As I write this piece, I feel very heavy hearted. Mrs Rekha Srivastava, my history teacher, passed away this morning. She taught me when I was in class 8th. Long time….yet the memories are so fresh.
Mrs. Srivastava was indeed a fantastic person to know. Down to earth, loving and very caring she was. I remember once she told us that she must be very elder to our mothers and that we should be comfortable enough to share our problems with her.
History and Art Education was the two subjects that she taught us. As a teacher, she took utmost care that not only the students who were good in studies grasped things but also the weaker ones were with the class. Indian Freedom Movement was the course syllabus for us that year. And she taught us each and every lesson not with the purpose that we gained marks but because she wanted us to know about our country and the martyrs who laid down their lives with a vision of independent India. And yes, as each lesson progressed, we were into it. History had never seemed so interesting. And the day she finished with our syllabus, we all students stood up and sung the national anthem together as a mark of respect to our nation. We had developed the sense of patriotism within us and Mrs. Srivastava was the force behind all this.
Art education that year was about the basic arts. We started with pot painting, candle making, crafts made out of ice cream sticks. Girls made even more intricate crafts which I had never heard of even. And one fine day Mrs. Srivastava asked us as to which art we would like to learn next and there were suggestions like painting, clay art, etc. and I remember her reply in her exact words. She said “I know these art forms are interesting. But no one amongst you suggested cooking or knitting. As girls, you should all know this. I know cooking wouldn’t be possible in school buy yes, we can learn to knit.” We all agreed and then began the quest to learn this art. I call it a quest because maximum of us had never even thought that we would ever be learning to knit, that too in school. I tried my best to learn and whenever I went wrong, she called me up and taught me the correct way. We donated 60 scarfs along with the hard bound copies we had made earlier to Julie School kids.
More than the subject she taught us about life. How life is pleasant sometimes and very atrocious the very next moment! I remember her once narrating a tale about her driver who had burnt his only bed so that he could keep his room warm to protect his kids from the chilling weather outside.
She always wanted us to be good people along with being students. I remember once she had said that we would be growing up and along with being a daughter, someday we would be a wife, a daughter-in-law, a mother and with each of these relations coming our way life would be very challenging yet very beautiful.
And then one fine day one of my friend Sneha Jha was sobbing in class. It was Mrs. Srivastava’s class and she asked Sneha the reason behind it. Sneha kept mum. Mrs Srivastava guessed all the possibilities from her being ill to fights between friends but she declined all. And then someone from the class itself informed Mrs.Srivastava that Sneha was crying because Mrs.Srivastava would be leaving us very soon. She was shifting to Mumbai. That was the time I got to know that she was leaving. All that all she said was “girls, don’t make it difficult for me to go.” And after a few days, she left. I remember her last session with us. She had worn an orange and green saree with whit bangles. She had a talk for about half an hour and basically told us to become good humans. We all cried and even she did.
When I think of all this today, I feel puzzled because I am a person with a very bad memory. I forget birthdays, phone numbers and some times even the names of people I was once very close to and yet I remember Mrs. Srivastava and every detail associated with her so minutely as though it all happened just yesterday. Perhaps because I respected her loved her from within! And today when she is no more with us, I feel very upset. I pray to god to give strength to her family and friends to bear this sorrow.
Mam, your teaching will always help us in walks of our life. It was a great opportunity to know a person like you who in herself is nothing less than a legend.
I will miss you.
Mrs. Srivastava was indeed a fantastic person to know. Down to earth, loving and very caring she was. I remember once she told us that she must be very elder to our mothers and that we should be comfortable enough to share our problems with her.
History and Art Education was the two subjects that she taught us. As a teacher, she took utmost care that not only the students who were good in studies grasped things but also the weaker ones were with the class. Indian Freedom Movement was the course syllabus for us that year. And she taught us each and every lesson not with the purpose that we gained marks but because she wanted us to know about our country and the martyrs who laid down their lives with a vision of independent India. And yes, as each lesson progressed, we were into it. History had never seemed so interesting. And the day she finished with our syllabus, we all students stood up and sung the national anthem together as a mark of respect to our nation. We had developed the sense of patriotism within us and Mrs. Srivastava was the force behind all this.
Art education that year was about the basic arts. We started with pot painting, candle making, crafts made out of ice cream sticks. Girls made even more intricate crafts which I had never heard of even. And one fine day Mrs. Srivastava asked us as to which art we would like to learn next and there were suggestions like painting, clay art, etc. and I remember her reply in her exact words. She said “I know these art forms are interesting. But no one amongst you suggested cooking or knitting. As girls, you should all know this. I know cooking wouldn’t be possible in school buy yes, we can learn to knit.” We all agreed and then began the quest to learn this art. I call it a quest because maximum of us had never even thought that we would ever be learning to knit, that too in school. I tried my best to learn and whenever I went wrong, she called me up and taught me the correct way. We donated 60 scarfs along with the hard bound copies we had made earlier to Julie School kids.
More than the subject she taught us about life. How life is pleasant sometimes and very atrocious the very next moment! I remember her once narrating a tale about her driver who had burnt his only bed so that he could keep his room warm to protect his kids from the chilling weather outside.
She always wanted us to be good people along with being students. I remember once she had said that we would be growing up and along with being a daughter, someday we would be a wife, a daughter-in-law, a mother and with each of these relations coming our way life would be very challenging yet very beautiful.
And then one fine day one of my friend Sneha Jha was sobbing in class. It was Mrs. Srivastava’s class and she asked Sneha the reason behind it. Sneha kept mum. Mrs Srivastava guessed all the possibilities from her being ill to fights between friends but she declined all. And then someone from the class itself informed Mrs.Srivastava that Sneha was crying because Mrs.Srivastava would be leaving us very soon. She was shifting to Mumbai. That was the time I got to know that she was leaving. All that all she said was “girls, don’t make it difficult for me to go.” And after a few days, she left. I remember her last session with us. She had worn an orange and green saree with whit bangles. She had a talk for about half an hour and basically told us to become good humans. We all cried and even she did.
When I think of all this today, I feel puzzled because I am a person with a very bad memory. I forget birthdays, phone numbers and some times even the names of people I was once very close to and yet I remember Mrs. Srivastava and every detail associated with her so minutely as though it all happened just yesterday. Perhaps because I respected her loved her from within! And today when she is no more with us, I feel very upset. I pray to god to give strength to her family and friends to bear this sorrow.
Mam, your teaching will always help us in walks of our life. It was a great opportunity to know a person like you who in herself is nothing less than a legend.
I will miss you.
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