Bonded by the Strings of Love, Purer than the Bond of Blood

What is more pure and true than the bond of blood?

Have you ever experienced such a relation that is bonded only by the strings of love?

I was in 5th standard, a new teacher joined our school and her name was Sneha Agrawal. Our class was her first academic batch to teach because that was her first job posting. She was always having a pretty smile on her face while entering our class. Sneha ma'am was an excellent teacher and she had a magical attraction in her teaching. She was really fond of us all. But, there was one girl who was always sitting on the last bench of the class and her name was Shefali. Sneha ma'am never liked that girl, because she was not good in studies, poorly organized and never paying attention to anyone. She was coming to our school with a dirty uniform and her hair were always messed up. Slowly, Sneha ma'am started hating that girl from the bottom of her heart. Gradually, she started criticizing Shefali all the time and giving her examples while explaining some people with abnormal behavior. She was listening all these silently and never reacted to any of these criticism. She was never giving her good feedback on her daily diary and all the pages of her notebooks were filled with red marks. The whole year passed just like that and after our annual examination got over, we started enjoying our summer break.

After 2 months, again we started going to school and we were too much excited to sit in the 6th standard. On the first day, again we were lucky to have the first lecture with Sneha ma'am. She started the class with a pleasant smile. While teaching she went to the last bench and stood sometime near Shefali. She asked her very calmly one question from the textbook. Shefali stood silently with her head down. Then surprisingly, Sneha ma'am did not scold her. Instead, she explained the answer to her 2-3 times and asked her to repeat after her. The whole class was stunned by this changed behavior of ma'am. We were unable to understand how and when this change happened. But, we were afraid to ask this directly, so we kept silent. This continued for two months, then Shefali was a bit more confident and started answering the questions of not only Sneha ma'am but other teachers too. Then, her academic performance also became good. I can say that, after that, she never got any red mark on her diary or notebooks. She started taking part in other curricular activities too. The credit behind her complete transformation can be given to Sneha ma'am and she became one of her favorite students.

After one year, Sneha ma'am got posted to another school and we organized one small farewell ceremony for her. We all brought different gifts for her and presented them one by one. When Shefali's turn came, she stood silently and she was very reluctant to give the gift she brought for ma'am. Ma'am asked, "Do you also want to give me something? If so, why are you hiding that behind you? Show me, what have you brought?" After that Shefali with a lot of hesitation gave her one ring. It was not a ring of gold or diamond. It was just an ordinary ring which lost its shine long ago. It was looking just a piece of junk. Shefali handed that over to Sneha ma'am and she was also trying to control her tears. She uttered few words, " This was my mom's...." Then her voice got choked and rest of the words remain unsaid. Without any delay, Sneha ma'am wore that ring and said, "Thanks Shefali. This is the best gift I have ever had."

-- Years after years passed. Back in 90's , there was no social media to connect with your near and dear ones. We were only having the option to write letters. I posted 2-3 letters to Sneha ma'am after she left and then stopped writing to her. But, Shefali was in contact with Sneha ma'am and she was never forgetting to write once a month. After our graduation back in 2010, most of our friends were settled after completing education. With the arrival of social media platforms, we all got chance to connect with each other.

In September 2020, I saw a post on my social media account and I was shocked and speechless. Shefali was working as a respected doctor in a private hospital. She was admitted in ICU after being diagnosed with Covid. Within a week of struggle, she finally died. Shena ma'am posted a post on her account after her demise. In that post, she asked Shefali to forgive her for her rude behavior during those initial days. She said, " I was always ashamed of my behavior towards you during those days. I was thinking you were stubborn and you deserved just hate. My disliking towards you converted to hating. I was not leaving a single chance to criticize or humiliate you. On that summer vacation, I accidentally found your previous academic records and I was completely shocked. All your records, notebooks and diaries never had a single red mark. How's this possible? How can such a good student be converted to a last-bencher?- These questions came to my mind. Then I asked your dad who was working as a clerk in our school. He said that you lost all your strength, confidence and smile with the sudden demise of your mom. He also said that you were very close to your mom and you were suffering a lot from inside with her departure. It made me speechless because I had no idea about that and I judged you on the basis of your performance. Then I understood, your mom was not there to clean your uniforms and dress your hair that's why those were always messy. I can't even imagine the pain of a young kid who lost her mother. It's so painful to lose the person you love most in the world. After knowing all these, I started hating myself. How can I be so insensitive that I could never see your pain and your struggle! After that summer vacation, all my focus was on you. I wanted to bring that old Shefali back. It only took a little bit of affection and understanding to mend your heart. You again started shining just like before. Without my knowledge, I have occupied a special place in your heart. On the day of my farewell, what did you presented to me? The last memory of your mom, right? It was not a costly ring, but its value in your life made it precious. It's not easy to present the last memory of your dearest person to someone else. I knew by that time that, you have given me the place of your mother in your heart. What else I could desire after getting so much love from you? That ring is priceless for me and I am still wearing this. It's hard to believe that my sweetest daughter left me forever. It will be so difficult to live without you. You made me complete with all your love. I still can't forget your last words when you called me just before your death and called me "mom" for the first and last time. I wish I can hear "mom" from you one more time, but that's not possible. May God give you peace."

It's almost a year after Sneha ma'am posted this. Ma'am also died of cardiac arrest before few months. I hope wherever she is, she must be happy with her beloved daughter Shefali. Though they were not bonded by the bond of blood, but their bond was more pure and full of love. In today's world where a student-teacher relation has been restricted within classroom and syllabus, such an instance of purest relation is very rare to find.

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