Author: Amita Raj
Some teachers are bestowed with the special gift of bringing out the best in students, leaving lifelong cherished memories. For me, it was this one teacher I had in class seven of my convent school. She had a sparkle in her eyes, an expressive fire in her voice and kindness and care in her teaching. Above all, she kindled something I’ve treasured the most, my creative spark!
When I entered her class seven, I was still shuddering from the painful effects of my previous teacher of class six, who had spared no student from her brutal ruler or harsh insulting tongue. This style of instruction had crushed my childlike spirit badly.
I felt as if I was stumbling through a coal-black empty wilderness with no solace or hope. That’s when things changed. This present teacher brought English poetry and classics to life as she engaged us in poetry recitation, dramatising renowned works beautifully.
I especially enjoyed her writing assignments, where we got to invent our own stories and poems. I suddenly felt my natural creative fires emerging freely from her teaching methods and encouragement. In her class I wrote some of my earliest short stories.
Additionally with also her Kathakali background, she engaged us in other expressive creative forms like dancing. I enjoyed being a part of her choregraphed costumed dance on stage, displaying the sun in its many shades. That year with her was the most memorable of my school days.
After this, our paths went in different directions. I lost track of her. It was many years later that I realised that I still stored her memories in my heart like a gilded portrait. Thanks to my research on social media I found her. Her response was one of surprise and delight, as sparkling and warm as ever!
Yet, I ask myself now after all this time lapse whether she actually even remembers me among her hundreds of students over the years on whom she left an impact. No matter what, I continue to cherish her for the golden memory of her profound effect on my creativity and morale. I wish her abundant blessings for the beautiful human being she is!
About the Author:
Amita Raj has always loved creating imaginatively rich stories through the melody and colours of language. Her writing talent was sparked off in her childhood at age eight in a classroom assignment where she wrote the autobiography of a pen. Since then, she has been enchanted with writing, also reading and enjoying the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. She has been a contributing writer to Deccan Herald, India Currents, Twist & Twain magazine, and of late regularly to Story Scrapers, ArtoonsInn Poetry Parlour and Soul Craft. She looks forward to her ongoing lyrical journey, writing and sharing with the world many more of her short stories, poems and novellas.
