My lecture was on. Some sixty to seventy students. Not a bad number at all, especially in the second semester. I was teaching a poem. Somebody banged on the door hard. Furious, she was fuming. Some parent. Her very style, disturbing thus an on-going lecture, told a lot about her, even if she must have been so egged on by someone.
I told her to wait it out for five minutes more, as the lecture would get over then. Most reluctantly she agreed. After the lecture, I found out that she felt her son should get more marks. I chose to show her his answer sheet.
Then she burst out, "Oh, with such a paper, I would have given him minus marks." Next I showed her the attendance sheets. His was nil. Then she whimpered once. Almost in tears, she said, "He leaves home for college. Where all I can keep an eye?" Next she blamed the poor husband whose plight one could undestand, given her behaviour.
Somehow I consoled her, asking her to send her son to meet me. He came, and actually said that he was so glad that his mom told him that his English teacher told her not to scold him. I asked him to appear for the re-exam, guided him about how to prepare for the exam. So the chapter, designed to surefire trap me, ended quite satisfactorily for me.
Ever since I have repeatedly thought about who is possibly responsible for students' failure? Mothers who tell sons it is okay, nay, fun, to mock, ridicule, insult elders just because they are not hi-fi fashionable? Mothers who tell sons that Standard XI is for fun and enjoyment? If the base is weak, how would the studies progress at all, right?
Mothers who egg on sons to be 'modern' and indulge in drinking, doing drugs, speeding, being 'friendly' with girls? Mothers who quite openly support their sons' baiting? Mothers who do not stop sons from forming bad friendship, instead, stupidly encourage it under the garb of 'openness'?
Who would harness such negative energy? Such kind of 'modern', 'liberated' women are so drunk on 'they alone, topmost, besides them, their parental household, being RIGHT' that the husband and his family have no other alternative but to keep quiet because anyways, the conveniently over-indulgent woman would not listen, instead would stage a full scale drama?
Whose fault it is indeed when futures are thus darkened? Like not upskilling oneself these days, even when the whole world is chattering about job loss otherwise! Felt it necessary to pen it all because yesterday had the misfortune of meeting a student who had a terrible accident due to over-speeding, obviously under the influence of we all know what!
Pratima@ Remembered yet again the story of the thief who in an open court bit his mother's ear as she had indulgently laughed at his erstwhile 'simple, simple' misadventures!!!
Quote of the day: "What a mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin, " says Henry Ward Beecher.
Word of the day: Discipline Discipline is the practice of training oneself or others to obey rules, maintain order, and follow a structured approach to achieve goals, thus enabling consistency, self-control, and the overcoming of procrastination. Actually, it is a form of self-love, and is essential for personal, professional, and academic success.
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