BY ASHWINI V. LOTHE 

 

IT WAS a quiet evening as I sat down in a small office, my daughter Aryaa sitting besides me. I was here to meet a fellow who took coaching classes for entrance exams after 12th standard, and this man, let’s call him Mr. D, was located closest to my residence. Mr.D was busy on his cell phone, and simply put down a paper in front of my daughter. “Solve them”, he said without even looking up. It was a few mathematics sums that Aryaa, in her 12th now, could easily solve. But she was caught unawares as today we were here only to inquire for classes, and not to give some test. She hesitated, and started solving. Within a few moments, she gave back the paper. Mr. D finally looked up from his phone and started checking her. She had got some right and some tricky ones wrong. Mr. D inquired what subjects she had taken for 12 th , and looked horrified when we answered science and math. “How will she manage? Did you see her mistakes today?” I try to convince him that things aren’t as bad as he perceives, but he remains unconvinced. Finally, after exchanging some pleasantries, me and Aryaa leave. “I wont go to that man, no matter what”, Aryaa declares as soon as we enter our home. Her eyes are red with tears, and she looks truly heartbroken, her confidence shattered. “I will study on my own, or won’t do anything at all, but please don’t send me to that place.” I too, am angry to the core. It’s the first time today that someone has thought low of my daughter.

 

We had gone there to inquire about the entrance test of Hotel Management, a field my daughter had been dreaming since her childhood, where Maths isn’t even a big deal. “He could have asked me questions about other subjects too, mom, if he truly wanted to know my aptitude,” says Aryaa, correctly. “He could have asked about English, Physics or Chemistry too.” How could he, based on a few math problems, decide what her aptitude was? Those few problems, by no way could tell him that my kind-hearted and easy-going daughter had been a class topper throughout, and a favourite of her teachers. That even in her 10 th standard she hadn’t joined a single tuition, yet had scored 94%. Nor they could tell him that she was the recipient of Best girl cadet Award of N.C.C. Air Wings in her school. Mr. D won’t know from those sums that she, at the age of 15, was selected to fly a light weight, two -seater plane that she successfully flew as a co-pilot along with her Chief Commander.

 

He won’t even know that at the age of 10, she had already learnt the highly difficult and very long Shiva Tandav Stotra, and had even got an inter-school prize for reciting it. Or that her cabinet is filled with certificates of all those awards that she had received in fancy dress, dancing and other such extracurricular activities. How hastily he judged a person, how wrong his own attitude was! A teacher is there to teach, only because the students need to be taught. If the student already knows everything, why would he need a coaching class? Why is there a need to give a test to enter a coaching class? And do those marks really decide what the student’s level is? “Mom, you teach me for the entrance exam,” Aryaa says. “You already know where I stand.” Yes, I do know where she stands, because I have spent time with her, and not because of some random math questions. I will definitely teach her, and I hope to give her back the confidence and a beautiful life that she truly deserves.