Friday, March 7, 2008

MASTERJI


I lived in a place where the world begins with the rising sun and ends with the setting sun. A world where people smiled at one another, where people were satisfied with what they had and never wanted more than what they needed.

It was a very small village. So small it was that everyone knew each other. Our village had just two streets. All the houses were similar, except for the Big House. My father worked for the Big House.

We had to walk a distance of about 5km to reach our school; telling adventure stories, mostly concocted impromptu; we played at the fields after school; how we liked hiding our books beneath our shirts to protect them from rain! We loved using banana leaves as our umbrella! We liked the fresh aroma of the soil after the rain. The earth was our bed and sky- our blanket!

Masterji was considered the most learned man of our village. Masterji taught us math, English, about plants and planets. He would tell us stories. We all showed lot of affection and respect towards Masterji.

Father had been to the town since last week. Mother said he would bring lot of rice and vegetables and sweets from the town. And I waited everyday for him, to return.

Masterji taught us about plants outside our classroom. We had a big banyan tree in our school. We all sat under the banyan tree, while he would tell us why the leaved were green and that plants were also living beings. That day, before teaching us about fruits and vegetables, he asked each one of us to narrate what we had for breakfast. When it was my turn, I just blurted that I had onions and cabbage.

That afternoon, Masterji called me to his room. He told me that onions were not usually consumed during that time of the year and it was also not the time of year when cabbages were available. Then he called Sukumar. He was in my class and he lived in the Big House. Masterji asked him to get some extra lunch for me, from the next day, and everyday thereafter.

That evening I came home and cried. When my mother asked me why I was crying, I didn’t know the answer. But, I cried.

Thirty years later, today, I received a phone call. The voice from the other end was easily recognizable as Sukumar’s. He said, “Naveen, Masterji has left us all, today”.

And today, I cried, again!

72 comments:

Anonymous said...

See Here or Here

Matangi Mawley said...

okie!

Indrajit said...

We loved using banana leaves as our umbrella! We liked the fresh aroma of the soil after the rain. The earth was our bed and sky- our blanket!



awsoem i got a Malgudi day's like feel .. U wirte really sweet frnd.:)

I was touchd th way u ended it .:)

Nirmal said...

a profound loss... but life moves on... and time is proof..

great post..

Anamika said...

beautiful post dear...a lot of feeling in ur words...the last line was a signature...keep it up

Amit Charles said...

Whoa!! simply awesome. I too remembered Malgudi Days.

Kudos!

keep it rollin;)

Invincible said...

nice post..

Matangi Mawley said...

@indr..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@thinker..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@vrinda..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@dunuro..
okie!

Matangi Mawley said...

@scribbler..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@invincible..
thnk u!

S Ramanathan said...

yeh, it is quite a pain to know a person u respect so much has passed..i dread those days to come...!

u seem to be a good blogger, u mite be interested in this

www.mmsc-manipal.com

Abhishek Saini said...

nice post ......
u r a gr8 blogger

Matangi Mawley said...

@s ramanathan..

sure.. thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@abhishek..
thnk u!

Brand H said...

hey it was really damn gud..de way u ve picturized de events..was kool..i never had any idea abt wat it goes into bein a village boy r a student..but..now i wish i had a day to spend out there..nice post..:)

Matangi Mawley said...

@brand h..

thnk u! neither ve i experienced it..

Sunil Kosuru said...

Ur blog remembers me of a song in tamil movie called veyil
nice blog :)

Matangi Mawley said...

@sunny..

thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

excellent post sam.. isnt this u'r dad s real life experience?
whtevr.. great work!

Matangi Mawley said...

@anu..
yes it is
:).. thnx!

vanilla sky said...

very touching & lucid narration!

Matangi Mawley said...

@vanilla sky...

thnk u!

Surendran said...

hey.. good write up..i liked it very much .......... i have subscribed to ur blog too

Matangi Mawley said...

@suren..
thnk u!

test said...

i actually could feel the village atmosphere u described.. all good things come to an end faster for better things to come..

