Little Gestures

Another, more recent one :)

Three years of college life have taught me more than I can ever pen down. From participating in inter-college fests to raising sponsorships in my college, I was doing it all. Since I was getting the exposure for the first time in my life, I was very excited about it.  Academics were conveniently pushed to the background. Somehow, with all the activity around, I was also learning how to be less and less considerate of people around me. For instance, I would be absent for lectures unnecessarily, and would not bother to inform my teachers about it. Words like thank-you and please, which I took for granted from others, were slowly vanishing from my vocabulary.

This incident happened when we were having the last few classes, before our college life ended. Every student loathes these “extra” classes. I chose to stay away from these, except for the classes of our HOD, whom I completely adored. I would slip out of the class after he finished his lecture, and did not bother to attend a single class of the guest lecturer who was requested to teach us for some time.

That day my friend was urging me to attend the guest faculty’s lectures, as the attendance in her classes was low. My friend thought it was rude of students to walk out on her, more so because she was not from our college. I remember what I had said – “It isn’t solely my responsibility. I cannot sit through the two-hour sessions when I don’t feel like”. Then, our HOD entered.  He talked about the low attendance in the other professor’s class, and suddenly shot questions at me. He asked if I had attended her class. I had not. He remembered that I had attended his last class, which was right before the other one. Damn.

He did not yell at me. He did not insult me or throw me out of the class. He simply said this was not what he was trying to teach us for three years and that there was more to education than mere academics. Suddenly, it hurt. It had not hurt when he had bullied me into apologizing to my teachers a few days earlier. However, it did hurt today. It made me confront myself, rather shockingly. I was forced to face the person me, instead of the girl who actively participated in college activities. I realized that I had stopping making those little gestures of courtesy long ago.

A small incident affected me deep inside for some reason that I am still trying to figure out. I still do not know why I felt the way I did. Probably because it was said in front of the whole class. Probably because it was that particular professor who said that. However, I know that I have learnt the importance of that one single word – courtesy. Thank you sir, for reminding me that learning isn’t only about specific subjects. For teaching me that being a better person counts more than being more accomplished.

That reminds me that I smiled and said a genuine “thank you” to the guard who held the door for me this morning. A second thank you was said silently, to my teacher.