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Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by twinsmom, Sep 3, 2007.

  1. twinsmom

    twinsmom Silver IL'ite

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    Anirudh entered the lift with a palpitating heart. His mother was not going to be happy with his 68 % in English. He envied his friends. None of them had an English teacher for a mother. They didn’t have mothers, who wanted them to be the chips off the old blocks. Her vehement attempts at improving his English was third degree torture to him. While all his friends watched TV or played cricket he would be battling with Past Perfect Tenses and Passive constructions of sentences. ‘How did it matter if the Subject got importance or if the Object did?’ he wondered. As long as people understood you!
    He remembered grimly how she had once made him write “ ‘You’ is the subject of an imperative sentence”, 200 times! For weeks he used to dream of a skeleton chanting ‘Shut the door…. You shut the door, close the window…you close the window, remove you shoes ….you remove your shoes and what not with a chorus of “ You is the subject of an imperative sentence!”
    ‘ Why couldn’t I have had a doctor or even a secretary for a mother? Or, at least a Science teacher… Science teachers never bothered about language… They just wanted facts. Why an English teacher?’


    Even his own language teachers were on the defensive with him. He felt that his teachers corrected his paper twice or thrice fearing that his mother would appear at the Open House challenging their corrections. They took no chances. Maybe that was why they were so strict with his papers. He felt that his teacher overlooked silly mistakes in his friends’ papers, but never in his.
    As the lift ascended to the 13th floor, he felt a tremendous tension. He looked at the paper again. Sentence construction had never been his forte. And when you are frantically trying to finish a lengthy paper within measly 11/2 hours, how can you waste time thinking about a stupid word? So in his hurry he had written a sentence using the word ‘Appendage’- Last summer holidays my father got his appendage removed through surgery. It was only after the exam when his friend had told him about the meaning of the word had he realized his blunder. When his teacher had read his sentence out loud in the class, he had felt like a prize idiot. Of course, he now knew his father had got his appendix removed… but he had been under pressure in the exam hall.
    If only I could keep this from her! He thought with panic. The next few days were off for Diwali. And he could not bear being confined to his room, writing sentence after sentence to improve his sentence construction skills, while his friends had fun with crackers and outings… God! Help me, he prayed as he entered his house.
    “Anirudh! Be careful!” his mother’s voice came from the bathroom. “ Don’t trip over the rolled carpet in your room. And did you get your papers?”
    Anirudh mumbled something. ‘God show me the way!’ he prayed like never before. God was kind. Quickly, Anirudh rolled up his English paper into a tight cylinder and pushed it inside the rolled carpet. “Phew!” He said, relieved of all his tension. “You stay there till Diwali is over!”
    ‘No, Ma ,’ he shouted. ‘Only after Diwali holidays.’ He saluted Lord Krishna’s smiling picture and started removing his uniform.
    </SPAN>
     
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  2. sunkan

    sunkan Gold IL'ite

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    beautiful viju,
    i think all children behave so, some even forge the signatures, and go away to avoid this squabble with their parents. the children world is more understood by the teacher rather than the parent. she will catch them royal as she is with them for the entire day.

    in a lifetime the entire day of child means practically living with them and getting to know all their innermost intricate feelings. teachers do chip in their contribution to the emotional, and mental development..regards sunkan
     
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  3. malspie

    malspie Platinum IL'ite

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    Fear teaches children to cheat... And this goes with elders too.. have open conversation always... be firm but do not induce fear and drama in the scene. Its nauseating.......... :wave
     
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  4. rajmiarun

    rajmiarun Gold IL'ite

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    The mother should be a friend and not a teacher at home. Then alone the kids will come to them for help. I feel Anirudh felt his mother a teacher than a loving mother which made him cheat.
     
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  5. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Twinsmom
    "Even his own language teachers were on the defensive with him. He felt that his teachers corrected his paper twice or thrice fearing that his mother would appear at the Open House challenging their corrections"
    This is sheer top class humour! How sad it is that her son has to suffer unfair treatment from his teacher because the teacher himself has a morbid fear of the student's mother! I am glad that he could buy time till Diwali but what about his permanent freedom? That could happen only if some lowly chap corrects her English in front of her son!
    I have often heard that Winston Churchil used to be very proud of his English and once he too slipped! The irony was that the slip was pointed out by Rt.Hon.Srinivasa Sastriar who was the Head Master of Hindu High School , Triplicane then! This shut Churchil's mouth for ever as far as his pride about his language was concerned. To overcome his embarrassment, he recommended Knighthood for the Head Master so that he could possibly say that he was corrected by a Rt.Hon and not some Tom, Dick and Harry!
    I hope I have got my facts right. If not, I would beg to stand corrected!
    A lovely post Twinsmom, as usual of course!
    Sri
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2007
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  6. Jananikrithsan

    Jananikrithsan Gold IL'ite

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    Hi twinsmom,
    You have excelled in narrating this piece, very true. What the mother does should reflect on the children in a positive manner, not scaring them to death or fear lurking in them as they come home. Depends on how the parents handle the child though.
     
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  7. twinsmom

    twinsmom Silver IL'ite

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    Hi friends,

    I am sorry... for the delay in responding.... had some glitch with my system... So I am replying in general...

    Many of my stories come from situations from life...I stretch it all a bit and use my creative juices to wash over it and voila! I present it to my readers...

    There are such parents and such teachers who are pain to everyone concerened. And kids resort to such tricks to save their hide!
    And Sri, that is a wonderful anecdote about Churchil.... Would like to know the details... Shall google for it! Thank you...
     
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  8. sindmani

    sindmani Platinum IL'ite

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  9. twinklingstar

    twinklingstar Gold IL'ite

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    wow after so many days i visited this section and loved to read most of ur short stories (with moral).
    loved tehm all..you have very nice writing skill...keep it up dear
     

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