100 Rays Of Son - 94

Teachers, Schools and Colleges

No matter who the teacher is, what subject he/she teaches or how they treat Rayyan, he has shown the same respect for them all throughout his student days. Unlike me, who had fights with teachers even in primary school, Rayyan has been disciplined, respectful and follower of rules even during his college days.

Even though the incident I am narrating in the beginning is the one took place in the last term of his high school board exams, I want to start with that, because it is one of the rare times when I felt a miracle took place and a prayer worked.

In his 9th grade, a new teacher came to TEMS who was the old schooler, highly experienced and retired after full life teaching children. The admin wanted to bring about a change in the students so brought him in. Rayyan liked Mr. Banavalikar Sir from day one because, even with his high experience, he was very humble and down to earth person. Even though he was not in charge of teaching, he started helping Rayyan with language. I heard so much about him that finally I went to meet him and thank him for all he is doing for Rayyan beyond his job and duty. In course of our discussion, I realized that he was not accepted and welcomed by some of the school children who did not want the new change in their school. Rayyan on the other hand, had great respect for him which made him feel extra love towards this student. He said, later on he observed that Rayyan had same respect for all the teachers in the school and not just the high school teachers, which was not common trend there. He highly praised him and blessed him heartily before I left.

Rayyan was very nervous of his exams because the first paper he had to attempt was Urdu. I was touched when I heard from Rayyan that Mr. Banavalikar Sir had come to the exam centre and encouraged him by patting his back and telling him to do his best, not to be nervous and leave rest to God. Rayyan told me, this gesture from his teacher/HM made him more confident and he could write all the exams with ease thereafter. I was surprised that the HM had gone to the exam centre and had shown this special gesture to encourage Rayyan. When I spoke to him on phone to express my gratitude, he said he felt he owed it to Rayyan. When I expressed my concern about his difficulty in clearing languages, he said very confidently, “In India we have strong belief in blessing of teachers, parents and elders. I have heartily prayed for the success of your son. If he fails in board exams, I may lose my faith in my prayers and the greatness of my profession”. I was very much touched by the love his expressed for Rayyan. True to his words, Rayyan did clear all the papers. I somehow feel that his blessings and that pat on the back had contributed greatly to the outcome.

Though at times I would have complaints about his language learning, they always praised him and wished he would do great in his life. We often had our favourite teachers and few that we did not like. Most of us have experienced this. Rayyan had a favourite teacher at the beginning of his school term. She was the teacher who stayed with the same batch for two years. After that, he never discriminated between any teacher neither he had any complaints about them.

His teachers were worried that being very honest and shy person, he may lose out to other people who are ‘go getters’ in his life. They wanted him to be a bit sly and cunning. I have heard this same advice from many of his teachers.

Rayyan does not remember his first school or his teacher. It was a small Montessori in Whitefield, where I was so impressed with the teaching of the person who ran it for small group, that I myself got trained by her. Her method of Montessori, writing, rhymes and teachings were completely different.

Later he joined St. Joseph’s Convent School, Whitefield where he went for less than a year. It was very funny when the lady interviewing him asked him for his name and he said “Tu Bal” which meant ‘you say’ in our language. I was choked with laughter when the lady actually wrote it down as his name and moved on to next question, “What is your father’s name” and he answered again, “Tu sang” which meant you tell her addressing me, and she wrote it down as well. Later I told her he was talking to me in our language and not answering her questions. It was hilarious beginning. Unfortunately, we had to shift to a place where it was easier to have access for Farheena’s treatment.

I preferred Christian schools for Rayyan and tried one there. I had amazing experiences as memories of the nuns who taught me, but the one I landed with for Rayyan’s interview was quite different. She asked him few questions about clouds, asked him to read few sentences and immediately declared to me, “I think your child is too stupid to be allowed in our school. He couldn’t even read simple words or say meanings”. In turn I asked her a few questions and meanings which she couldn’t answer, and then I asked her “Who is stupid now?” She was furious and said she will not give him admission in her school and I retorted that I don’t intend to send him to a school where the teacher is so insensitive.

Finally, the HM at New Horizon Public School was happy with his performance and even though I insisted that I need admission for him in LKG, she took him in UKG. He got bullied in early years, made good friends, some of them would come over for snacks as well and I would write their names on the sandwiches which they loved a lot. With lot of changes happening in our lives and my concentration on Farheena’s physiotherapy and my own chemotherapy had its toll on him both education wise and health wise.

As things settled down and I could see that he scored very high marks in science and math where as poor score in languages, another shift happened for him. He was sent to TEMS in Gangolli with new environment, high discipline, new languages to learn, long distance to travel and stronger and bigger classmates. I admire him for managing his school there and blending in the environment with ease. He was favoured by the admin there and in turn he respected him and followed his instructions without fail. According to the school rules, he never missed prayers as long as he was in their school.

It was the language teachers that panicked with his performance in their subject, because he was doing well in math and science but was not even getting passing marks in Kannada, Hindi and Urdu. Somehow, his scores were good in English. One of teacher assumed that he doesn’t respect the subject she is teaching and pinched his nose. It brought out a big letter from my side to the school, ending with a request that I do not appreciate capital punishment for my child. I think that is the one of the very rare or only one experience Rayyan had of capital punishment. Or maybe there have been other incidences which Rayyan may have hidden from me.

Later on he went to RNS College and found some great friends though other benefits are negligible. From there he shifted to Arena animation. His education and interest in learning peaked in the subject he loved to learn. Even there, until the day he cleared the final assignments, he did all the projects and learned a great deal from his teacher there. Even though he did not show any special talent as a school student, he changed once he took up animation and has been successful beyond my expectations. His career curve has been climbing up steadily, and I thank all his teachers who apart from teaching him, prayed for his success.