My journey of a thousand smiles

I recently heard from Keerthana, once my student and now a doctor. While enjoying the sights and sounds of Stratford-upon-Avon, she was reminded of our Shakespeare sessions. “I thought of you so much today,” she texted from the birthplace of the Bard. That heartwarming message reinforced my pride and joy in being a teacher.

I embarked on my career at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, where I was told that I would have to teach a group of schoolchildren. The Diploma in English Studies, which I was pursuing after my MA, involved that practice-teaching assignment. Since I had never faced a class before, I was extremely nervous.

What made the impending ordeal an even more alarming prospect was the fact that my peers and professors (including sarod maestro and literary luminary Dr Rajeev Taranath) would be in attendance. I had been instructed to select a poem and elicit a lively response to my interpretation of it.

I cannot remember why I chose Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, but I do recall expending enormous effort on painstaking preparation. Despite being adequately armed with information, I entered the hall (where a large audience was assembled) feeling sick with apprehension.

Terror turned to triumph! I experienced a thrill of excitement as I discoursed on rhyme and rhythm, alliteration and assonance, and the significance of the beautiful closing lines, which our first prime minister had found meaningful. Mindful of my mandate to engage in conversation, I curbed my eagerness to explain and urged my enthusiastic listeners to voice their views. To my great delight, they asked and answered questions with remarkable readiness.

It seemed to me that we were just getting started when my allotted forty-five minutes were over. My mentors, who had supported me throughout with nods of encouragement, filed out, followed by my classmates. The youngsters rushed up and surrounded me. Although I was still studying myself, I viewed them as my students. I was touched to see that they were as sorry as I was that our interesting interaction was at an end.

Nearly half a century has passed since that memorable morning, when I took the proverbial ‘single step’ to begin my long journey of a thousand smiles. At this stage in my life, I do not have “miles to go before I sleep”. I still, however, have “promises to keep!”