Last weekend was very eventful. I reached the Home around 4.15 in the evening as usual. Most of my students were sleeping as the Unit tests were over and so the pressure was off their minds. It was all very silent except some girls who were either playing with the pet cat or just drooling in an arm chair. Taking a seat, I called one of the girls to wake up the others. Slowly and gradually they all came to me and began chatting up. I told them to get their school bags, so we could begin.

As they were assembling to sit for studies, Madam Mrs. Bardey came in and began talking to me.

Mr. Marathe what is this? You are teaching them Craft only! What about teaching them Marathi…?

My mouth was agape upon hearing this! And all I could manage to say was…

What?

Ya… apparently you are teaching the Hume high school students only… You are not teaching children from the English medium…she went on and on…they have told me so… I was aghast!

But Madam, there are quite many from other the school who have ignored my plea to come and learn, what I needed to teach…I said feebly. I was disheartened with her accusation actually speaking. That’s how it is with me. If anybody throws a false accusation at me, I feel terribly dejected. And keep silent but let the other person speak.

Somewhere inside me I knew that if I keep quite now, an incorrect meaning would be derived, so I began to speak. I told her in exact words the names of the girls who were absent from my class for almost 3 weeks. I asked her to call them one by one so she could ask them there and then!

The girls came and stood silently. Madam asked them if what I was saying was true but they just stood silently, stuck to the ground. As mentioned earlier, I was feeling dejected any way, so I too kept quiet.

I took their studies for an hour or so but my mind was not up to it. So I wrapped up the evening rather early and went back home.

I don’t know if I will continue going to the Home here after. May be I will find another Home where children are more keen to learn. May be I will continue here because there are many other children who wish to learn and will suffer if I stop teaching them, at this point in time.

Tags: home, students