The 5 most influential teachers of my life

Today is Teacher's Day. In the journey of my life, I have met many wonderful mentors who have taught me something valuable, whether directly or indirectly. Today I am going to talk about the 5 teachers who have been the most instrumental in shaping my life. All of them have inspired me and made me the person I am today. 

My Grandmother

My maternal grandmother taught me to never give up on love and kindness, even if people have been cruel to you. Kindness and love are universal languages that even a deaf person can hear. There have been so many times when I felt the world is such a bad place and I should stop being kind and generous to people. But it is because of her that I follow~

Let love be the lyrics,

 let kindness be the music

Let your heart sing forever.

My Father

Now, my father teaches me something beautiful every single day. He is my role model and someone who inspires me all the time.

But the most important thing that he taught me in life is the value of patience and hard work. 

I was a very impatient girl who always wanted fast results. It is my Dad who taught me that hard work never goes in vain. But wanting immediate results take away the joy of a work well done. He taught me to find joy in working hard and to be patient with the outcome. 

Rina Ma'am

She was my class teacher in Class 9. Having lost my mother a year back, I was cocooned inside my own shell. I was unable to make any friends and was an extreme introvert. I used to cry at the drop of a hat and often felt pity for myself. 

Rina Ma'am was the angel who understood what I was going through at that time. She was very empathetic towards me. She taught me not to ever take sympathy of anyone and to stop feeling like a victim. She said that the world is my oyster and I should conquer it. 

So many things have happened in my life after I left school, but I had never forgotten her words. Till date, I don't take sympathy of anyone and I don't play the victim, even if I am going through the most difficult circumstances. 

Mallika Miss

Mallika Miss was my teacher from Class 4 to Class 7. I used to take English tuitions from her. She also taught English at our school. She was the person who instated my love for English Literature. It's because of her my favorite subject has always been English. Therefore, I am forever grateful to her. It's my dream to meet her some day and gift her all my novels.

When I was in Class 7, I was not good at sports. I was such a nerd that I used to prefer all my time reading. My classmates were making fun of me, saying that I did not win anything in the annual sports. Mallika Miss heard their conversation and seeing me upset, told me "Purba, it's not necessary to be good in each and everything. You need to choose your passion and be faithful to it forever. That will be more than enough." I had never forgotten her words. 

Books

How can books not feature in the list of 5 most influential teachers of my life? The person who introduced me to books was my mother. When I was five, she started gifting me beautiful story books in every occasion. She told me that books will never abandon me and will teach me the most important things of life. 

I cannot explain the massive role that books have played in my life. From Bhagavad Gita to The Alchemist, books have always guided me and showed me the right path. Without them, I cannot imagine my life. 

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." ~ William Arthur Ward

Here's wishing all the wonderful teachers a very Happy Teacher's Day! 

Who is that teacher in your life who has inspired you the most?

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Buy my new book "Canvas of a Mind", a psychological mystery here!

On loss, changes and adapting to them

Isn't life a series of painful losses? We lose some people to death and some people to life (misunderstandings, ego, destiny). 

The more we love a person, the more the loss affects us. The pain becomes so unbearable at times that life seems like a merciless struggle to cope up with the losses that life throws at us in the most unexpected times. 

Yes, there are gains too. There are blissful moments of togetherness and love when we laugh so loudly that tears roll down our eyes.

There are cuddles that are so tight that the feeling lingers on long after. Within the blinking of eyes, those moments become memories of beautiful moments spend with our loved ones. And I believe only those memories prevent us from drowning in the sea of life. We stay afloat, clinging to the memories in our heart and believing that our loved ones are there with us, even if we can't see them. We can still feel them even when they are not around. 

Life is unpredictable and changes are an uninvited visitor 

Last month, my life changed completely as I lost someone whom I had loved more than my mother. In fact, she was the mother figure of my life. My grandmother, my darling Dida, who had loved me unconditionally and had raised me after my mother passed away when I was twelve. She was my mom, my granny, my sister and my best friend. Yes, she played all these roles in my life with deftness. And losing her was like losing a huge piece of my heart. 

The only consolation that I could give myself was that she got relief from the unbearable pain. It was arduous to see her every day writhing in pain in front of my eyes. She suffered for one whole month. She had a brain stroke. It was heart wrenching to see her battling with the loss of memory and tremendous pain due to secondary infections. She was at home for the last 14 days and I feel blessed that I could care for her like a baby. I got the chance to mother her for those 14 days. 

My grandmother was a very fit lady who did all her tasks herself. She made tea for me whenever she made tea for herself. Last year, she went with Dad and me on a trip to Darjeeling. The manager of our hotel was surprised to see an old lady like her bubbling with enthusiasm. Despite getting much less than what she deserved in life, she was so full of life. She was the epitome of goodness and cheerfulness. 

Adapting to changes because life goes on...

Now when I have to spend every single day of my life without this magical person who was my mother, grandmother, best friend, and sister rolled into one, I feel lonely beyond words. When I lost my mother, I had a mother figure in my life. But with the loss of Dida, I am completely motherless in this huge world. 

There are days when I cry, scream and feel that I can't take it anymore. But thankfully my habit of writing saves me in those times. I record all the beautiful memories with Dida in my journal. It feels great to relive those moments in the white pages on those dark nights. I am planning to start a memoir section on my blog too. 

We, human beings are great at adapting to changes. No matter how painful the change is, we ultimately find a way to adapt and start again. And when I get drowned in the overwhelming emotions, I feel Dida is telling me how much she misses that twinkling smile on my face. She hated my tears and always blackmailed me emotionally by crying more than I cried. 

This is the last picture that I had clicked with Dida before she had the stroke. It was taken in March, this year and how crazily we were laughing our hearts out that day. I had no idea that after two months, I will be writing this post about losing her.

Dear Dida, 

My moonshine,

I will always look for you

In the starry nights,

In the goodness of the world;

I will always feel you

In the autumn breeze,

The cardigan you had woven for me;

I will always remember you

While having tea, 

And listening to old Bengali songs.

I will always miss you,

Cherish you, admire you

And love you!