Tale 1:
About 15 years back, I was a teacher at a public school in India. It was run at subsidized fees. It was a cosmopolitan school from students from everywhere over the country and from all standards of society.
I was a science and Math teacher for 4th graders. They were a lovely set of children to be with. I loved to answer all the questions they had and by far they always had a lot. There was in particular this handicapped girl, lets call her Swapna in my class who was also hardworking student. She came from a poor family and had lost her fingers in some home accident.
Once as I finished my class just before the lunch hour, I decided to sit back a bit to look through my notes before heading to the office. I noticed that Swapna first went through a struggle to open up her lunch box and then sat alone at her seat eating it. None of the students noticed her or even approached her to give company or share their lunch. I realized they all took the deformity due to accident very seriously and thought her to be different. It was no use explaining the students, so in a act of giving her some company I went ahead and opened up my lunch and shared it with her. As I spoke to her and ate out of her box and offered mine, the rest of the children in class, curious to know why the teacher was especially friendly to this student came forward. As I called in to them one by one and shared my and swapna's lunch with the rest they became more comfortable and friendly with Swapna. She reciprocated in a happy way and struck a good chord with other students. They probably din't understand then why they should not treat her differently, but definitely they accepted her as is and hence atleast for then they had learnt a good lesson of importance of acceptance.
This was one of those few times which stirred me and made me thank God for such a wonderful profession and opportunity where I could mold hundreds of beautiful, young, impressionable minds.
