A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME\u2026\u2026. While I enjoyed a wonderful rapport with all my students during Term Time, I had a huge problem during the Parent Teacher Meeting . You see, I JUST COULDN\u2019T REMEMBER NAMES! Now, Parent Teacher Meeting happens four times a year at School and The Staff Meeting on the eve of this great event doesn\u2019t help any either!
\n Our Supervisor said cheerily: \u201c Remember, dress nicely and SMILE! Then the Staff Meeting would be airily dismissed leaving me with my colossal problem!
\nSo I don a pretty saree, put on a freshly laundered white coat, and practice my SMILE in front of the Bathroom mirror. Not at my Dressing Table, lest my dear husband walk in to ask if I\u2019m ready, only to find me grinning inanely at the mirror like a CHESHIRE CAT!
\nIn the Staff Room, I devise a plan to save myself from UTTER embarrassment! I draw columns on a sheet of Foolscap Paper! Then I take out my compact mirror and practice my SMILE again! Now, why did I suddenly think of Shakespeare\u2019s quote about SMILING AND SMILING AND YET BEING A VILLAIN???????
\nBanish the thought! I\u2019m NOT a VILLAIN! I\u2019m a nice Teacher with a poor memory for names, that\u2019s all! Really! Shakespeare said some odd things now, didn\u2019t he?
\nSoon, Parents arrive with a scared looking boy-in-tow! I SMILE, and wave them to seats at the opposite side of the Table, while the boy-in-tow, twists his fingers looking miserable! My Mother\u2019s heart kicks in!
\nPushing the Paper and pen towards him, I say sweetly: \u201c Beta, ( What\u2019s in a name I think, when this term of endearment ALWAYS works) would you please fill in those columns? Good boy. Don\u2019t forget Papa\u2019s Contact Number too okay?\u201d
\nNow the Parents begin to look tense.
\n\u201c Just routine stuff, you know,\u201d I say with an apologetic half- smile to the Parents. \u201c Supervisor wants to know how many Parents came in to see me today.\u201d
\nEveryone breathes a lot easier now.
\nI watch carefully as the boy-in-tow fills in Name\u2026Class and Section\u2026 Register No\u2026\u2026\u2026
\nThe first two are all I really need to know. Who cares about the rest? I pull out a Mark Sheet and slide it across the Table : \u201c There you are!\u201d I say to the Parents.
\nI watch the Father run his finger down the list of names to see who scored more marks than his child , while the Mother peers anxiously over his shoulder! Indian Parents!
\nThen, before they turn to the boy-in-tow to upbraid him in front of me, I beam my brightest smile and pitch in non-stop with my Teacher-Talk- about how talented this boy is at Music\u2026. how I absolutely enjoy having him in my class-\u2026what he said to me JUST THE OTHER DAY\u2026- how he needs to just do a bit more extra reading\u2026.As I talk, I scribble crazily on a piece of paper- READERS\u2019 DIGEST, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, INDIA TODAY, TWINKLE MAGAZINE\u2026.I give it to the eager Parents telling them in all seriousness that this is where we English Teachers pick our Comprehension Passages from for the Exams.
\nI SMILE, glance at my wrist watch, and rise to say good-bye!
\nAt School the next day, the boy-in-tow sidles up to me and says: \u201c Maam,thank you for saying all those nice things to my parents. They think you are a very sweet, affectionate Teacher because you address me as \u2018BETA\u2019 and not by my name.\u201d
\nI cringe inwardly and try not to blush, because I still DON\u2019T KNOW HIS NAME!
\n\u201cReally, Beta? How nice of them. I liked them too,\u201d I say.
\n\u201cAnd Maam, my Mom loved your smile and the pretty saree you wore yesterday!\u201d
\nShakespeare was SPOT ON . After all, a rose called by any other name would still smell as sweet, now wouldn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME\u2026\u2026. While I enjoyed a wonderful rapport with all my students during Term Time, I had a huge problem during the Parent Teacher Meeting . You see, I JUST COULDN\u2019T REMEMBER NAMES! Now, Parent Teacher Meeting happens four times a year at School and The Staff Meeting on the eve…<\/p>\n