He came rushing, eyes filled with tears and face filled with anger and disgust. He asked me ‘who’s the toot*(we use it for slang words) that kept the paper on his forehead’, I had no idea what he was talking about so I said ‘what paper’, he never looked so dissatisfied and hurt. ‘I don’t know who the toot kept a paper on his forehead, written, NOT DONE HOMEWORK’. I was blank, I wanted to say I made the other people go this limit, it was me who said ‘yes, he is so naughty I don’t know what to do, no punishment will make him improve any of his habit, it was me who talked with his parents and then only knew his background, his family and his infancy because he is still a child, and it was me who promised that now we will take care of him because he is such an artist who will do something in his life’, I couldn’t say any of this. It was lunch time I thought everyone must be outside I should take him and keep him safe from everyone’s eyes and tell him ‘I am here, it’s ok now’ but tragedy I was already late, very late. Everyone already laughed at him, teased him and every other person now already knew him as a boy who has NOT DONE HOMEWORK.

i entered the class, children were teasing him and he was defending himself, as he always do this. i didn’t stop anyone, i just pretended i knew nothing about. One of the “smart kid” tried to explain their talk but i diverted his talk on the lesson. This was the first time after 6 months that he was quite and i didn’t took his name and ask him to be quiet, when i was going outside after my class, he didn’t asked me to bring MLTR song tomorrow, he didn’t even bid me goodbye with the loud ‘THANK YOU TEACHER’.

i am not an expert and don’t even have any qualification to say any of these things but i always know the opposite meanings of love, care , feeling of appreciation and acceptance that is why i don’t understand what is wrong with us, why we don’t understand that children are just children, they don’t understand punishment, hurt and homework. They only understands smile, laughter, happy face and creating their own ideas. i have shouted at the children, i have made them stand in front of the class with their hands up and i have warned them about their assignments and i have also realized that they don’t understand any of these things, they only understands love and sharing. we don’t have to shout if our class is interesting, we don’t have to make them stand in front of the class if we listen to them and what they have to say, we don’t have to warn them about assignments if it is interesting and if we are good human or just a human we don’t have to humiliate a child with paper on his forehead saying NOT DONE HOMEWORK.

pabitraTeacher