best relationships