#FIND_YOURSELF @Mantra_2023 #Animal_Hide_and_Seek by Saroja Muralikrishnan [Class teacher 9A, BVM[E], 1991] I was never a voracious reader, not even an average one. I have not gone past reading Tinkle, Suppandi, and Amar Chitra Katha. Nevertheless, my love for stories remained intact thanks to many wonderful teachers [in family and otherwise] who influenced me with their narrations and perspectives. From Tinkle to academic research papers – I realized that the best teachers are the greatest storytellers who encourage others to think of a story from all perspectives. The more I listened, the more I understood myself. What I liked, what I didn’t, what I would tolerate and what I would not – ‘Being Boundaried’ is a lot of work on oneself. Our batch in grade 8 was deemed notorious, and no teacher apparently wanted to take us on in Grade 9 (that's another long story!). Saroja miss was the chosen one to show us the way. She not only showed us the way but also showcased us to the rest of the school in a grand way, and our reputation did turn around. But, that is not my personal memory. That was class memory. My personal one: During her class, she would keep throwing questions, and the usual ones would answer it even before I could begin to think. But there was this one question which stayed without an answer that she had in mind. She rarely gave away the answers and would only keep getting us to think further. The story was something like a grandma giving away all the broken pancakes to a hungry fox, but one day she shooed him away as her store of pancakes were all intact and none broken. The question “what we felt was not okay to do and why.” The answers ranged from “she should not have shooed,” “the fox was coming daily - bad fox!” "foxes are cunning in general," "grandma has the right to say no!" “the fox should not always beg and find its food” “grandma could have put up a board saying no cakes today” or “told the fox there are no cakes” and more. But she was looking for one particular answer. I was nearing a nervous breakdown when almost all the English laureates in the class were standing, and my turn was inching closer. I wanted to bury myself as I was certain my answer was stupid and prayed I became invisible and she would skip me. But nope! She found me. I could not hide any longer. I shivered and mumbled in a whisper, and she came real close to me to listen. “the grandma had a store of cakes, and yet she didn’t give, and she’d give only if it were broken.” And in her emphatic, strong, commanding voice, she said YES! and moved on quickly to explain to the rest of the class about privilege. I was frozen in time and then floating in a trance with the Ms. Saroja Muralikrishnan award of the year. Of course, the crown was invisible to everyone but stayed with me ever since. I never had my chin down if any question came my way thereafter! Thank you, Saroja Miss. May you continue to 'seek' every “hiding” child and help them believe that they can think! Thank you for giving me the chance to voice even when it shivered! Thank you for coming closer to me to listen to what I had to say. Thank you for not making it a big deal and celebrating me or the answer! Because you "normalized" the fact that anyone can think and speak up for themselves and their perspective, provided the ones in a position of power chose to go closer and listen! My voice does not shiver anymore! No matter what the question is and who questions! Your Sincere Student Always, Now, Dr. Seema Girija Lal, Ph.D. Thesis Topic: Understanding Vulnerability, Empowerment, Agency Thesis Title - Making Lived Experiences Matter THANK YOU You can order her book on Amazon. [Link to the book on Amazon]
