Thursday, October 13, 2011


The last friday we did away with the grand finale of the Chumey Stars. Mr Chhimi was at his best coordinating the flow of the programme. Despite bagging lucrative prizes,the priceless experiences that those participants had harnessed from that programme would remain more permanent than the notoriety of Binladen's destructions. The following day,the winners distributed cheap toffe to the whole stu...dents as a token of their achievements. I tried to sing the the same songs that were sung so melodiously by those participants, in my bathroom(!) and it became more clear to myself that work and laziness had weaned my vocal chords. The best of my singing comes when i play around with my daughter with a Telegu track that i learnt during my study in South India. She would gaze at me with astonishment while i would try braying at my highest available pitch!
One of the periods in the last week, i had tried to see how meditation would work with class six students. We began with the Bowl meditation since it is quite easy. Despite i just wanted to know how my students would wish for anything. Most of them wished good health and happiness. One of the boys wished his desk partner, who had been nursing untimely chicken pox and was absent that day too, to recover soon. It touched the inner me that is usually deeply burried within my own callousness. Threatening my own thermodynamic stability, i patted that child and said his wish was the best i have heard from the whole class. They shouted that they admired my wish too. I had wished that all the class six students to be very very good in mathematics. If only they could be!!
Few periods later, i tried the same tactic in class five too.(I teach them Science). Before starting the meditation i told them that after the meditation, we would have question-answer session on the last lesson. We observed 2 minutes of breath meditation that would require them to be strictly relaxed and control their breaths. Nothing special in that except that most of them looked like tiny monks meditating for answers when they were bugged down by their inability to understand some absurd religious texts!
We began the question-answer session. I usually ask my students easy question so that i dont get disheartened with my own teaching. Where does mosquito lay its eggs?, i asked them . Many raised their hands as long as they cud. I offered the chance to Tashi. Bright child he is but more disrupting than his intellectual humility. He gave us the correct answer. I asked another question.He raises his ahnds again. I gave him the opportunity. He answers it. "Medition is doing its work, right?", i demanded to know and let it be known to the other fellows. "Yes sir", he told us quite boldly. Next question. I increase my pitch and slowly ask,"Whaaaaat is...". Tashi raises his hands again. "I will try sir!". Oh man, this boy is ruining my patience now! Being a firm believer in bees and division of equal opportunity, i thought I should teach a lesson that his intense meditation had evaded him. So i make Tashi answer it. "Whaaat is Schrodinger's Cat?", i increased my vioce beyond permissible decibel. Deep inside i smiled at my own speed to change the easy question. He looked puzzled. Other students giggled as a token of sarcasm. He put his index finger to his head in a symbolic Mr.Bean way and told us
this: Foreign Cat! We laughed out loud. "Forrren cat ya?". I pull his ears higher than his hands that time!! "wrong answer", i announced to the class. I knew even the brightest Organic Chemist would fail to this query. "Now give the chance to others okay, will you?", i mocked at him. I looked at other fellow-mates for the answer, they looked at me more pleadingly than ever.....

Sorry friends..i cudnt quite get my time for a good article. Thank you and a good day ahead.

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