Teachers' year 2006

2006 was the year of pursuits. The year began with car driving. My new car ( which is old now!! ) had to be tamed and it took me exactly 15 days to do so. Not to forget the hours of driving later on to get used to the damn thing. Nevertheless, control behind the steering wheel is fun. Driving my loved ones around makes me a little happy and a little scared. Fear that a small mistake can be costly is natural, but I'm lucky to have not got into such a state even once in the last one year. My driving instructor Mr Ganesh has been the sole reason for my being able to car around. I can still remember his instructions while he taught me a year ago.
To summarise driving from Ganesh sir's manual :-
1.'Space vidakoodaadhu poyinde irukkano',
2.'Over speed venda steadya po',
3.'Steady, steady the steering',
4.'Gear correcta change pannu regaaa',
5.'ooramaa turn pannu'
I have not enough words to thank this great teacher, who in my opinion can teach anything he takes up well, not just well, excellently.

Come mid 2006 and I met the most wonderful music teacher in my life. A guru who for whom words like 'Impossible', 'I dont know' , 'this raga is tough' 'I hate this raga' is replusive; someone for whom life has presented challenges at every stage ,yet her music stands aloof;soemone who battled cancer only to sing better. Neela Maami,I salute your positive energy. You make me want to be a better singer. And your ever-smiling-crack-jokes attitude makes us students love you all the more :)

The year ended with a swimming stint,an eternal longing to learn swimming was fuelled one day when I saw my niece swim. Swimming is a miniature model of our own lives. I may sound too cliched but look at it this way :- fear of unknown territory, holding oneself too tight to let go, not trusting enough, preassumptions about your own abilities,fear of natural elements,etc are aspects in life as much as they are in a swimming pool. The more I make it sound difficult,my coach Ms Bhuvana makes it sound that easier. It is because of her faith in me, am motivated to go back to those unknown waters daily,trying to befriend them,to enjoy myself and let go.
It feels complete when you let yourself be consumed by water. It probably feels that way when you are loved by that special someone, I dont know!! Someone was not wrong when they said water was therapeutic.

I did not wish this blog to be this long, but no words (read as long sentences!!) suffice to describe my teachers of 2006. I'm glad I met these three people who turned my life in a certain direction worthy of whatever it means. Beyond these three people, I also met some unconventional teachers in the form of ordinary people, commonplace people who unknowingly did help me discover myself. They taught me how to live life without having expectations yet be grateful, to listen more and talk less, to give more and want less.

Someone did make a difference...