A teacher can mean many things. Someone who has helped you follow your dreams, or maybe someone who has taught you a new way to live, how to hone your talents and the most important thing; someone who has taught you something new, something you’ve never even known how to do, or even thought about! And that teacher, that “someone” has helped you to learn it. And that is amazing, you have something new to think about, and to apply into your daily life. It can be difficult to find that “someone”, but when you do, you learn, you dog it and you do it right. And you can achieve great things, all because of that one person. I was fortunate to find a great teacher myself, and sometimes..fate plays a part in it.
Jacksonville, Florida.
It was the spring of 2007. I had started singing when I was just a toddler, and according to my parents and relatives, I was gifted with a beautiful voice. I didn’t really pay much attention to it. Singing was just a way for me to have fun, during long, tedious car rides to a vacation spot, during summer holidays, and sometimes even trips to the gas station! I was singing well at a young age, but something was missing. My parents, especially my mother, wanted me to learn from someone. A teacher. Now, finding a teacher, an expertise in “Hindustani Classical” in the suburbs of Jacksonville, is pretty hard to find. Although like I said, fate played a part, and it always finds a way. In our voyage to find a singing teacher, we stumbled upon another teacher who taught kids to play the harmonium. And let me tell you, he was an expert. As a bonus, we also discovered I had another talent. I guess that makes two to the list of teachers who have changed my life and made me smile. After a few weeks and still no sign of a Hindustani classical singing teacher, my parents decided to ask my harmonium teacher if he knew any teacher in Jacksonville who taught singing. Surprisingly he did! And the better news was that she was only 10 minutes away from where we lived! I’ll admit, I was pretty nervous. But the excitement kept building up inside me as well. And the next day, we set off.
Now, to the main course. When we arrived, I thought this teacher was going to be really strict, really serious and just stern. But when that door opened, Boy! I was wrong. The moment I saw my teacher, I knew I was going to love singing even more than before, and I was right. She explained that she didn’t like posting adverts about her classes, which was understandable. She then asked me to sing, anything at all. Now, she usually took classes in groups, but to my surprise, she wanted to take classes separately for me because I was so good! That really made my day, and on top of that, she was really nice. I would take classes from her every week after school. My mom would drive me there with my brother in his small booster seat. They would go to the library a few blocks away while my class would be going on, and come back at the end time. When I entered her house, there was this “aura” which made me feel light. Singing was just, even more amazing. Her voice was “as sweet as honey” and it felt like I was on a tropical island, especially in her music room where we used to sing. See, even if you’re good at something, it’s the teacher that hones your talent even more and makes it all worthwhile. Much more events happened after that, I even sang at an event while my teacher was sitting beside me, but she was not singing with me of course! I was not “worthy” yet! And even more good times, were to come.
But of course, my teacher was not always all praise for me! That would be a bad thing too because then you start to get overconfident and in time, you even start to think highly of yourself. My teacher was nice and always corrected me when I made certain mistakes, which I was grateful for. Both, my singing and harmonium teachers were like that. And both classes were wonderful. The sound of the notes while I hit the keys when I played my instrument, and my vocals chords reaching as high as they could when I would sing a high note, was a breeze. The two classes were heartwarming and filled me with absolute happiness. It seemed it could never get any better than this, but again, fate always has new plans in store.
Eventually, in the year of 2009 we had to move back to India. I was sad and happy at the same time. Mostly sad. I had mixed feelings about the move. A week before we were supposed to leave, my singing teacher made a surprise visit to our house. I could tell she was heartbroken too, I could see it on her face, in her eyes. She stayed for a couple of hours, and before she left, she handed me a book. Fiction, just what I liked. She had tears in her eyes, and gave me a warm hug, then set off back home into the dark night. It seemed like the classes were over, but no. We planned to continue, over SKYPE, which was just astonishing and amazing at the same time! She said it herself before she left! The same went for Harmonium classes. My teachers still wanted to continue classes with me, which filled my heart with joy. And to this day, we still practice together, just like we did in her mystical music room.
It’s not only a teacher who makes a good class, but it’s also about the student who makes it perfect for the teacher.
This post has been shortlisted as part of #OnceAtSchool contest. To read other shortlisted contest entries, click here.
Nice Job Dear Ameya!!! Well done..We’ll written! !
Well written Ameya…you have an easy flowing style which manages to hold the reader’s interest. The language is simple, lucid and manages to evoke images in the mind. The only area which could be improved upon is the editing.
Wish you all the best!