Matangi Mawley said...

@manorath..
thnk u!

Anonymous said...

a lot of feeling in ur words..
nice post..

Abhishek Saini said...

iliked ur blog and now i have recomended ur blog on mine .....

Arjun said...

A pleasant read it was.....
Loss of anthing/anyone valuable and special is so painful.....
Good post..

Cheers..!!
Arjun

Matangi Mawley said...

@logic..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@abhishek..
thnk u so much!

Matangi Mawley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matangi Mawley said...

@arjun..
yes, it is!
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Wireless, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://wireless-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.

Matangi Mawley said...

@wireless..
thnk u!

Anonymous said...

hmmm..
well , i would be honest being this my first visit to ur blog...
.really good one... ur post was simple without any flamboyance ,yet ,quite expressive and emotional too ...its really hard to find some one posting things like this ... good work..
cheers !!!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

eppo la irrundhu nee kadai ellutha araambichaa??
nalla irrukku mathu.. keep blogging :)

Matangi Mawley said...

@arvind..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...

@vidhya..
stories now only! :)
thnk u!

Unknown said...

hey.. it was beautiful!

Matangi Mawley said...

@rewa..
thnk u!

Matangi Mawley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rauf said...

very touching Matangs, i felt the atmosphere, it was like being there, i was in a similar tribal village in TN, a couple of weeks ago but no big house. Yes there was a school and i saw children learning sitting under a tree. i took pictures when children waved at me. i was disturbing them, i relaxed when the teacher waved at me too. i frowned when i saw that it was a Danish missionary school.
Why these people don't let the tribals alone.

good to be in touch, your friend had your telephone number. None of us had a telephone in my class.
i am 60 and i am not in touch with my classmates except one or two. Your post is urgine me to go in search of them and i will.

Now kids carry mobiles. i am still allergic to mobiles.
how you've been Matangs ??

Matangi Mawley said...

@rauf..

thnk u!

hey it isnt my story.. my dad's experience.. i ve changed the names.. it s only a story..

sourav said...

marvelous....really written with heart.the beginning part of the story reminded me of my own situation when i used to live in my old building and had fun there.....well you know there are quite few people in this world who remember the love and importance of a teacher. :)

Matangi Mawley said...

@sourav..
thnk u!

ankitminglani said...

life being life ... its goes on well .. keep up the good spirits buddy .. keep smiling !!

Matangi Mawley said...

@golden vulture..
thnk u!

Leela said...

Lovely! :)
I like the way you give just the right amount of descriptions.

Matangi Mawley said...

@leela..
thnk u!

pandeyvivek said...

Beautiful narration! Keep up the good work! :)

Matangi Mawley said...

@vivek..

thnk u!

Dhwani said...

hey first of all....thanks a lot for the comments on my post...secondly read ur recent posts...must say...u write really well matangi,
i loved the small little piece on doodle!

Matangi Mawley said...

@dhwani..

thnk u!

Amber Light said...

Thanks so much
1. for visiting "riot of colours"
2. for writing so well
Not in that order.
subscribed to this blog. looking forward to reading more here.

Matangi Mawley said...

2amber light..

thnk u!

manisha said...

tenderness!!! masterful story, i must sy...

manisha said...

felt like readin r k laxman...

Matangi Mawley said...

@manisha..

thnk u! m really honoured! :)

Dorothi said...

lovely. nicely written.

Anonymous said...

Impressive!! Like many others I too was reminded of Malgudi days...

Some people too impact our lives in such a way that we remember it for the rest of our lives!!!

Matangi Mawley said...

@rashi..

thnk u!

Anonymous said...

Nice one... Reminds me of the way schooling used to be- when our parents were young. The scenery described would make Bond and RKN proud... Bravo!

Matangi Mawley said...

@kartz..

thnk u! thnk u! :)

ishqia said...

sigh! wonderful , marvellous.. gr8 write up..

Matangi Mawley said...

@ishiqia..

:) tnx!