Partners In The Classroom

Partners In The Classroom kids and teens

"Please make sure you're taking some time out for studies. Follow the time table I gave you... and yeah, most importantly, enjoy your vacation. I'll miss you guys. It's weird to not see your faces every day... "

I went on and on. As I was giving the 'holidays' instructions' to my students, I became sad. I knew I was going to miss them all during the 3 weeks' long break. For a moment, I totally lost track of the explicit instructions and started with all my sentiments instead.

"I'll give you guys a call very soon. I'll really miss you all," I continued. I repeated the same statement again and again.

"Didi, don't cry now!" That was Gourav. As most of my kids heard it all patiently, Gourav just snapped. Just to be clear, I wasn't crying, but I guess, Gourav wasn't really fond of the emotional session that was happening. That was him just signalling me to stop. I looked at Gourav, who gave me the most mischievous smile ever. "Are you going to cry?" he asked. All the heads turned towards him, and then towards me.

"No, Gourav. I won't cry", I said. "Good," he said.

So that's Gourav. He always has statements on the tip of his tongue and is impatient. He just has to say it all. I met Gourav some few months back. He was this cutest little thing ever! A short, little, boy with a cute smile and lots of questions on his face... He wasn't a part of my class back then, but would always walk up to me to talk. A few weeks later after I started teaching in this school, his mom came to talk to me. She wanted her son to study in my class. Given my love for him, I was obviously excited, but it wasn't in my hands. She met up with the Principal of the school and in no time, Gourav landed in my class. As the days passed, Gourav and I became friends. He could tell it when things in the classroom seemed out of my control and always stepped up to help me. He knows I have a bad throat, and sometimes that just causes trouble. The naughty kids in my class take advantage of my weak throat. As it goes down, their level of noise goes up. I just look at Gourav then. He takes charge and makes sure that the kids stay quiet. He's like this one big support system I have.

It's crazy how some bonds work on mere eye contacts. We both can read each other's minds. As a teacher, I am supposed to be the more responsible one. But, sometimes, it's just the other way round. Gourav helps me in many more ways that I can help him. He's no 'soft words guy', but that's OK. We both manage to take care of the class, because sometimes, it's just about having the right partnership and being there for each other... Be it managing the noisy kids, taking care of the black board, distributing the books or putting up charts, he's always there. I don't even need to reach out to him.

Gourav might not be excellent in academia, but he sure knows when to help his Didi. For this and so much more, I owe him..

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