23 Aug 2014 - WhatsApp message Abhijit? Yes bro, whats up? Bhai, you remember Mohit? The boy you used to tutor long back? Yes I do. It was six years ago. What happened? He died of cancer six months ago. I just got to know today. Shit... I was going through his Facebook profile. His pictures look pretty good. They said it was diagnosed at a very late stage. They could not treat him in time. I was too stunned to know what to reply. I just put my phone away in shock. ~ Six Years Ago - Mid 2008 ~ Mohit, is this how you spell the word Accommodation? It is supposed to be A-c- c-o-m-m-o-d-a-t-i-o-n, not Acomodation, I scolded him. His face betrayed his obvious embarrassment. I had a fair idea what he was going through, but being his teacher I had to maintain a certain degree of pressure. You are in Class 10 but your English is not good at all. I am worried about your exams. Tell me, what do you do all day, I asked him, a bit more gently this time. Abhijit bhaiya, I have so much to study. I keep doing Maths and other subjects. I am not able to study English at all, he lamented. Which means you will end up getting better marks in Maths, but I am here to teach you English. You need to focus on that now. Tell me, will you be able to read a small newspaper article everyday? This will be in addition to the regular homework that I give you. But this extra work will expose you to more words than you will find in your textbooks, I explained. But bhaiya, then I wont get any time to play at all, he replied. That blew my lid off. Here was a kid on the verge of failing his English exams, and he was more interested in playing. Listen Mohit, you do not need to play until you can get your basic English right. Am I clear? I dont want you to fail. Is that understood? I said loudly. His face seemed confused and sad. Dont look so sad. Good English will help you in life. You will be able to grab opportunities that life will throw at you. English is often the difference between a great job and an ordinary job. Look at me, I only know English and I still have a decent job. Dont you want to have a good life, I asked him. ~ 23 Aug 2014 ~ My eyes welled up. Mohit was dead. No subject that he had ever studied was going to be of any use to him any more. I just hope he got to play enough in his lifetime. Thats what he was most worried about, six years ago. ~ Abhijit | True Story
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 08:27:53 +0000
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