Graduation was over and as expected I had topped the University. I was first class first. It sounded so good and I couldn't get over this head in the air feeling. I had achieved something. Let me share with you one extremely stupid thing that I had done once.
My brain cells go dead as soon as Math is mentioned. I don't know what happens to me, but if you can visualise a rabbit caught infront of a strong light. The little rabbit gets frozen, his eyes are ready to bulge out and he just comes to a standstill. So that is what would happen to me before a math exam. This incident is of school. I was a boarder at Mount Carmel High School at hazaribagh and was taking tuition from our Math Sir, Mr. Rathore. At the tuition class he would blare out my name..Barsa, he would say, open your note book, concentrate, pay attention. In spite of his best effort and my diligence the block head portion of Math would find it very difficult to work out the steps.
So there was this test at Patna for deserving students to be given scholarship. My parents as well as school had high hopes from me so I was taken to Patna by my parents. After I finished my paper and came out my father asked me how I had faired. I told him, " everything was fine but there was one fraction problem that I could not solve."
"Do you remember it? Tell me" said my father.
"If you add 1/2 with 1/2 what will you get?" my response.
That was the day when my father must have given up all hope of my ever solving any mathematical problem.
Well, that was me!
So coming back to me after graduation where I had topped the University, I became a National Scholar getting a princely sum of Rs. 1200 per annum to pursue higher studies. ranchi University was looking forward to this topper joining them, but I had me eyes set on Delhi, so that is where I joined. Delhi University would not admit a student to post graduation studies before the age of 19. I was just 18, so I had to twiddle my thumb for one year before I could seek admission in Delhi University.
I therefore started teaching at a small private school Tagore International School at Lajpat Nagar. It was prep school and mostly little children from the neighbourhood came there. One of the teacher's knew my mother, so that is how I got inducted as a teacher, getting a paltry sum of Rs. 100 per month. I enjoyed myself with the nursery children who were cute and full of energy. there were English speaking classes also held after school got over, so I was asked to teach that too. Reminds me of the TV serial, "Zabaan Sambhal ke". Well my position was not that hilarious as I had mostly Indiann from different places. Women whose husbands wanted them to be able to converse in English and so on and so forth.
Triloki meanwhile had also found a time pass kind of job in Delhi. He would sometimes meet me before school. Poorly paid creatures that we were , we would walk across the Ring Road into Lajpat Nagar and at a ram shackle tea stall, sit on a wooden bench and drink a cup of hot syrupy cup of tea.
Triloki was working with Marketing Research Corporation of India. Don't know why Mr. D'Costa the owner wanted fresh Engineering graduates to work for him.
My brain cells go dead as soon as Math is mentioned. I don't know what happens to me, but if you can visualise a rabbit caught infront of a strong light. The little rabbit gets frozen, his eyes are ready to bulge out and he just comes to a standstill. So that is what would happen to me before a math exam. This incident is of school. I was a boarder at Mount Carmel High School at hazaribagh and was taking tuition from our Math Sir, Mr. Rathore. At the tuition class he would blare out my name..Barsa, he would say, open your note book, concentrate, pay attention. In spite of his best effort and my diligence the block head portion of Math would find it very difficult to work out the steps.
So there was this test at Patna for deserving students to be given scholarship. My parents as well as school had high hopes from me so I was taken to Patna by my parents. After I finished my paper and came out my father asked me how I had faired. I told him, " everything was fine but there was one fraction problem that I could not solve."
"Do you remember it? Tell me" said my father.
"If you add 1/2 with 1/2 what will you get?" my response.
That was the day when my father must have given up all hope of my ever solving any mathematical problem.
Well, that was me!
So coming back to me after graduation where I had topped the University, I became a National Scholar getting a princely sum of Rs. 1200 per annum to pursue higher studies. ranchi University was looking forward to this topper joining them, but I had me eyes set on Delhi, so that is where I joined. Delhi University would not admit a student to post graduation studies before the age of 19. I was just 18, so I had to twiddle my thumb for one year before I could seek admission in Delhi University.
I therefore started teaching at a small private school Tagore International School at Lajpat Nagar. It was prep school and mostly little children from the neighbourhood came there. One of the teacher's knew my mother, so that is how I got inducted as a teacher, getting a paltry sum of Rs. 100 per month. I enjoyed myself with the nursery children who were cute and full of energy. there were English speaking classes also held after school got over, so I was asked to teach that too. Reminds me of the TV serial, "Zabaan Sambhal ke". Well my position was not that hilarious as I had mostly Indiann from different places. Women whose husbands wanted them to be able to converse in English and so on and so forth.
Triloki meanwhile had also found a time pass kind of job in Delhi. He would sometimes meet me before school. Poorly paid creatures that we were , we would walk across the Ring Road into Lajpat Nagar and at a ram shackle tea stall, sit on a wooden bench and drink a cup of hot syrupy cup of tea.
Triloki was working with Marketing Research Corporation of India. Don't know why Mr. D'Costa the owner wanted fresh Engineering graduates to work for him.
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