Ever since we (speaking on behalf of my sister too) have gained sense of the world, Mummy and school has been conjoint words for us. My mother is a school teacher who retires today. After working for 39 years and 9 months. Retiring as Headmistress of a school where you started working would be special; and Mummy has had a unique stint. Joining as a teacher in a school which was established in 1977, and well before she was married, Deulbera Colliery Model Nodal High School (current name; else for us it has always been Model High School) has been an integral part of her life.
We stayed close to the school. In a Miners Quarter (MQ in short) allotted to teachers. We could hear the school bell ring (the piece of railway track iron with a hole made in it) at 10 in the morning, then the recess and so on. School, though we didn't study there, has been an integral part of our lives as well.
My earliest memories involve being pampered by Mummy's colleagues, going on school trips, being around in umpteen number of school functions which would involve song preparation (In the karaoke days, those sessions don't happen, so iykyk), Ganesh puja & Saraswati puja at school, the sports days, etc. In summers there would be "bundles" of answer papers at home which Mummy would correct and sometimes I got to add the marks of. There would be morning school on Saturdays and in later years in scorching summers of Odisha.
39 years and 9 months is a long time. Mummy has seen up close the school transform from being a colliery school (Talcher is India's top coal producing city), to semi-govt status, to being accorded high school status and finally at the end of her career being "transformed" (infrastructure upgradation) as per an endeavour of the Odisha government.
Back in the day whenever Mummy's student would cross path on the road on a bicycle, whatever the speed, they would get down, to pay their respect. I found it very amusing and quite irksome. I hope they don't do it these days. From what I have learnt, Mummy has been quite a disciplinarian, something that she perhaps have taken from my grandfather and the early headmaster's she has worked under. Never one to physically punish students (something that was common many years back; remember 39 years), her no-nonsense attitude perhaps set the rules.
Through the years Mummy taught various subjects, originally from Sahitya (literature) to history, to Odia and more. The workload at school had only increased over the years and the last stretch of being Headmistress has been stressful for her. But she enjoyed her work. To get things at home done, get ready, wear that saree (earlier there was no uniform for teachers), grab the bag and walk to school (take the auto, later when we shifted house) has been a routine we have witnessed growing up.
Mummy not merely did her job, but her commitment to the school, the burning many midnight lamps (sometimes literally because we had a lot of power cuts) to prepare some or the other document (Hand written. People with good handwriting like her often get more work), to focus on moral values of students, to support (train actually) co-curricular activities of students, bring innovative ideas has contributed in making Model High School stand out among other schools.
To not do that from tomorrow onwards will be surely different. A 39 years 9 month long routine builds a muscle memory of different kind. The psyche is attuned to that. Couple of generation of men and women have been her students now. Leaving all that, shifting to a new city later, will be challenging and will truly herald a second innings (however cliche the expression sounds).
An almost four-decade long career, which she herself wonders how she pulled through, has come to a close today. It is time to reminiscence the days gone by, the fond associations, the moments of glory, the richness of service provided, the immense learning that has occurred, the innumerable lives touched. And through those thoughts look forward to better things.
For Model High School, Subhasree Mishra will be an integral part of its existence and growth. For hundreds of students, Mishra didi will have played some role in their lives. For us, Mummy and school will always be conjoint words.
