But the sun also rises

Since I ended the last post by saying I have always tried to be keenly sensible of whatever little goodness I have seen around me, let me recollect some nice and warm memories for my own satisfaction, and as a kind of public thanksgiving:

There have certainly been hundreds of parents who have not only spoken highly of me in their own circles, but insisted that their friends and relatives send their children to me in their turn: else I could not have been in gravy all these years, especially since I gave up my last job, and have never gone for advertising my services;

There have been old boys and girls who have cheered me up by giving me lovely cards and gifts (including their own paintings and touching thank-you letters) on my birthday, Teachers’ Day,  at the time of leaving and years afterwards;

There have been boys and girls who have carried around my photographs/messages in their wallets for years;

Ex-students and parents have turned up to say thanks years afterwards, for all sorts of successes which they felt they owed at least in part to me – from getting admission to some elite college to getting a good job;

There are people around who were decent enough to come over and offer to pay another month’s fee when the tuition was already over (in case they had made a mistake), and even offer to pay for the period when they were taught for free, because at that time the family had been going through financial difficulties;

There have been parents and students galore who have vocally acknowledged, to my face and behind my back, that I had contributed something to making them better, stronger, more self-confident people, more sure of their likes and dislikes, dreams and ambitions, more able to overcome what they could clearly perceive as their drawbacks after being under my influence for a while;

There have been many old boys who have expressed genuine delight about keeping in continuous touch with me, and about my dropping in to visit them now and then, and going travelling with them;

There are people around, now grown up and well-educated and doing responsible jobs, who have done me the high courtesy of saying they still regard me as a teacher on active duty;

There are current and ex-students who have furiously defended me when they have heard me being abused in public by foolish and coarse people both young and old;

When my daughter was born, eleven doctors came over to enquire after her well-being and her mother’s, to the vocal amazement of the nursing home staff;

When I was briefly hospitalized for surgery, scores of people of all ranks came over to see me within those two days and a half, though we had told nobody outside a tiny circle of friends…

I could go on for some time longer. What I have been trying to say is, the world is not entirely full of filth and baseness yet, and I never allow myself to forget that – not for long, that is.