A good "waste product".

School is a terrifying place when you are taking classes. The homework, unit tests & prayer time definitely top the list of everyday irritants. Often you would have other nightmares like having to read the news or "thought of the day" on the dais or the Wednesday PT in the school ground under scorching sun (and fake that blackout).
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One day when you would hate the teachers most is when they would hand out the unit test results every month. I never understood why evaluate us every month, 12 times a year, when year after year, the same teachers would see no improvement in their subjects and subjects refers to us! If there was new teacher, it would be worse cause the counter would be reset. It takes years of hard work to create a solid bad impression on the teacher for him to ignore you completely and spare the beating! For most in the class just like me, there wouldn't be a reason to rejoice on a day if results of more than 1 subjects were handed out. The day would be spent nursing - knuckles, ears, cheeks, back and what have you. In extreme cases even thighs! Can you imagine the trauma of a ruler striking your legs! Well I've been through it all (like most of you suckers!).
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One such teacher from my school days was Lakshmaiah Sir, my Chemistry Teacher. A tall, dark, curly haired man with fiery red eyes (We never looked into them so I'm guessing!). Strict is an understatement in his case cause he would not hesitate one bit to plant a slap across your face at silliest of reasons like not completing the homework (they ARE silly reasons for students). It seemed to us that he would enjoy the game of asking questions and randomly picking on one of us who would never raise their hands to answer. He was no less than a terrorist for us on judgement day, day of the test results. He wasn't like the nice teachers who would fling the notebook to you. He would call you over to his desk near the blackboard and pinch your ears or slam the notebook on your head. If you tried to grab the test notebook and run back to your desk, he was capable of grabbing your shoulders and planting a firm fist on your back. He wouldn't call you an idiot or donkey or a shameless bugger. He was a chemistry teacher to the last chemical particle in his body so he would brand you a "Waste Product". Like he would shout at you and say -- "What re waste product? Why only 7 out of 35 in this test? Did not get a chance to copy or what?"
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But for all his heart-of-steel image, he was the one of those who would care if you were sick and ask you how you were feeling even after the class, in case you bumped into him. He would slap your face during the class but then softly (as soft as he could get) talk to you during the practical and ask you to do better in the next test. We also saw him smiling a lot of times and he would let us eat "bondas" in the school premises from the old lady frying them in what looked like crude oil! He was the only teacher where I improved my grades all the way thru till the 12th board exams. In fact my best score was always in Chemistry though I loved the languages a lot more. He was simply a nice man trying to do his job honestly. He was just one of the old school teachers who were nice but would continue acting tough outside the class lest we take them less seriously during the Chemistry period.
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Now why did I get so grateful after decades? Cause for some reason I do not know, I've been using the words "waste product" a lot in the last few days. My school days, in spite of all the horrors & terrorist teachers, somehow shaped me into a pretty good "waste product". In the hindsight, Lakshmaiah Sir is definitely one of my favourite teachers ever!
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