Shweta wiped her brow as she tried to park her WagonR in the school's parking lot. Parallel parking wasn't exactly her strong point when it came to driving. She swore as she almost hit the bright red Santro that had been perfectly parked next to an empty spot. Her eyes widened as she reognised it to the senior school's supervisor's car. "Thanks bhagwaan. Aaj bacha liya tune."
She left the parking lot, somewhat pleased with herself . Her bubble burst though, when she remembered that it was Wednesday. She had a jam packed teaching schedule that day, barring the sixth period, which she had free. An hour of detention duty after school. "You can do this. You can do this. Sigh." She checked her purse for Saridon. You know, just in case.
She walked towards the main gate with the large sign above it that read "Sunshine International School". Corny name, but the school was pretty decent, over all. The campus was huge, with a sports field sprawled over about two acres. There was a lot of sunshine, thats for sure. Except for when it was raining, of course.
The staff was well trained and experts in their areas, with quite a few young members too, like Shweta Singhal. Hardly 25, she had joined the school's English faculty about a year back. Although she had become an instant success with the middle school, she had managed to build only an average rapport with the senior school students.
5th period saw her make her way to X-C. Honestly, it wasn't her favourite class. She had failed to make any connection with that class, and hence the classes were usually very insipid and dull. The class would go on with her talking and the students staring at her with blank faces. They were physically present alright, but mentally, they had reached outer space.
It was a shame really, that the students never voiced their thoughts. Had they done that, the class would NOT have been insipid. At all.
"Why are there so many types of cheese? I mean there's mozzarella, cheddar, camembert...Who eats so much cheese anyway? "
"Hmmm. I wonder where chihuahuas come from. "
"Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does. Can he swing from a web? No he cant, he's a pig."
"Hey I want to put my Basilisk in your chamber of secrets. I wonder if this pick up line will work on her. No harm trying..."
"...and then there's blue cheese, gouda, .."
"Rohit and Kangan sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Rohitanga? Kanit? No. Ganit..hahaha!"
"Arrey waah, aaj Ma'am ne kaafi saara make up lagaya hai. Aur unka nail polish unke salwaar ke saath match bhi kar raha hai. 100% she's getting married. Mujhe toh pehle se hee pata tha!"
"..and lets not forget brie and cheddar. Oh wait, did I already count that? "
"I wonder if Singhal is single. Hahaha! Damn, Im funny"
"Ritesh! Stop smirking. Stand up.", Shweta "Ma'am"'s voice pierced his reverie. The whole class to, awoke, suddenly.
"Tell me, did you read Pride and Prejudice?"
"Uhm. Yes Ma'am. Kinda. I mean, Im still reading it"
"What's happening in the book right now?"
"Uhh, Im at that part where Elizabeth goes to that Darcy dude's huge house. It started with P...errr...."
"Pemberley."
"Yes Ma'am, that."
"And please dont refer to Darcy as a dude."
"Ma'am, I only meant it as a compliment."
"That may be so, but do abstain from using colloquial terms in class."
"Sure, whatever 'abstain' means!", he said. Or thought, rather.
"Okay, Ekta. Where have you reached in the book?"
"Ma'am, Darcy just proposed."
"Can you give us a summary of that scene, please?"
"Yes Ma'am. Darcy was like,'Marry me. I tried not to fall in love with you, but you're just really cool. But sadly, you're poor and lowly too.' And then Elizabeth was like 'Get lost. Stop insulting me and then saying you love me. I hate you.' And then he was like, 'But why?' and then she was like-"
"As far as I remember, that wasnt exactly how it happened, you know.", Shweta interrupted.
"Ma'am I think you read the other version."
"There is no other version."
"Im pretty sure there is", she replied confidently.
"Oh really? By which publishing house?"
"Ma'am that I dont know."
"What do you know, then?"
"Uhmm. Types of cheese?", she offered, hesitantly.
"Im sorry, what?!", she asked, wondering if she had heard right.
Ekta mumbled something incoherent.
Shweta looked around the class exasperated. Complacent, random and self assured teenagers over flowing with hormones were often tough to understand. She had no idea why Ekta seemed to be so interested in cheese all of a sudden. Or why, for that matter, Radhika had been staring intently at her nails and salwaar for the past ten minutes with an all-knowing, smug smile on her face.
Something in her head told her she was probably better off not knowing!
She left the parking lot, somewhat pleased with herself . Her bubble burst though, when she remembered that it was Wednesday. She had a jam packed teaching schedule that day, barring the sixth period, which she had free. An hour of detention duty after school. "You can do this. You can do this. Sigh." She checked her purse for Saridon. You know, just in case.
She walked towards the main gate with the large sign above it that read "Sunshine International School". Corny name, but the school was pretty decent, over all. The campus was huge, with a sports field sprawled over about two acres. There was a lot of sunshine, thats for sure. Except for when it was raining, of course.
