I Love you classes

Few years ago, I was sitting in class 10B. It was a same afternoon like today;warm breeze lulling everybody into a dreamy state. A girl was reading a portion of a story from their textbook. Her soft voice aided the sleepiness that was already stretched out in the class like a big bully. So I gestured with my heavy hands for her to sit down without completing that paragraph she was reading.

With relief written well over her face, She dropped into her seat with a soft thud that startled the boy sitting behind her. He had been dozing off. Too lazy even to shift my gaze, I gestured for that boy to continue reading from where the girl had left. Heavily sedated with sleep, he had never followed the girl's reading so he moved his head frantically like an over-worked pendulum, as if the text would tell him where to start reading from.

Irritation clearly overshadowing my patience, I lazily barked,"I love you." His entire sleepiness went flying with swiftest wings. The boy gave me a shy look. I jerked with realization. Gathering all my teacherly composure,without acknowledging a hint of discomfort I had caused by my unclear direction, I added, "page 97."

His body relaxed as he saw the lines "I love you" in his textbook. So, I wasn't saying that to him, it was the conversation between the two characters in the story I had referred to. That same realization had dawned on all of the sleepy students, who now giggled in full waking.

"What were you all thinking? That I said that to Kezang?" and I let out a huge laugh to hide my own guilt at having put all of them into wide eyed awe.

As Kezang started reading,"I love you..." The mood of the class was like a fresh morning scene, everybody wide awake with soft giggles dancing on their lips.Their sleepiness totally surrendered to the dogs taking naps outside their classroom.

Today, as I sat in class VB, almost dozing off, I remembered this particular incident. Suddenly, breaking the lazy silence, a boy shouted "I love you" and huge laughter followed. I got up with swift alertness, was my memory of that incident so powerful that I could actually make it so loud for this whole class to hear and laugh? But a little boy stood up and explained,"madam this sonam penjor is saying I love you so loudly!" and laughed for another time.

As I began probing why Sonam said that, the whole class buzzed with their explanation while Sonam, the culprit, sat with a guilty look shining through his notorious face.

Another time, another place, in a totally different class, yet another 'I love you' brought alive the whole sleepy class.

Sad song in my Heart

I walk, my eyes sipping
The scenic beauty
Like no other care,
But there is a sad song
A very sad song in my heart.

I laugh, stretch out
The brightest smile
Like I've fondest reasons,
But there is a sad song
A very sad song in my heart.

I talk, tell merry tales
And the people around me
They laugh and make merry,
But there is a sad song
A very sad song in my heart.

Bell? what's that?

A mother might have hundred children yet the experience of leaving home after maternity leave would be equally painfully even on the hundredth time. The point is I joined my workplace after being with my lil kiddo for the last three months. My heart,heavily weighted with the tension of how my son would be at home suddenly jerked hearing 'sorry wai, sorry wai' being played on full volume.

There is a joke that for a teacher, whose life starts with the bell since the PP days would get up from the grave if a bell is rung. But listening to that 'sorry wai' song played instead of the usual 'ting, ting' sound of the bell changed the course of my heart.

I asked my colleague sitting beside me about the song being played and he informed me that there is no bell rung in this school, instead different songs are played each time. Isn't that a refreshing change in our lives!

I walked to my class, my heart swaying to the song, earlier mentioned stress a speck of dust mote flying in the rhythmic tune of the song. Walking back to the staff room, I found myself taking step with the song 'sha ra ra'. It truly proved an incredible first day back to school. Back at home, instead of being tired and dead with tension, I found myself humming the songs earlier played in school and in my 'light-heartedness' landed up cooking dinner as well.

So, now I know, each day, more than the stress of leaving my son behind, I'll look forward to my mood being uplifted,listening to songs while starting the day (otherwise, who has the time to play songs while trying to play the supermom alongside being a good employee at workplace?) and coming back home spreading the peaceful calm restored by the songs played instead of the monotonous clanking of the bell.

"sorry wai, sorry wai' here I go, singing it for the hundredth time today!