"He might want to see you." said Dad.
"Why?" I demanded.
"To see if you are good enough." replied dad.
"Why?" I demanded yet again.
"Excuse me?"
"Why?" i asked.
"Rick! Will you pull out those earphones?!"
"Oh gee..."
And i was on my way to Subhojit Sir's tuition. I told Dad to chose the physics teacher with great care, one hears some worrying stories about people hopping from place to place, from teacher to teacher and still not satisfied. So one needs to be careful.
When narrating a story i must stick to the main story. Digression, though wonderful in the eyes of the author, tends to be boring for the not so enthusiastic reader. So i cleverly leave out the stories of the "grocery man's deception", the "xerox man's spot" and of course, the one that i can never forget-"missing Rick".
After a most eventful journey we reached the building where this celebrity of a teacher preached physics. All the grocery shops that i had seen along the way knew him. I, being the most incurious and innocent type, attributed all this to his fledgling fame.
We reached at a quarter to seven. From a quarter to seven to a quarter to eight, on being contacted five times, sir announced that he would be there in fifteen minutes every time. I made a mental note to synchronise my watch with this guy, he sounded my type.
After making the mistake of wishing a good evening to a guardian and earning smiles of appreciation from everybody, i had just begun to make myself home, when sir entered at 8 and i hastily put away my mobile and earphones and assumed an expression appropriate for the occasion.
My first impression of the guy was that he is somehow related to P.C.Sorcar. The similarities are striking. My second impression was also that he was related to P.C.Sorcar. He talks too much and doesn't like to be interrupted. However the similarities stopped right there. Thankfully. Physics and magic, served on the same plate taste atrocious. At least in theory they do.
"I have a philosophy- All that really matters is a student's sincerity." he began. To this i could think of a hundred sarcastic replies which have become so common that i decided to let the statement pass unopposed.
"All these students are running after FIIT-JEE, Brilliant, Resonance, but they don't stop to think. Who actually gains? They teach for profit, while I teach..." All too predictable. I silently watched him, my face reflecting shinning respect. The guy had red hair. Red stands for danger. Then i noticed it was orange.
"It is my belief that parents shouldn't ask their wards to go for any particular target. Every student, by the time he is halfway through class 11, begins to have an idea. He begins to know his limits, his strength, his potential and he can make his own targets."
I smiled cheerfully at dad and mouthed "See See,I told ya!" But my happiness, as always, was short lived.
"Students need to study at least 6-7 hours apart from school. In class 11-12 there's no time for recreation." he declared vindictively. Funnily enough, he was looking at me. That killed me. Dad looked at me with a most pseudo-benevolent expression. In fact since i was the only student, a lot of other guardian looked at me to gauge my reaction. I looked away pointedly.
"Ho ho, i compared you with my daughter and her reaction would have been quite similar..ho ho.." smiled a man.
Another uncle nudged his wife and pointed towards me and all of them smiled understandingly. Correction/Conclusion: They thought they understood.
"First class is on 1st April" he barked at the parents of the HS students.
"Not a hoax i hope, sir?" I said.
He looked at me uncomprehendingly. Then he smiled.
"No, i hope its not an April Fool."
A murmur of laughter followed this.
Then he distributed a sheet with "Rules and Regulation" written in bold at the very top. And my hopes of an informal atmosphere sank without any conspicuous bubbles.
"Test in the last week of every month." Thats the highlight. The highlight that induced lowlight in my heart.
At this point the interaction was disrupted by a woman who was requesting sir to change her daughter's batch pointlessly.
My dad snatched the opportunity.
"See, son, the time has come. Your celebrations end today. From tomorrow you are not..."
"Mom! Dad's starting again!" i said, partly indignant, partly apprehensive.
Dad stopped prudently. Me and Mom together are formidable opponents.
Sir stopped with a lecture on how he plans to teach throughout the year and other stuffs of considerably lesser interest. So that's it. Another countdown begins. The countdown to the rush.
16 days till 1st April. 15 days to be accurate, its 12:00.
4 comments:
The following is a news clipping from The Times of India, dated July 7th, 2011.
"The IITJEE results were declared yesterday, and for the first time in several decades, a Calcutta boy, Ricocheting Rick, has topped the list. When asked about his success, Rick (who was buried under what looked like a veritable Mount Everest of books) mumbled out 'Oh it's nothing'. In response to our intrepid reporter's inquiry as to his preparations, Rick replied 'Oh, not much. All you have to study 23 and a half hours a day only.' It should be added that Mr Rick has not yet decided which college he wants to be admitted in. He is, as this newspaper reported in its July 3rd edition, also the topper of the AIPMT and the West Bengal Entrances, and it seems he must have to make very difficult choices."
Ah!
Chuk chuk! My sympathies, deer. The choices must be extremely difficult! Rohan, there are a few updates. Sir Rick has won full scholarship to every college in the world, and has been knghted promptly. The veritable Mount Everest of books has been replaced by one similar mountain of autograph books, twice the height. And he's got a muscle fatigue from smiling seductively at the 3,000 cameras that are clamouring for his shots everyday.
On a more serious note, your grammar is getting to be almost as path as mine! Beware, there will be English journalists! (not that they'll care abt grammar, but still,a knight should be perfect!)
And is the teacher really good? Hole amay bolis, bujhli? I might have to change. As you said, the Satyajit bloke is goos only for Chem.
I always knew that my grammar was path. You learned that today?
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