One
day Maths teacher asked her students to list the names of the other
students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between
each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It
took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and
as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That
Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate
sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before
long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I
never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others
liked me so much," were most of the comments.
No one ever
mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed
them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
"Kargil"
war and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She
had never attended Funeral of a serviceman before. He looked so
handsome, so mature.
The place was packed with his friends. One by
one those who loved him took a last walk. The teacher was the last one
to bless .
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as
pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Sanjay's math teacher?" he asked.
She nodded: "yes.." Then he said: "Sanjay talked about you a lot."
After
the funeral, most of Sanjay's former classmates were there. Sanjay's
mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his
teacher.
"We want to show you something," his father said, taking
a wallet out of his pocket "They found this on Sanjay when he was
killed. We thought you might recognize it."
Opening the billfold,
he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had
obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew
without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed
all the good things each of Sanjay's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Sanjay's mother said. "As you can see, Sanjay treasured it."
All
of Sanjay's former classmates started to gather around. Arjun smiled
rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top
drawer of my desk at home."
Prithwiraj's wife said, " Prithwiraj asked me to put his in our wedding album."
"I have mine too," Rashmi said. "It's in my diary"
Then
Deepali, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her
wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry
this with me at all times," Deepali said and without batting an
eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists"
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Sanjay and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The
density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will
end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
Rememberr, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You
day Maths teacher asked her students to list the names of the other
students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between
each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It
took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and
as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That
Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate
sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before
long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I
never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others
liked me so much," were most of the comments.
No one ever
mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed
them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
"Kargil"
war and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She
had never attended Funeral of a serviceman before. He looked so
handsome, so mature.
The place was packed with his friends. One by
one those who loved him took a last walk. The teacher was the last one
to bless .
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as
pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Sanjay's math teacher?" he asked.
She nodded: "yes.." Then he said: "Sanjay talked about you a lot."
After
the funeral, most of Sanjay's former classmates were there. Sanjay's
mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his
teacher.
"We want to show you something," his father said, taking
a wallet out of his pocket "They found this on Sanjay when he was
killed. We thought you might recognize it."
Opening the billfold,
he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had
obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew
without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed
all the good things each of Sanjay's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Sanjay's mother said. "As you can see, Sanjay treasured it."
All
of Sanjay's former classmates started to gather around. Arjun smiled
rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top
drawer of my desk at home."
Prithwiraj's wife said, " Prithwiraj asked me to put his in our wedding album."
"I have mine too," Rashmi said. "It's in my diary"
Then
Deepali, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her
wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry
this with me at all times," Deepali said and without batting an
eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists"
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Sanjay and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The
density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will
end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
Rememberr, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You
