Little Mirza And The P.T. Teacher

This was when I was 16 years old and substituting for my mother in the All Saints' High School, Hyderabad.

She was the class teacher for 1st standard - 1C to be precise.
It is a boys' school.

There were classes for English, Maths, Social Studies, Hindi or any optional language, Drawing, Music and of course, P.T. (short form of 'Physical Training').

I used to take all the boys of my class to the Music Hall where Mrs.Burns would conduct the music classes. She would play the piano so well. She would imitate the sound of thunder and the gentle flow of a brook through her gifted swift fingers. I would look forward to these music classes more than my tiny students!
I would sing the rhymes in perfect tune so she would admire my singing and ask me to sing more and more songs other than rhymes too. We all enjoyed those music sessions so much.

Drawing class was another eye-opener. Never imagined what all resides inside the heads of tiny tots' as they doodle away to glory on any given topic. I just loved watching the young boys draw pictures of parrots, crows, carrots, scenery, etc. I would secretly laugh at some drawings as they were wild imaginations and yet, some were so beautiful, you would think he could be the next Ravi Verma in the making. Wonder what those boys have become now and where they are! They were all 5 years' old then!

Well one boy named Mirza from 1B, from the next class, sneaked into my class one day and hid under one of the benches, while all the sections of the 1st standard boys were busy attending the PT class in the huge playground below. That was our free period and we would mostly be correcting the scrap books.
Some boys must have brought the matter to the attention of the Mr.Dayanand, P.T. master-cum-dance master-cum Hindi teacher.
He may have been more harsh with some students and made them kneel-down or stand in the hot sun for long. Our Mirza must have gone through some incident to make him scared to avoid the PT classes totally.
This P.T. master came to my class and beat the boy up, dragging him to the grounds. This sight was shocked me no end. The boy was trying to cling to me in desperation and here I was voiceless not knowing how to react to all that.
There was no way I could speak up for the boy whose class teacher was another teacher called Mrs. Iona.

This matter went to the Rev.Brother. The boy's parents were asked to meet him. Permission was sought for their ward to be excused from attending PT classes in future. There were arguments and counter-arguments to that. The class teacher supported the PT teacher saying, 'PT exercises are a must for all boys', 'If one boy shows the way, the other boys too will excuse themselves from attending further PT classes' etc.

I told my mother about this incident and forgot all about it, until next time I substitued for her. I found little Mirza in my class! Later mamma told me, the boy refused to be in that section as the class teacher and the PT teacher were both very strict about his attending the PT classes. Their parents requested the Rector to transfer him to 1C, as my mom was quite mild with all the boys in all classes.

Mirza escaped PT classes by bunking school on those days which had PT period! My mom too was saved from facing any complaints on this issue.

There are so many memories of my days in All Saints' High School as a substitute teacher.
Maybe when I remember them, I shall share it with you all. Until then, cheers!

Mahalakshmi.