Familiar Unfamiliarites

Pawan Kumar Dubey

They told us mankind was dying. We didn't believe them. There was simply no reason to. There was once a Pawan Kumar in Ayodhya, who lived thousands of years ago, and who had announced that he would roam about the earth as long as mankind would live. Today, I say that mankind is alive and well till the day people like Pawan Kumar, whom I met in Guwahati, as recently as a decade ago, are roaming about the earth. I am sure that this one sentence has you all thinking that I am speaking some utterly sophisticated rubbish. Believe me, I'm not. At the very outset let me assure you that every word flowing from my pen hence shall be true to my full knowledge.

Actually, to be honest, I didn't have very high an opinion of Mr Kumar in the beginning. It was with a heavy heart that we had bid a farewell to Mr. Joseph Braganza, our class teacher of three years. He had been imbibed so deep in our hearts that we couldn't imagine even the principal filling in his shoes. But to our utter horror and disappointment, the duties of our class had been entrusted to Mr Pawan Kumar, TGT Hindi.

The contrast of the situation wasn't lost on the students. On one hand was Joseph Braganza, neat and tidy, gentlemanly in his appearance and behaviour, with dashing looks and oh-so-classy English. To top it off, he was a master of witty remarks. On the other hand, pitted against him, was Pawan Kumar Dubey, TGT Hindi, teaching a subject which was more of a compulsion than an interest. Shabby looks, middle-class clothes, a face more suited for Bhojpuri films rather than an English medium school, a Hindi reeking of a strong dehati accent. And the icing on the cake was all those references which we never got. It was like comparing Batman with Chhota Bheem. Utterly unacceptable.

Naturally, the students were irked by this move of the authorities and the management. While there were mostly silent protests, there were five stars of our class - including me - who were particularly active. We carried out an all-out attack against Mr. Dubey, which included sloganeering and vandalism inside the campus. Now as we know, schools in India are the most undemocratic institutions one can find. They only teach values of democracy but never follow it. Consequentially, we were taken into notice by the authorities and one fine day I heard my name taken by the principal, standing at the doorstep of our class.

“Master Sharma”, the old and scary lady called out, “I think I should have a tete-a-tete with you and four of your friends. Would you mind stepping out of the sanctum sanatorium of your class?” We were scared to death. At this very moment, a very familiar voice uttered some very unfamiliar lines, in prim and proper English. “Madam, I think it is an internal matter of the class. I will look into it personally. I assure you that such incidents will not occur in the future. Now, if you'd let the class continue. Have a good day, madam.” We were quite taken aback by the turn of the events. But this was not all. Looking at us right after the principal left, Dubey sir continued, “you five, meet me after school today.” The horror in our hearts returned.

“You all do not know how to carry about a protest. However you do have a knack for politics. Here are some books about political organisation, study them thoroughly before you agitate the next time. And remember a golden rule, the perfect crime is one about which everyone knows but no one is sure about.” With these words, he had ended our punishment. The principal would have probably rusticated us for our activities. And that would have ensured that our lives were well destroyed. But Dubey sir understood the situation perfectly and did accordingly. He diverted the negative energy we were generating at that moment and created respected humans out of us.

Pawan Kumar Dubey was transferred, like his predecessor, after three prosperous years in the school. During which he unleashed new life into me and tens alike. He's probably retired from teaching now, but I'm sure that he's still continuing the good work of cultivating wonderful humans. Proof? Well, the mankind is alive and well.