The Hectic Day-3

An ear-piercing "Good aaafternooon....,maaa'mm" was the chanting with which those students invited me. It was totally unexpected as I had been habituated only to a silent standing up and a half-hearted muffled good morning/afternoon/evening from my students. It was pleasant and annoying at the same time— pleasant to see their hearty smile, annoyed due to their exploding scream. 

The children are so weird. They are the bittersweet mixture of chaos and charisma. 

I entered the classroom with an approachable smile gesturing them to be seated. There were some muffled voices, as they sat down talking among themselves. 

I stood still for half a minute in front of them all, scrutinizing their vibrant faces habituated to pure fun and mischiefs. The boy who waved at me was still sulking. The remaining children were so curious as if they were on an adventure.

That is all a teacher needs— a welcoming, conducive environment to share whatever he/she feels like sharing with students.

I went to the blackboard to write the title of the lesson then stopped. I didn't tell them anything to see how they would respond. They were not mere audience. They questioned. They questioned and questioned until they got answers.

"First a quick recap of the previous poem then the new lesson." I told them with an air of finality, expecting that they would protest and wouldn't be able to answer. 

To my surprise, every single child in the classroom started raising its hand. I couldn't choose any one as everyone was equally and genuinely wanted to recap the poem.

As I stood puzzled for a minute, they turned more impish and literally started jumping from where they were seated. It was totally out of blue for me as I had just then come to believe them to be sincere and easy-to-handle children.

What else to be done? as a typical teacher, I hit on the first desk, mustering all my energy. A booming thud hushed the entire class. But it was a bit more forceful than I intended it to be. The boy in the first bench, without even a speck of fear, said....

(To be continued...)