“Hmmm”, said Vineeta with a hard stare.
“Hey, I need to know Koli Madam’s schedule and I need you to keep me informed about her day.”
A look of confusion crossed Vineeta’s face. She shuffled out of her desk and went into Koli’s cabin.
Ameya wondered if she went to ask for permission. “Tough!”, he sighed.
She returned with the same hardened expression. “Do you have a piece of paper?”
“Yes”
“She will do her afternoon rounds and then have a staff meeting at 3 and then she has a class in Marketing. She has to meet a second year student’s parents after that.”
“Ok, so I will be accompanying her on all this. Could I have an ID assigned…you know with login id, email id and id card?”
“One minute…I’ll give you a form to fill. Fill it up and submit it in the office.”
Ameya sat there as Vineeta shuffled through papers, searched files and then continued to do her work. “Should I take the form from you?”, Ameya asked, not knowing how to break the silence.
Vineeta thought for a while and said, “Get it from Dhar”
Ameya took the steps two at a time and reached the office in no time. “There he is…”, he muttered under his breath. Mr. Dhar was a clerk at the office, who Ameya had never seen work. He was the best in delegation and passing the bucket. Many in the college had this opinion about him. Ameya though, would discover it for himself. He waited for Mr. Dhar to finish chatting up the peon. It was nearly two forty-five. He did not want to be late for the staff meeting. But he did not want to go one more day without being able to access the computers or the canteen in the evenings. He was looking forward to starting the report that evening.
“Mr. Dhar, I want a form for…”
Dhar looked sideways and continued talking to the peon. Ameya cursed under his breath about covering his authority in this sickening submission. ‘All for the greater good’, he told himself.
“Mr. Dhar, I need the form for ID card.”
Dhar mumbled something to his colleague who gave Ameya an old form.
“Get it photocopied. We have only one left.”
“Ok”, Ameya said. He went up to the library where the photocopying machine was located. The staff machine was operated by a peon who was absent that day. Ameya quickly ran down to the road to get a copy made at the canteen shop. He would have had to wait in line for the students to finish.
“I guess ID can wait.” He folded the form in two and dashed up to the conference room. As he swung open the doors, he saw that the room was empty. It was five to three. He had made it in time. He tried switching on the lights and fans so he could keep the room ready. A portly peon walked in with a bottle of water. He looked at Ameya and started chatting. Ameya had hardly talked to him before. He was a shy man. Ameya learned that his name was Dange.
“Are you in charge of the conference room?”
“Yes Sir”
Ameya was pleased to be called Sir. “I am in charge of this room and the auditorium.”
“Very good. You maintain everything well.”
“What Sir…I have been given the most boring job. My rooms never get occupied.”
“Ha ha, why do you think so?”
“Because I am not a part of the union…so the other peons have important jobs, whereas I only work for Koli madam and that too only in arranging the halls.”
“That’s…bad. Let me see if I can find something interesting for you today Dange. Now could you switch on the lights and air the room before they arrive?”
“Are you Koli Madam’s secretary now?”
“Oh, no..no. I am just working with her…”
Dange left and started placing the chairs properly.
“Secretary….as if Vineeta is not enough.”
The teachers started entering one by one. Koli came in the end. Ameya sat in the last chair and made himself invisible.
Ameya’s notepad
Minutes of the meeting:
The meeting was held from 3 to 3:30pm … Koli discussed the following:
>> Vice Principal Selection Committee arriving on Monday. Applications to be returned by Wednesday.
>> Annual event surplus funds to be handed over to management.
>> Book exhibition to be held in February
>> New blackboards for two classrooms
>> Inter-collegiate Merit Certificates for students ready for distribution
>> Revival of college Cricket Team
>> Memorial service for Late Vice President Kulkarni. Agenda for meeting with family.
** Ask Koli about funds transfer to management. Also find out who brings up these issues to Koli.
Koli met Ameya outside the conference room. “Did you note the minutes?”
“Yes Madam.”
“Give it to Vineeta. She will type them.”
Ameya felt he had been promoted.
He followed Koli into the marketing class. She looked at him unhappily. He approached her and said, “Madam, my specialization was in Marketing, One day even I want to become a teacher of marketing. Could I please attend?” Even Ameya knew he was pushing it too far. She grunted. He took it as approval and sat down.
Koli had no notes and no texts. She just brought a chalk with her and conducted the entire class. Ameya completed his minutes during the class. Everytime he would try to remember something and look up, he would see how quiet the class was and how every student was paying rapt attention. He too sat there as a student and restudied the elements of advertising. He made a note to attend the same lecture by another teacher and compare the technique. If he wanted to be a teacher, he would have to start somewhere. Koli wrote very few words on the board and the students wrote nothing in their books. But they were told to read 10-12 pages for the next lecture. Ameya could not believe that the students were so obedient as to actually do that. But everyone seemed to be following the lessons.
“That was very nice Madam. I have never seen such an alert class.”
“If you can capture their imagination, they learn better.”, Koli said. Ameya caught a faint glint of what he thought was the passion of teaching flit past her face.
Ameya sat next to the cooler in Koli’s office. Mr and Mrs Thacker looked troubled. Koli had called Digesh Thacker’s parents to her office.
“Digesh has been sent home many times, Mr Thacker. But not until I called you did you know about this.”
“We both work and we never knew that he is not coming to college.”
“The problem is that he DOES come to college…but not to the classroom and even when he does, he angers the teachers and misbehaves…so they have to send him home.”
“But he is a nice boy.”
“I am sure he is good at home and there could be many reasons he is a bully in college. But unless he is punished, he will continue to be like this and it will harm his academics.”
“He is an intelligent boy, Madam.”
“I have seen Digesh from the 11th grade. I know how good he was. In fact I think I was the one who interviewed him for the Tata Scholarships. But now he thinks he is too smart even for the teachers. He talks non stop and makes comments when the teachers back is turned. The worst thing is that he has his gang of followers that make him into some sort of leader figure. He needs good company and special attention from you too.”
“I don’t know what else to do Madam. Our younger one is not very good at studies. Whom will I look after?”, Mrs Thacker cried out.
Koli took a deep breath. “I have scheduled an appointment with a counselor who cousnels across all our schools and colleges. Let me see when she is free. Then we can get her to speak to Digesh. You too will need to be present. It is for his future.”
The parents looked disappointed. But they politely thanked Koli and left.
“They will not come back.”, Koli said under her breath.
Ameya heard it. “Why do you think that Madam?”
“Did you see the look on their faces when I mentioned counselor? They think that I am saying their son is ‘mental’ because I said counselor. And these are the educated parents.” Koli sighed heavily. Ameya could see the lines of worry crowd her face. He had renewed respect for her. She really cared for her students.
“So what have you learnt today?”, she asked cheering up.
“Never tell a parent that their child is bad?”
Koli smiled.
“I’ll just submit the minutes and leave, Madam. I had a good experience today. Thank you.” Down the stairs and out on to the street, Ameya’s brain was flooding with questions, suggestions and changes…but it would have to take its own course.
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