My Students'Habitat
My Students’ Habitat 26 November 2022, Saturday. “Priya!” Tu ithe aa. Kal kyu nai ayi?! Asked the elderly cleaning lady as I met her today to give her my mobile number. Sometimes,you genuinely don’t want to leave a connection you make and that’s when mobile can come in handy. Isn’t it all just an attempt to stay in contact, in touch? To not loose each other even when we are not in the same spaces. That’s what has happened to me in my three months tenure as an intern teacher in this school of a small village in Punjab. We all don’t want to loose each other. We are bonded by love, and now connected with technology. As I rush towards the bus, Rohit calls me out to say: “Punjabi seekhne vale madamji”(which has now become his tagline for calling me) “aj hamare saath aajao”. I smile and say nothing because I acknowledge his acceptance of me in silence. I acknowledge them wanting to have me in their circle and my heart fills with gratitude. I enter my bus with the kids calling out to me...