Miss.Veronica finally smiled (923)

              

“Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat.” –                                       

Miss Veronica was not a bad teacher as many supposed. She was a conscientious and a good one. She took great pains to prepare her lessons well in advance. She burnt the midnight oil to correct the homework the same day and give remarks in every notebook. That the comments were forthright was no fault for she wrote what she genuinely felt without effort to be nice. To others, her remarks may appear rude and discouraging, though they indicated where the students had gone wrong and what was the right answer.

 But the children en masse disliked her but she was not perturbed. Her class was always serious with no light-hearted banter and she came down heavily on any kid trying to be flippant. She never touched any child but her tongue was rapier-like. She was not endowed with good looks though many held that could be why she remained a spinster. She was lean and scrawny and the thick glasses she wore made her figure not a pretty sight. Sadly, she paid no attention to her dress also.

Her colleagues in the staff room gave her a wide berth though she did nothing to merit such a mean treatment. As a result, she was seen sitting alone in a corner poring over a book or a paper while the room was filled with riotous laughter and banter from others. She never smiled either in the class or in the staff room. Her eyebrows were knit in what looked like a constant frown. In short, she had no friends.

That particular day her mood was nastier than usual. That was the last period for the day. She put questions on the lessons she taught the previous day as she did daily. When the boys and girls failed to give satisfactory answers, her anger erupted and was followed by a stern order asking them all to stand up with hands folded for the rest of the class while she revised the lessons, she taught earlier. The children were not amused and one could see the hate in their eyes. When the bell rang there were shouts of relief and joy with the children making a beeline for the door.

Vinay saw the teacher walking slowly with a bag heavy with notebooks of the children. She was seen stopping every ten steps and shifting the weighty bag from one shoulder to the other. He felt pity for the teacher, though he was also the one amongst those who stood the last hour in the class. He increased his pace to reach  her and said,” Ma’am, can I please carry your bag up to your home?”

“I can carry my bag. I don’t need your assistance” she replied curtly.

“I know ma’am. I still wish to carry it for you as you seem to find it heavy” he answered her.

“Don’t pester me. Don’t you understand that I do not need your help? Go home” she said with certain irritation and finality as she started walking.

Vinay kept following her at a safe distance though he could have gone back home. It was then he saw to his shock his teacher trip over a stone and fall flat with the notebooks and papers spilling. He ran towards her and lent his hand to make her sit. He collected and put the scattered notebooks and papers in the bag and hung the bag on his shoulder. She stood up and slowly trudged her way home with the boy by her side. Not one word was spoken. Probably she was in pain.
When she reached her small home, she asked the hesitant boy to come in. It was a one-bedroomed tenement but neatly kept.

“Please wait. Let me change my clothes after a wash” she said as she switched on the fan.

The boy found pictures of Jesus on the cross, the Virgin Mary and a few other saints on the wall. There was a bible on the table with candles on the stand. He could see a rosary alongside. He thought she must be a devout lady though he could not understand why she was always serious.

She brought a plate with some cookies and a glass of fruit juice.

“Have it. Thank you very much. You were persistent in helping me. I would have struggled but for your help” she said with a smile. That was the first time he saw her smile and she looked better with that smile.

“Thank you ma’am for permitting me to carry the bag. You can give me any errand in the class. I would willingly do. Sorry, we could not answer your question in the class. Yesterday’s lesson was tough for all of us” he replied.

“Someone could have told me. I would not have made you all stand for an hour. I was in a bad mood today as I got news of my grandma’s death in the village. But I should not have shown my private grief in the class like this” she said.

The boy was touched by her frankness. He decided to tell all his classmates how nice Miss Veronica was.

As Miss Veronica entered the class the next day, all the students stood up and loudly said in a chorus with smiles “Good morning, Miss.”

It was the first time she received such a hearty ovation and warm welcome. She smiled for the first time as she thanked them and saw the happy face of Vinay from one of the benches.