I am in the fag end of my education marathon with just a couple of months left….and today I am reminded of all my seven alma amateurs who have seen me grow right from prep to my MBA. There are some people whom I am reminded of today who made a lot of difference in my life……..and the first name that comes to my mind( today as always) is that of Ms. D’Cruz.
She was my class teacher when I was in Loreto Convent in Asansol. And I was in class V ‘A’. We at Loreto had the luxury of having individual libraries in each class room. In order to encourage us to read more Ms. D’Cruz made it compulsory for us to take books from the cupboard and read it at leisure the only catch being we had to be ready to recite the story once we returned the book.
All fine. Arpita brings back a “Famous Five” book, she is asked to narrate the story. And Arpita enthralls the class with a story of five children in a boat (that was on the hard bound cover) and how they get washed on a lonely island and the magic tree, and a talking spider there and the fairies and treasure and what fun it was to be on that island……
We all are completely hooked. Complete silence. I gave up reading Amelia Jane and Grimm’s Fairy tale to lay my hand on “Famous Five”. Back home I started reading the book….no fairies….halfway…no signs still. But the story was none the less gripping…..it was an adventure….and I loved the ending. What baffled me then was, ‘How could Arpita tell us all a fake story….’
And today when I look back I admire the genius of that lady with swarthy complexion who wore a dress and had tight curly hair , who not only restrained from correcting Arpita , but encouraged her talent for story telling and saved her face while the rest of the class got hooked to a different genre of book by chance…..(me atleast) !!
And then it was she who told me when I was leaving Loreto exactly one year later that she would like me to carry the reputation of Loreto where ever I went. That means a lot to a sixth grader….such trust and confidence. I always remained her little girl…a Loreto girl.
My Papa says it best; she always gave him just one instruction, ‘Give her books, give her more books….’
That has become a habit today and shall always be my companion….my books. Ms. D’ Cruz I was blessed to have been in your class.
She was my class teacher when I was in Loreto Convent in Asansol. And I was in class V ‘A’. We at Loreto had the luxury of having individual libraries in each class room. In order to encourage us to read more Ms. D’Cruz made it compulsory for us to take books from the cupboard and read it at leisure the only catch being we had to be ready to recite the story once we returned the book.
All fine. Arpita brings back a “Famous Five” book, she is asked to narrate the story. And Arpita enthralls the class with a story of five children in a boat (that was on the hard bound cover) and how they get washed on a lonely island and the magic tree, and a talking spider there and the fairies and treasure and what fun it was to be on that island……
We all are completely hooked. Complete silence. I gave up reading Amelia Jane and Grimm’s Fairy tale to lay my hand on “Famous Five”. Back home I started reading the book….no fairies….halfway…no signs still. But the story was none the less gripping…..it was an adventure….and I loved the ending. What baffled me then was, ‘How could Arpita tell us all a fake story….’
And today when I look back I admire the genius of that lady with swarthy complexion who wore a dress and had tight curly hair , who not only restrained from correcting Arpita , but encouraged her talent for story telling and saved her face while the rest of the class got hooked to a different genre of book by chance…..(me atleast) !!
And then it was she who told me when I was leaving Loreto exactly one year later that she would like me to carry the reputation of Loreto where ever I went. That means a lot to a sixth grader….such trust and confidence. I always remained her little girl…a Loreto girl.
My Papa says it best; she always gave him just one instruction, ‘Give her books, give her more books….’
That has become a habit today and shall always be my companion….my books. Ms. D’ Cruz I was blessed to have been in your class.
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This was a really neat post. I loved reading it. This post reminds me of my Math Maam when I was in Xth grade. I was really bad in Math before I met her. She really changed the way I approached Math and look at me now, I already have an Engg. degree under my belt and Math is one of my favourite subjects.
Your story is really beautiful. Teachers can be such a big influence in our lives, right after our parents. I liked the way how your teacher didn't stop Aprita from telling the wrong (or not) story, whereas most teachers would have humilated her by proving that she is wrong...
Hey little angel(*)
Ur post was simply fabulous...i started musing over some of my school days...such a relatedness...though nothng related with books, but ofcourse with one such teacher who means a lot.
u indeed had a Good teacher. Keep adding such posts, who knows you may just make one blogger out of me...an inspiration!!!!!
sorry wasn't around the blogs for the past few days..
hmm, back to read all ur old posts..
Enid Blyton was my fav author during my childhood days.. how well i remember those school days when i used to read those Secret seven books, then Famous five.. and I've read most of the books written by tht author..
there used to be a time.. i bring a big book of Secret Seven having 5 stories in one from the library, read it at home all the time and get scoldings from my mother for not studying...
I guess i got carried away by tht pic of Enid blyton's book..
and got deviated from what u've written.. sorry :) couldn't help..
Hope Ms. D'Cruz reads this and feel happy abt her and u too :)
BTB, ur list of serials from DD is soo gud... have commented thr.. check out...
Read your comment on my rediff one. About having 2 blogs with the same ID, well, the rediff blog was earlier very diff. Was about something specific, while the blogger ID was for general thoughts. Something caused me to shut down the rediff blog.
Later I decided to make it a mirror when my proxy here was causing an issue with blogger. Later, I just decided to make every post on both blogs. That is why the template is different but the posts and all are the same. You can also use RSS feeds etc for the same I believe, but I have no idea how...
beautiful, i must say...books are indeed our great friends..except for class books :D
Thankyou! When the matter is close to ones heart and the feelings genuine words flow uninterrupted...
I had the 'bestest' teacher for maths...mamma's favourite subject and didi's and mine too.. :-)
Infact Ms.D'Cruz did influence my decision to go for a degree in literature during graduation too...well you see I was spending so much time reading books that I figured out that the only way out was to take it up for my Honours degree. :P
And you were very lucky to have found the right mentor at the right time. Wish you all the luck for matters of heart too! :)) Wink wink!!
This is the first time you have commented on by blog....thankyou!!
Bas ab red alert hone wala hai....if you too get hooked to blogging phir mujhe classes ke liye kaun jayega...and i will miss out on my breakfast too..... :P
Teachers always influence our lives...and I think all of us have met such wonderful people during our formative years.Sad teaching is losing out in India as a career .....
hmm.......
Hey Enid Blyton was my favourite author too....for a very long time.And you were very nice to have read books in open...I was so addicted that I would hide books within course books and read it to my heart's content..he he!
And that goes for books like Godfather too..imagine such thick books inside 'Irodov'....Dunno how I made it!
I never could meet Ms. D'Cruz once we shifter from Asansol....I would always remember her ..... wish I could meet her....Will try my best!
Well, thankyou for telling me the reason. Keep posting. :)
Hey soooooooo true..why do things forbidden interest us the most.
I would find all the extra-reading more fun than the course books....and as i said I wouldn't even mind smuggling and reading books.
I think my mom knew but she overlooked!