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Small Tribute

Sometimes the corniest movies can get me to a nostalgic place. Such was the case watching Chalk N Duster. Worthy topic handled in a cringe inducing melodramatic manner notwithstanding a powerhouse cast. But at some level this movie succeeded for a viewer like me. It made me tear up thinking of my school teachers - some of whom have shaped me into the person I am, the good parts of it atleast. Mrs. P, Ms. M and Mr. J were pivotal in awakening the love of literature, curiosity about worlds and lives unknown, unseen that serves me well to this day. Mrs. P shaped my earliest tastes in reading and showed me how I could forge my own path from there - which I did. 

Then there was Mrs. G who taught me history is about the mistakes we make here and now because we did not learn from the past, the story of how we got here and what it would take to get to a better place. She was talking about preserving heritage and environment so we don't lose our bearings and navigation markers. She taught us how to read a piece of news and tie it back to bits of history from which we may learn what might happen next. To us Mrs. G was a detective who used history as her tool of trade. We were in awe of how well she made connections. 

The movie made me think about gratitude and expressing it. The classroom interactions with these teachers took place in a happy bubble and maybe it took that eco-system for us to get the value that we did. In real life they have families and roles to play that do not intersect with being our teacher. Somewhere the magic-spell breaks. I cannot imagine Mrs. G doing such mundane stuff as cleaning the kitchen, paying bills and running errands. She did magnificent things in the classroom and that's the image I hold so dear in my memory. Yes, I could reach out to her on Facebook and tell her what she has meant for me but selfishly, I don't want to break the spell, have Mrs. G descend into the realm of ordinary people like me. She was a superhero as were Mrs. P, Ms. M and Mr. J. This is my tribute to all of them for shaping all that is good in me. Happy New Year!

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