I Start My Schooling Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

Reminiscences 07

Ayisha Teacher

In those days we had not heard of Kindergarten, let alone the present trend of pre-kg. Schooling started at the age of five and a half. I was born in May and the school academic year started on 01 June, as I have mentioned. So, I would not get admission to school in the year I had turned five. But those were the days when birth-certificates were unheard of. The date of birth declared by the parents was accepted without a question. So, Father just declared my date of birth as 01 December and got me admitted in the First Standard. Sending me to school was imperative, because I had two younger siblings for my mother to take care of.

On my first day in school Ayisha Teacher entered the class with a smile. A smile that wiped the tears off my face; and off the faces of most others as well. And I didn't miss my mother anymore. She held our hands and lead us through the maze of the alphabets. School was no school anymore, it was just 'home again'.

We used to call female teachers with a suffix 'Teacher' and the male teachers with a suffix 'Master'. Until I was in the fourth grade or so, when we started our English classes, I had thought that these suffixes were both Malayalam words.

Ayisha Teacher was no stranger to me. She and her husband Hameed Master were close friends of my parents. They often visited us. This made things easy for me in the school. But I remember that Ayisha Teacher was quite fond of me. And I, of her. All the girls and boys in the class were, too. Occasionally, I used to steal a rose from my sister's garden to present to my teacher. But my adventures never remained a secret. For, Ayisha teacher would promptly report to my father about my present and I would be punished for the ‘crime' by my sister with a painful pinch.

Long back, I had shared a tiny poem 'In My School' on PoemHunter, where I had spoken about my teacher.

I started this chapter with a flourish. Now gloom takes over. For, both Ayisha Teacher and Hameed Master passed away long back.