Explore this blog by clicking on the labels listed along the right-hand sidebar. There are lots of interesting stuff which you won't find on the home page
Seriously curious about me? Click on ' What sort of person am I?'

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Filling in

I suppose I owe a word of apology to those of my readers (I know there are a few) who wait eagerly for the next installment of what has become virtually a once-a-week ritual: I’ve kept them waiting. These last few days have been admission season, and every year around this time my family has all its work cut out, handling floods of people and answering the phone from dawn to almost midnight, doing a lot of clerical work and waiting and saying the same things over and over again. There are also some minor irritations every time. You must remember that all this happens in the midst of existing classes running round the week as per usual schedule. The result is not only exhaustion but frayed nerves and minds perforce emptied of all other kinds of thought. Hence no blogposts for a while.

One good thing this time is that the weather has been unusually balmy, thanks to several early nor’westers since mid-March. It still doesn’t feel as though summer is here, and the trees all around are lush green, and the cuckoos are going full blast right since the wee hours of the morning. It is good not to have to cope with sweltering heat on top of everything else.

This is not only my silver-jubilee batch with class nine-rs, but it so happens that it’s my daughter’s batch too. I can’t believe she has grown up so much. I hope all my well-wishers wish me luck. Growing old has its compensations: over these last few years the number of pupils who are children of my own childhood friends has been increasing.

Meanwhile I also note with pleasure that the number of people who have kindly enlisted as followers is about to approach the 200 mark. That will be a small milestone, and I request the 200th person who enlists to let me know who he or she is; it will be a pleasure to say ‘welcome’. The fact that the number of visits has been climbing slowly but relentlessly is another very nice thing indeed. It is not easy to write continuously and keep people interested in this day and age (without resorting to sleaze, sensation or some sort of commercial solicitation) for almost five years at a stretch. The overwhelming majority of bloggers I know – especially among Indians – run out of steam after the first half dozen posts, and the visit count never goes beyond four figures. I also happen to know that there have been a number of new visitors of late who have been exploring this blog eagerly: them I request to visit and comment on older blogposts, instead of restricting themselves to only what they find on the home page. That is something I find especially delightful, and I daresay my new readers will find quite a lot of stuff to interest them, too.

Finally (for now) I note wryly that very few people have found anything to say with regard to my last two blogposts. I flatter myself that I have made a lot of readers uncomfortable, and left them at a loss for words…

5 comments:

Anand Tiwari said...

Dear Suvro da,

Best of luck with your new batch of students. They certainly are lucky to have you as their teacher. I am not familiar with the admissions process but it does seem a little imposing from the description in your blog. I am sure you screen your potential students well. On an unrelated note, I have dug up some interesting research on the 'mahabharat'. I will type it up as soon as I find time. It is related to the calculation of the actual calendar dates on which the war was supposedly fought.

Convey my best wishes to Urbi as she embarks on her high school journey. She has exceptionally high standards to live up to but she should always try to be herself no matter how illustrious her parents are.

Shilpi said...

I don't know whether you owe an apology, Suvro da, but it was certainly good reading and re-reading this post and letting it rustle through the head. You answered some of the questions that were brewing in my mind at any rate, and it's more than a relief to know that the weather is being fair.

I did wonder and I'm assuming now that a part of my fratchiness over the weekend was because of the absence of a post/essay here!

I wish the three of you smoother days ahead of course and times of, well why not - serenity and good cheer, once the admission rush is over.

I can't believe that your daughter is now in Class IX. I can't wrap my mind around this. It seems only a little while ago that she was in Class V.

Please keep writing. Looking forward to reading many essays and posts - here (it really has become a weekly ritual) and on your other blog, for which I, for one, harbour a very spot soft - and writing sensible comments.

Shilpi

Unknown said...

Dear sir,

It feels so good to know you are into your silver- jubilee of teaching this year. I can only say it had been a real pleasure and privilege to have you as a teacher and your teachings and contributions in my life will not be forgotten .

Continue the good work and wishing you all the best,sir.

Regards,
Avishek

Rashmi Datta said...

Dear Sir,

I completely understand how exhausting it is for you to handle the admission time rush. I hope it ends soon and that you and your family get back to your previous routine.

I too have been blessing the comfortable weather every morning, wondering how the merciless summer's arrival is being pushed back like an unexpected boon.

Congratulations on your silver jubilee batch with class nine-rs, Sir. I am sure it will be a memorable one for you. You and Urbi have all our good wishes.

Your blog posts help me view the world around me with a new perspective and thank you very much for that, Sir. Please do keep blogging for many years to come. I have never been your pupil but thank my lucky stars that I had the opportunity to come in contact with a person like you.

Warm regards
Rashmi

Suvro Chatterjee said...

When I look back upon all those years of teaching, and vaguely recall a few (a few hundred, actually) of those I have taught, I wonder how many of them care to read this blog, and why so few of them could bother to write in a few words here, if only to say "I remember my days with you... thank you for the memories... good luck with your silver jubilee batch".

And then when I say this universal coldness has embittered me and turned me into a bit of a misanthrope, people lecture me about how I don't have a "right" to say such things!