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| Sunday, 29 August 2004 |
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The noble one by Ajith Perera I have been longing for an ideal chance to converse with you. Most of the others are tired and sleeping. Some of the young men including your friends and students are still playing cards and carrom. Yet nobody comes to see what we are doing here. So we are free. Don't ask me why I am not weeping. I will have enough time to cry when this affair is over. After answering the phone this morning you told me a fool threatened you not to come to school. I told you not to go being a 'Calpurna' to your 'Caesar' proudly declaring to be afraid is to serve the adversary. You never took anything seriously and looked at matters so lightly my 'Caesar.' Thirty minutes after you left home this morning a phone call jolted me. You were lying on the road at the public water tank. I rushed to the spot just as I was. But did you ever think that I expected this to happen? My mind was racing "I knew it would happen. I knew it would." No good Samaritan had come that way until I appeared on the scene. I saw some schoolchildren shouting for help but the other onlookers who were collecting data for their daily gossip would have been frightened to come forward. I saw how selfish they were! Didn't they know you were their children's teacher? How could they forget all that you generally do for the good of their own children? Control Honestly I couldn't control myself when I saw you lying on the road like a beggar. My lamentation would have awakened the dumb hearts of those viewers. They supported me to carry you to the vehicle. On the other hand we can't put the blame on them. That's the world today. Many people like to wash their hands off everything. Do you know, your principal and some of the staff members requested that you should be taken to school tomorrow? I turned down their request and said tomorrow will be your holiday. Besides you had gone to school daily and you needed a rest. So I said you were on leave. Is that alright? Don't frown. I know you don't like my suggestion. By the way your principal thought that you had told me everything that had occurred at school and he started consoling and pacifying me. Don't you know Mrs. Perera, Mr. Perera was a very talented teacher who could, do wonders with his students. He had innovative ideas and put them into practice for the well-being of the school and the students. Such teachers are very rare. Cut-throatism and professional jealousy... don't you know they are the enemies of efficient hard workers in our field. Disgusting. He always swam against the tide. If he took a step he never digressed for any reason. He was a man of principles. Conspiracy Then only did I know that there had been a conspiracy at school. Why did you hide all these from me? Did you think that I would have prevented you from going to school? Or knowing the real situation at school, I would have worried? If you had told me before, it wouldn't have been so unbearable. You thought I wouldn't understand this. If you had a hard time at school why didn't you workout a transfer? You always thought that your students would get stranded and only considered their future. Why didn't you think of the future of your own children? If you had got a transfer another teacher would have taken your place. Your students will get another teacher sooner or later. Will our children get a father? If you went on a transfer a substitute would have been sent by the department and we would not have suffered so much. How far-sighted you always were! Why didn't you see this danger beforehand? Is this fate? Are we destined to suffer so much? You had a vision and a mission. You gave your whole life to your profession saying if you do your duty towards your students then only, God will bless our own children. I don't want to know who was behind this conspiracy but I should know why they did this to you? What did they gain from this? Whatever they do, will befall on their children. The police came and questioned me. They wanted me to make a statement. I said what I knew and directed them to the principal for further information. They asked me whether I suspected anyone. Whom do you suspect? If you don't know, how do I know the root cause of this? Once Asanga urged you to join the international school where he teaches. He said a person like you would have a better place and position there than here. Unlike in the government sector efficiency and skills are rewarded in the private sector. The more you work the better your prospects. You at once rejected his request and said you must serve the poor. What did you gain at last? Nothing. You lost everything. Teaching Quite often you told our daughters that teaching was a noble profession and encouraged them to be teachers in the future. You never told the girls that the people who are involved in the profession. May be far from noble in spite of the nobility of the profession. Isn't that the harsh truth? I'll do my best to fulfil your desires but not this. I will never encourage them to be teachers nor be government servants.Foot steps... I hear someone coming in this direction. I'll talk to you later. This evening before you were taken a large crowd gathered, students, parents, neighbours and most of your past pupils. I wept bitterly when I saw your college prefects in their blazers. I remember how you toiled with the children to be what they are. That was the only time I wept openly. If a woman doesn't cry aloud people make allegations. Whether the woman is sad or not she should cry to please others. She is judged by the way she cries and some count the number of times the woman faints. Those gestures tell the viewers how much the woman loves the man. I was very scared of those norms and false beliefs but you taught me to be prudent. You always said that people always criticise the weak. If we are strong nobody dares say anything against us. Your Head Prefect made a very brave speech and it encouraged me. I felt proud of you. She commented on your service at school and at last she said that you had planted noble seeds in their hearts. They will take care of them forever. No power on earth can destroy the seeds. She emphasised that a bullet can destroy a person but not his vision and the good work done for the well-being of his students. Learnt I learnt a lot from her speech. Did you try to change the whole set up? When there was a set pattern from its inception why did you try to change it? Didn't you know how to accept with serenity the things you cannot change and why didn't you? Can you remember what the priest told you after seeing one of your projects in the newspaper. 'If you are good you will be assigned all the work. If you are really good you will be forced to get out.' Why didn't those who assign all the work pertaining to administration safeguard when you were in trouble? Aren't they opportunists? Rights One teacher mentioned in her turn that you always fought for the rights of your students. You took steps to win their rights. So naturally you became popular among the students. Even if you punish them severely they knew you cared for them. She said you were a little rough in your manner but a kind person at heart. Did you hire a barber to cut the hair of the bigger boys who were crazy about their hair styles at school? That teacher praised you to the skies. She said you had taken bold steps to maintain discipline. Others might have thought that you would be harassed by the students or the parents as it has been the trend in present day society. But that didn't happen. You became popular instead. They might have thought you were ambitious like Caesar and your fame would have no bounds. At last you became a controversial figure. Some called you a revolutionist. You said you did every possible thing for the good of others. If so why did they criticise you? Didn't they see any good in your work? Were they prejudiced or were you too outstanding? If you were also sticking to the time table and just existing blindly in the school you would have been a good friend of the staff. Unlike those days the system, the structure and the people have changed and are different. You desired to form your students exactly the way you were moulded by your Alma Mater. So that would have been a real challenge. I know you like challenges. At present especially in the area where you taught, people underestimate education. Their main aim is to go in search of greener pastures to Italy for instance. Money and wealth are their main desire. Even tonight there is a crowd but after a day or two there won't be anyone. You always thought that duty comes first and worked for the good of others. What good have they done to you? So does this world belong to self important persons or to people like you? Should I bring up our children to work for the good of others or to be self important? Crime I know that the sun belongs to the sky but sunlight is for the earth. The moon belongs to the sky, but moon light is for the earth. But if the sun or the moon is destroyed by the wicked of the earth what do they gain? What will happen to all of us? Why don't they understand the crime they have committed? We are encouraged to bear witness to the truth even in religion. It is good and we should also be free to talk. If this is the result of bearing witness to the truth where is this so-called freedom of speech. Why did you point out peoples mistakes while most of the others criticised them only in their absence? Ultimately what happened was, you were in the bad books and those who carried tales, fabricated stories and criticised them were in the good books. Couldn't you learn at least that much through experience. Blame No one can blame the skilful dynamic people leaving the country for good or temporarily in search of good jobs abroad. How many chances did you get but you were entrapped by patriotism. What did you gain in the end? People who don't practise what they preach, people who keep quiet when injustice takes place, people who do not see even if they have eyes, people who do not hear even if they have ears, people who do not talk even if they have tongues and people who carry tales and practise cut-throatism and harbour ill feelings can shine forever in our country. I really don't know whether they gain anything at last? If there were more like you, there would be fewer like them. |
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