Students and I

( In response to a Pukhraj post on Facebook)

I was always very lucky with my teachers, right from childhood up to now. Despite my being a disorganized kind of a clumsy student ( which I still am -- I mean both clumsy and a student) , they showered me with so much love and care that I still feel overwhelmed by the debt of gratitude I owe each one of them. I can not think of a teacher who did not love me despite my obvious failings. I tried to repay some of this by transferring all my love on to my students once I became a teacher. I developed a life long romance with them and this keeps me going in my saddest and loneliest hours even today. My students have always meant a lot to me and much of what I learnt in life is thanks to them. It is a love affair beyond the need of assurances. When I met you the other day, I felt a resurgence of the warmest feelings in me, and I knew immediately I have found another student who will teach me a lot in life . ( I had the same feeling some months ago when young poet Harman came over to meet me - - a tender lilac in my backyard)

With such wealth thrown into my lap, do I really need to lust for anything in life. I am not any the less corrupt than any of the guys you know in politics. Only, the possessions I lust for are different from theirs. And mine are for ever -such as none can take away from me. I sit in my parlour and cherish these gems, and bless life that it has given me such rare gifts without my having to shed a drop of sweat for them. In a way, I am the luckiest of the corrupt.

Sometimes i pray that these ambitious people I see may never have the wisdom to discover to discover what they are missing for fear that they would then turn towards me and snatch my treasures. But the next moment I smile in the knowledge that the gems I possess will not allow themselves to be taken away from me. I think I am cleverer than the worldly folks there too: I have opted for immortal treasures while theirs are ever so ephemeral.