Best taught practical lesson by my teacher at school

People have various memories when it comes to their school years and the feelings associated with those memories range from dread and embarassment to happiness and joy.

I have wonderful memories of my school life since I was a popular kid because of my interest in music and because I sang all the popular songs with passion and gusto (which made my fellow students go wild!)

All through those formative years I had the privilege of having studied under various teachers who contributed to my overall development; however, I believe the most valuable lesson I learnt was from my Physical Education Teacher & Basketball Coach, Mr. Harpreet Singh Salariya.

It was a pleasure to connect with him over LinkedIn in the past week and that connection brought back memories of when he motivated me to speak the truth.

Now, Mr. Salariya was a fun guy but he could also give you a tight slap if you were disobedient or insolent, so a part of me used to be kinda scared of him.

Our school, St. Xavier’s School; New Delhi used to host an Inter-School basketball tournament called the 'Niesen Memorial Tournament' (named after a Jesuit priest) and Mr. Salariya always ensured that one of the school’s best singers would keep the crowd entertained during the half time break of the Finals of the tournament.

The year was 1992 and he told me to sing a song for the final. As luck (or ill-luck) would have it — I completely forgot about his instruction and did not show up to sing for the finals.

Now, Mr. Salariya was an extremely healthy man (mentally and physically) at that time and had a very good memory.

A few days later, he came to me and asked me why I wasn’t there for the final! I was shocked (that I had completely forgotten about his instruction) and bloody scared (of the imminent whack I was expecting to receive) and just looked at him in alarm!

Upon gathering my wits and realising that there was no escaping, I did something I would never ever do, even in my wildest dreams and especially when I am in a fix!……….I told him the truth!

I told him that I had completely forgotten about his instruction and just looked toward my feet, knowing that the slap would be over in a fraction of a second.

To my astonishment, he looked at me for a few seconds (as if to decide which cheek to whack) and then he smiled!?

He told me that he was proud that I did not lie but was courageous enough to speak the truth!

I can still see him standing in the senior school assembly area, witha diary in his hand, telling me this!

That day, my whole impression of Mr. Salariya changed!

I am proud to have been taught and nurtured by such a great teacher (although I know I have not done any justice to the lesson I learnt).

This world needs such teachers who don’t just talk the talk but who lead by example and walk the talk!

My soul will always be thankful to him as such is the effect a good teacher has on his students.

I completed my school 28 years ago but I still remember this incident as if it happened just yesterday — that’s the kind of teacher that this world needs!

Looking at his LinkedIn profile I see that he is no longer working for a school but I am certain that he is contributing immensely by making this world a better place by touching the lives of numerous people around him!