The teacher opened the answer sheet and looked at the name. He was shocked to see the words page1 written at the top. He then noticed the name of the student. He looked up at the word again and realized it was meant to be "page 1". The students had missed the space between page and 1. He shook his head and started correcting the paper. A few minutes later, he got up and walked out of the staffroom. He tried to avoid looking at the trouble maker as he walked into the toilet. But the kid did not acknowledge the avoidance and blocked his way by standing in front of him. The teacher looked down at the kid's face, which had an evil smile. He looked at the teacher and chanted "Hi Sir. Bye Sir. You will die Sir." He ran out of the bathroom squealing in happiness. The teacher looked up at the ceiling. It seemed that his sight bored through the ceiling and passed through the clouds. He asked to someone who resided beyond the clouds "Why?"
As he walked out of the toilet he saw another kid, who smiled and said " 'sup Sir". The teacher stared at the kid for a moment and asked for the kid who had ran out of the toilet earlier. The kid outside said he was probably by the games field and asked what the issue was. The teacher explained the incident. The kid's face darkened and he shouted "How dare he steal my phrase! I made it up and wanted to tell it to you. But..." The teacher was shocked at the language that followed the "but" and asked the child to stop using such language. The child quickly said a "Sorry Sir" and ran away. The teacher looked up once more and said what he had said earlier.
As the teacher walked into the classroom, two students ran up to him and complained about their missing pens. The teacher sat down on the chair and held his head between his hands. He looked up and shouted the class to silence. He asked the people to gather around him. He took a few minutes to look at each face in the crowd. Each face had a pair of wide open eyes staring back at him. He cleared his throat and said "All those people who have lost their pens over the last week raise your hands." Fifty percent of the class lifted their hands. He looked at the hands in shock and said "What so many pens lost? This is ridiculous. Who is doing this? Answer me now!" The class remained silent. No one spoke. "Tell me now! Who is doing this?" he shouted. No response still. He realized the futility of asking any further. He took off his teacher mask and decided to don his preacher mask.
He said "Children, it is wrong to take other's articles. You have the right to do what you want to do with your article; within the limits of safety, of course. But you have no right to take somebody else's articles without their permission. So if you pick a pen from their table or bag, you are thieving and you are a thief. Of course, you might pick something to use it for a moment and return it but it is wrong to do this, if you have not taken prior permission. Worse, if you put it in your pocket forgetfully and it is found with you, think of the embarrassment. Please understand something! If you take other's articles without their permission, you are a thief and a robber. I have nothing more to say. I hope whoever has taken the pens, will return it by evening. Keep it on my desk". The children looked back at him quietly with their eyes open wide. He ignored them and went ahead with the class.
Later that day, as he was walking back to the staff room, he saw a teacher walk up to him shaking her head which contained a face with a disturbed expression. The sides of his head started throbbing. She came up to him and said "Isn't she in your class?" He responded with an affirmation. "Do you know what she had done?" asked she. He said "No". "Well! Some of the little ones walked into your class and started rummaging through things. They picked up a pen and played with it. In the process the pen broke. Just then the girl and the boy whose pen broke walked into the class. They were livid on seeing the little ones and the mess they created. She shouted at them and called them thieves as they took other's articles without their permission. The little ones were shocked and ran out of the room bawling. As they ran out, she called out 'stop thieving'. The little ones are very upset. I had to talk to them for nearly half an hour. You should talk to the girl. This is not right. Wonder where they pick up such things!"
He stood transfixed at the spot. He wanted to open his mouth and say something but could not do so. After a few seconds, he nodded his head to inform her that he will take care of the situation and walked away. As he walked into the class, the girl came running towards him shouting "Those little fellows are thieves. They were thieving in our classroom." He asked her to stop shouting and said "Do you know you hurt those little children?"
"But they were thieving".
"They were only playing with the pen."
"But they did not ask permission!"
"They are small children. They did not know what they were doing. They were only playing."
"They are not small. They are nine years old."
"But they were not stealing anything; they were only playing with the pen."
"No! They did not take permission and they were thieving."
"You cannot be mean to the little ones."
"But you said the same thing to us. Were you being mean to us?"
"That was different. People were losing pens and as a teacher it is my responsibility to stop it. People were taking away pens. You are all grown up. The little ones are younger than you. They were only playing with the pens and not trying to take it away. Beside, they played with the pen that was outside on the desk and did not take out the pens from inside people's bags. Don't you see the difference."
The girl looked at him for sometime and said an hesitant "Ok, I understand" before walking away.
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