The staff was well trained and experts in their areas, with quite a few young members too, like Shweta Singhal. Hardly 25, she had joined the school's English faculty about a year back. Although she had become an instant success with the middle school, she had managed to build only an average rapport with the senior school students.
5th period saw her make her way to X-C. Honestly, it wasn't her favourite class. She had failed to make any connection with that class, and hence the classes were usually very insipid and dull. The class would go on with her talking and the students staring at her with blank faces. They were physically present alright, but mentally, they had reached outer space.
It was a shame really, that the students never voiced their thoughts. Had they done that, the class would NOT have been insipid. At all.
"Why are there so many types of cheese? I mean there's mozzarella, cheddar, camembert...Who eats so much cheese anyway? "
"Hmmm. I wonder where chihuahuas come from. "
"Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does. Can he swing from a web? No he cant, he's a pig."
"Hey I want to put my Basilisk in your chamber of secrets. I wonder if this pick up line will work on her. No harm trying..."
"...and then there's blue cheese, gouda, .."
"Rohit and Kangan sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Rohitanga? Kanit? No. Ganit..hahaha!"
"Arrey waah, aaj Ma'am ne kaafi saara make up lagaya hai. Aur unka nail polish unke salwaar ke saath match bhi kar raha hai. 100% she's getting married. Mujhe toh pehle se hee pata tha!"
"..and lets not forget brie and cheddar. Oh wait, did I already count that? "
"I wonder if Singhal is single. Hahaha! Damn, Im funny"
"Ritesh! Stop smirking. Stand up.", Shweta "Ma'am"'s voice pierced his reverie. The whole class to, awoke, suddenly.
"Tell me, did you read Pride and Prejudice?"
"Uhm. Yes Ma'am. Kinda. I mean, Im still reading it"
"What's happening in the book right now?"
"Uhh, Im at that part where Elizabeth goes to that Darcy dude's huge house. It started with P...errr...."
"Pemberley."
"Yes Ma'am, that."
"And please dont refer to Darcy as a dude."
"Ma'am, I only meant it as a compliment."
"That may be so, but do abstain from using colloquial terms in class."
"Sure, whatever 'abstain' means!", he said. Or thought, rather.
"Okay, Ekta. Where have you reached in the book?"
"Ma'am, Darcy just proposed."
"Can you give us a summary of that scene, please?"
"Yes Ma'am. Darcy was like,'Marry me. I tried not to fall in love with you, but you're just really cool. But sadly, you're poor and lowly too.' And then Elizabeth was like 'Get lost. Stop insulting me and then saying you love me. I hate you.' And then he was like, 'But why?' and then she was like-"
"As far as I remember, that wasnt exactly how it happened, you know.", Shweta interrupted.
"Ma'am I think you read the other version."
"There is no other version."
"Im pretty sure there is", she replied confidently.
"Oh really? By which publishing house?"
"Ma'am that I dont know."
"What do you know, then?"
"Uhmm. Types of cheese?", she offered, hesitantly.
"Im sorry, what?!", she asked, wondering if she had heard right.
Ekta mumbled something incoherent.
Shweta looked around the class exasperated. Complacent, random and self assured teenagers over flowing with hormones were often tough to understand. She had no idea why Ekta seemed to be so interested in cheese all of a sudden. Or why, for that matter, Radhika had been staring intently at her nails and salwaar for the past ten minutes with an all-knowing, smug smile on her face.
Something in her head told her she was probably better off not knowing!
A teacher should read this! =P
ReplyDeleteA nice read. And kinda funny too! =D
That thing about the nails reminded me of Maám Daisy all of a sudden. The only thing I always end up noticing about her is THAT :P Unintentionally,ofcourse :P
ReplyDeleteToldya, the "Writer's Block" was just in your head :)
It's a typical classroom. So true ! :D
ReplyDeleteFunny, engaging, well- written as usual. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling I know the "Shweta" you're describing. ;)
Thanks Shivangi :)
ReplyDeleteHahaha!! Ruhani, its okay, her nails are a bit *ahem* distracting
:P Thank you :*
Dhanyavaad Macha :D
Jiggly Poo, Im sure you do ;)
You might've guessed who Radhika is based on too :P
Haha, it was honestly funny. And that's how a typical class always is. Poor teachers!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what happens in our class! Well written, was engaged till the end. Keep up the writing =)
ReplyDelete@Meher S B: Thank you! Yeah, sometimes you do feel sorry for the poor creatures. Emphasis on sometimes ;)
ReplyDelete@Sam B: Thank you so much :D
I hope to =)
Hi, I have just visited your site and the info you have covered has been of great interest to me.
ReplyDeleteShop Towel
Lord, are you there? Thank you, Lord, that I don't teach!!!!
ReplyDeleteVery engaging... but too short!! Was enjoying it too much i guess. But am sure teachers all over the world won't like it, especially the ones in this city. Too full of themselves and NO sense of humour.