chapter 23

I was shocked as I asked him,"What!!!! It's impossible, I just saw her!"He said to me,"She had a cardiac arrest and Doctors tried to revive her but could not do anything!"I went down the memory lane when I first saw my favourite Teacher, Taara Mam.She was wearing a white saree with red border and I felt that she was looking like the angel of knowledge and wisdom.Pushpendra gave me her diary which was in her hands and in that diary it was written, "To my most loving student, Palash. (Every was my favourite but he didn't have father just like me and I could see him struggling in his life just like I did in my younger days.)"I had tears in my eyes, as I turned the page where it was written, "Please don't cry that I have gone but smile that once I was a part of your life's journey!"I smiled with great difficulty while crying a lot as tears were falling down incessantly like rain from my eyes even though a rainbow of my smile was a proof of my love and respect for my favourite Teacher who always asked us to look for the rainbows in the sky after every thunderstorm or rain in the form of a problem lashes out in our lives!Taara Mam meant the world to me and I was recollecting all those special moments of my life when I was saved from committing a sin in my life just by thinking about her words of wisdom and love for her students.I turned another page in which she has written,"Dear Palash,I want you to fulfill my dream.Don't worry, I won't ask for much, it's just that I am suffering from heart problems as I already had a heart attack in the past and I think that the next attack might be the final one.I want you to collect my money from my family lawyer and open a school for all those students who love their teachers and walk on the path of righteousness in their lives.Pushpendra, Sugandha and Khushbu will help you in fulfilling my little dream!I always wanted to see you as a Teacher who inspires his students to fulfill their dreams and realise their destinies. After all what is a destiny but our own Karma in the direction of the desired goal in our minds.Always remember that a Teacher is like a potter who gives you a lot of pressure on the outside surface of your personality by criticising you for little or sometimes even insignificant things but gives a gentle push on the inside of your psyche in order to shape your character by instilling the required life skills and value based living through her love and constant supervision of your actions words or thoughts! (Yes, Teachers are mind readers too!)I would like you to be a shining example of a person who learnt from his mistakes instead of feeling guilty or blaming someone else for his own follies like an ignorant person.I have high hopes for you and whatever you do in your life, always remember that I am proud of you !Your Teacher, (Your Inspiration)Taara Mam"I started crying as someone came and said to me,"Congratulations, you have become a father to a boy and girl!"I didn't know, what to do, whether I should cry or smile.Taara Mam left me and I had to fulfill my role as a husband and a father!I went to see Sugandha who was crying and I tried to comfort her.I looked at the faces of my children and said to Sugandha,"They look like you!"She said to me,"I know, how is Ma?"I said to her,"Ma is fine, but I am not!"I started crying as I couldn't hold back my tears anymore as I missed my Teacher, who inspired me to follow my heart always, whenever I was in doubt or pain!