Abdul Kalam, A Lesson for my Teacher_ Learn English (IND) - Story for Children BookBox.com
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00:00I lived on the mosque street in Rameshwaram, a city famous for its Shiva temple.
00:20Every evening, on my way home from the mosque, I would linger near the temple.
00:27I always felt like a stranger here, as the temple goers stared suspiciously at me.
00:36They probably wondered what a Muslim boy was doing in front of a temple.
00:45The truth was that I loved to listen to the rhythmic chanting of the mantras, though I
00:52never understood a word.
00:56There was a strange magic in them.
01:02Of course, something else led me there.
01:08My best friend, Ramanath Shastri, was the son of the head priest.
01:16He sat beside his father at this hour, reciting hymns.
01:23Ram would steal a smiling glance at me from time to time.
01:31At school, Ram and I always sat together on the first bench of our classroom.
01:39We were like brothers.
01:43However, being a Hindu priest's son, he wore a sacred thread, while my white cap marked
01:53me as a Muslim.
01:56One day, when we were in the fifth standard, a new teacher came to our class.
02:05He looked strict.
02:08He went around the class, tapping his cane on his palm, and stopped before us.
02:16You, the one in the white cap, how dare you sit beside the temple priest's son?
02:23He shouted.
02:24Go, sit on the last bench.
02:29I felt hurt.
02:32With tears in my eyes, I picked up my books and shifted to the last row.
02:41Ram and I wept together silently after school.
02:46We thought we would not be allowed to be friends anymore.
02:53When I reached home that day, my father looked at me and asked,
02:59Were you crying?
03:01What's wrong, son?
03:04I recounted the whole incident to my father, while Ram also told his family the same story.
03:14Early the next morning, Ram came running to our house and said,
03:20Father has asked you to come to our house immediately.
03:24I was terrified.
03:26I thought I was in for some more trouble.
03:31We hurried back to Ram's house.
03:34My heart skipped a beat when I saw our new teacher standing there.
03:41In the light of our discussion, apologize to Kalam here, said Ram's father with a
03:48stern face.
03:50I could not believe what I had just heard.
03:55The head priest was asking the teacher to apologize to me.
04:02No child is less than another in God's eyes.
04:07It is your duty as a teacher to help students live in harmony in spite of the differences
04:14in their background.
04:18You can no longer teach in this school, he said.
04:24Our teacher immediately asked me to forgive him.
04:29He hugged me and said, I am sorry, Kalam.
04:33I have learnt an important lesson in life today.
04:38Ram's father saw that the teacher sincerely regretted his behavior and permitted him to
04:46continue teaching.
04:50From that day on, Ram and I sat together proudly on the front bench.
04:59We have remained the best of friends ever since.