Me and a Little Sweet Girl

It was one of the happiest days for me. The result of the class two was declared today. A sweet little girl with a smiling face was standing in front of me with a Report Card in her hand. She proudly showed me the report card and literally shouted with joy that she stood First in her class. I was feeling on the seventh sky. My joy knew no bounds. It was really one of the most special days for me. My memories went back like a flash back to eight months ago. One fine day her mother, who is the wife of watchman, approached me. She was looking very disturbed and restless. She told me that her daughter was very poor in her studies. Her daughter was not performing well in the class. She added that her daughter had very little in the studies and she did not listen to her. She said that they were very poor and cannot afford to send their daughter for taking tuition classes. She sought my advice about her daughter. I asked her to bring her daughter to me.

I tried to reason with myself to check if I can be of any help to the kid. I am a teacher in a School and teaching is my passion. I decided to spare some of my time for teaching the girl. I discussed the matter with my husband and he encouraged me to go ahead with my mission. After one or two days I asked her mother to send her daughter to me with books. I told her not to pay anything to me for teaching her daughter. I decided to teach the sweet girl without any kind of fee.

She started coming to me. I started teaching her for one hour daily in the evening. Firstly, I would help my kids to finish their homework and then would attend to her. While teaching her English and Mathematics, I noticed that her response was very slow. Her reflexes were also not very sharp. I started teaching her the basics in English. I also tried to teach her mathematics in a way she could feel interested in solving its problems. Gradually, she started picking up the threads.

She also started taking considerable less time for solving mathematics problems. In English I taught her in a manner, so that she could feel comfortable with the language. I convinced her that English is another language like Hindi and she can learn it easily. I would bring her some easy pictorial storybooks of English to invoke her interest in English. I helped her gain her confidence in her studies.

After two months, her first terminal exams were held. She did well and could secure average marks. I took it as an improvement, because earlier she would secure below average marks. I continued with my efforts with dedication. After few months she told me that her class teacher now recognizes her well, as she would come out with responses in the class. In the half yearly exams, my hard work bore some fruits; she secured more than average marks. From the bottom of the table she was now amongst the top ten students in the class.

I would give her homework daily and would ask her to solve some problems in front of me to gain the momentum. Simultaneously, I told her that she had the capability and she could excel in her studies. By the time her final exams were held, I was sure that she would perform well. She did not let me down; she did pretty well in her exams. Ultimately, she secured the first position in the class, to the astonishment of her class teacher and her parents. Her parents thanked me profusely for my dedicated efforts. I in my heart of heart was more than happy, because I could help an average child to come out with flying co lours. I felt that every child has the potential to excel, but she needs to be guided, groomed and polished so that she could produce her best.