The wishing chair...

1. The wishing chair...

does the photo above ring some bells???

To mark the beginning of this series, I wanted to start off with something very positive and something people would hardly remember...

I was never a big fan of any fancy story but this was destined to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life...

A little over 13 years ago we were sitting in the first room to the left, in the Sharada Bhavan... expecting a new class teacher. We were all very noisy, after all we were meeting after a long vacation. I particularly missed Vijay, it seemed to me, that I was meeting him after ages. Then entered a lady with a couple of books and a long "register" which meant she would be ruling our class for the next 8 or 9 months. Then she introduced herself. It was her first year (and perhaps her first class) at school. She never seemed to be a strict teacher.

One day, she asked us if we were interested in listening to a story and who would say "NO"... it was the last period of the day and I was almost half-asleep. Then she started with the story of JACK and THE BEANSTALK... it was sufficient for a period but by the end everyone of us had realised that we should have more of these... it was fun, it was interesting, above all what really mattered was the interest with which she told us the story..

As days went by we started demanding for more stories... then began the story of the "WISHING CHAIR... the adventures of PETER and MOLLY" this story went on and on for weeks together and no one ever wanted another story...
So much was our attachment to the story and the teacher that... when she once came to our class for substitution in class V or VI ... we asked her to tell us that story again... She would never say "no"... and then she started with the second part of the series of the WISHING CHAIR... and then... you know!!

In fact when my brother bought the third book last year... it took me less than a day to finish it off... well, it was too small a book and above all it was definitely for me... but that was the interest, that was the level of desperation even years after I heard it last... I wish every subject I ever study would be made so interesting...

And why did all this become so memorable??? It was the teacher who handled it... Mrs.Geetha. She taught me English 13yrs ago (after that she came to our class only once as a substitution teacher) but even now she remembers my hand-writing (she was describing it when I met her last July). What else could you ask for from a teacher... surely some one whom I would remember throughout my life..

Thank you Ma'am


--buddi