I found this photo from the 1950s among a friends archives. The photo was taken during a visit by the then Governor of Cyprus sir John Harding.(1st Baron of Petherton). Famous or infamous for opening concentration camps in Cyprus during their fight with Eoka. The gentleman in at the centre, was my English teacher in Middle School, Nicosia..his name was Orhan Veli Arı. Arı means Bee in Turkish. Whenever he entered the classroom, you thought you were inside a Bees Hive. We all began buzzing like bees. Yes; we were naughty. We loved him as a teacher. A very likeable man. One day he was absent from class for a few minutes. I was chosen in his absence to place a drawing pin on his chair. I can not remember whose suggestion it was. I placed the drawing pin on his chair, ran back to my desk and awaited the result. He re entered the classroom which was unusually silent for a change.. Lol He was not pleased at all. He sat up and jmped up from his chair not making a sound but his face had turned crimson from anger. He stood up and very gently asked who put the pin on his chair. Now No one ever expected to be asked that question. Which idiot would own up or grass on another.. There was only one idiot in the class that day. Yours truly. Yes, I put my hand up admitting to my heinous crime. I had to. I was taught to be honest..not to grass and be truthful. He told me to follow him; this is when my legs began to shake. We were going towads the Disciplinary Office. That dreaded place. I heard a lot about that room. I began to wonder if they still did the falaka punishment there. We bye-passed the room and went to he refctory. He made me sit down. He shocked me by his words. He said Deniz, you are Mr Muhsins son arent you? I said he is my uncle. (I thought omg! He will tell my uncle). Your uncle is a respectable man who loves you..because of that he asked me to keep an eye on you. i am very disappointed but pleased that you told the truth. He told me to return to the class and behave. That evening I avoided my uncle. I tried to avoid him the rest of the week......impossible..nothing was mentioned about the incident..after a week I asked my uncle if he had been to the teachers club lately. He said he goes there avery afternoon. I sighed in relief. Years later I had heard that Mr Bee had passed away. I mentioned the incident to my uncle. He had no idea what I was talking about.. RiP Orhan Veli Arı and Muhsin Kemal, honorable teachers.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 14:02:36 +0000
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