chapter 2

Next morning, I reached my college on time. My friends said to me,"Palash has improved his habit of always coming late for his class. What's new about this day Palash, did the Sun come from the West direction instead of East direction today?"I ignored them as I took out my notebook with my assignment for my favourite class.Taara Mam entered the room and suddenly everyone became quiet. She said to all her students,"Why are you so quiet today, are you tired? Ok, let's do some activity today. We will divide all of you in pairs. Ok, Akash will be paired with Nikita. Raj will be paired with Shivani,......So, Palash you are left with no one, Ok, you can do this activity with me!"I was clueless as I didn't know anything about the activity.Mam asked us to write about the positive qualities of our friend.Everyone started writing except me. What can I write about my teacher, I wondered. I am always good at writing but speechless when I should speak about my feelings, life's biggest irony, indeed.I scribbled some lines and handed it to my teacher.She asked all of us to read our note in front of others.Everyone wrote good things as they didn't want to get less marks in the annual assessment done by our subject teacher so they always tried to be in the good books of all the teachers.When my turn came to read the note, I opened the piece of paper in which my teacher has written about me,"Palash is a wonderful boy who is always thinking about future and sometimes forgets about his present. He is observant and eager to learn new things in life. He is courageous who never shies away from accepting his negative qualities and random mistakes in life. He has the ability to bounce back in life in any kind of situation, I believe."I was on the verge of crying when I saw Akash making faces while rolling his eyes. He never tolerated anything good about anyone except him.I held back my tears as I said, "Thank you" to my teacher.Tara Mam, started reading her note, written by me."Tara Mam is like the light at the end of a tunnel for all her students. She inspires me and others to face our fears and accept our mistakes yet always feel stronger with each passing day. She asked us to address ourselves in a positive way because we can't change the world but we can change our way of looking at things. Tara Mam, opened the secret door of our learning where we can learn only when we are ready to transform our old habits in order to create space for something new. My teacher is my Inspiration for challenging my old version and for being the best possible version of myself!"Tara Mam said, "Thank you, so much for such sweet words, Palash!"I saw her wiping her eyes as she tried to hide her tears of joy!