Hi, my name is not important. What’s important is where I am today, where did I come from and who made all that possible. A journey of 10 years is what I am going to tell you now. Sit back, put your reading glasses on and if it suits you, keep a piece of soft Piano music in the background (soothing). *Just a suggestion :P*

Far away from all the spotlight and development is a small town whose name is as per your liking (decided a name?, great). It lacks proper facilities, infrastructure, development and most importantly, education. I come from that Town, my hometown.

The year was 2005, and I was in junior high, where I was only bothered with how to evade homework and pass the time in merriment. It was natural, for I was just ten years old. I used to attend school regularly, but I wasn’t going anywhere, for I was being taught how to learn and memorize, not understand. Later in my life, I will find out that the same is happening to the developed cities of the country as well but for now, let’s stick to the boundaries of my hometown.

Despite being told by my school teachers as one of the smart kids of the class, I always felt indifferent, for I knew this was not the best version of me. I was learning but only to jump standards (class) and not improve my standard of education. Fortunately, fate had something else in mind.

So there he was, a boy who used to attend an English Medium school and was barely able to frame a correct sentence in English far from speaking it playing around the house as usual when he met this man who had agreed to teach his sister Grammar and Literature.

He accidentally entered the study room and grabbed his toys for an afternoon full of conquests and fun when he was called by this voice…

Come here, sweet kid!, What is your name?

(Not important)

Which standard are you in?

5th

Oh my! A big boy you are. I am your sister’s teacher, and I teach Grammar and Literature at this Town’s oldest college. Do you know me?

No Sir.

Alright, my name is Shoumiran Mahanta. Tell me, boy, can you help me a bit and write a few lines for me?

Of course, Sir, I am very smart. I will do that but after that can I go and play?

Hahaha, okay, you may.

The teacher asked him to write the basics of grammar and a few elementary statements, which even a boy in the 2nd standard should be able to. But due to the learnings he was getting, he wrote incorrect English. On seeing his words, the teacher who had been teaching for the past 35 years saw a potential, a flair.

My god! Son, your English is very good, but you can become even better. Maybe a writer one day. Do you wish to become a writer one day?

Certainly, said the innocent young boy.

Good, I shall teach you as well from tomorrow.

On hearing these words, he felt pain as all his toys were taken away from him. But as agreed, he and the Teacher did start the very next day. For the next five years, the boy learned the meaning of learning. He was taught to understand the words and the meaning they concealed within themselves. He was taught to visualize while reading. He was taught the ways of this beautiful language called English. The teachers’ assessment was right, the boy did have potential, and he helped him realise the same. 

Five years went by quickly, the ten-year-old was now 16. He basically grew up in front of his teacher, a true teacher. To pursue higher studies, he moved to developed cities, but he never forgot the values his teacher had taught him.

High School, College and later on Professional life all came to him and guess what, the kid made a name for himself in all those places because of his command over the English language.

Today he works at one of the leading companies in the country, a small-town boy who struggled to introduce himself once today is a part of a team that requires him to speak on a public forum on a daily basis. However, even today, he still considers himself a student of that teacher who taught him literature and grammar and the values of life.

Yes, he learned not only to understand the words but the meaning of life, visualize not only stories but the world that surrounds him.

“My God!, Son, your English is very good, but you can become even better. Maybe a writer one day.”

These words spoken by the old teacher came true as well. That boy became a Poet, The Poet and the Pen. Even to this day, I thank my lucky stars for giving me the opportunity to learn from a Teacher, a true Teacher, The Teacher.

Sir, Thank You so much for everything. I will always be grateful to you.

Yours Sincerely,

Sweet Kid.

Moral: A good teacher is like a guide, A true teacher is like a guardian angel. A true teacher can make a student become the best version of himself. A true teacher always shows the tough path for he knows the destination is worth it, and most importantly, a True teacher silently leaves when his work is done, but it is the duty of the student to keep the teacher with him forever by always following what he had been taught. 

A Teacher-Student relation is greater than anything in the world.