A(nonymous) Phone Call.

Looking at this picture, anyone wondering whether this post is about a mathematical formula..? Certainly NO. This is about a phone call from one of the most revered persons in my life.

Sometimes some simple phone calls can make you very happy. Some phone calls are very special, so that you can't forget them very easily. The first phone call from your crush saying that he/she has fallen for you or you are abroad and you hear your baby's voice for the first time through a phone call- they all would be very special. But this phone call which started as an anonymous phone call,

which hardly lasted for about just 10 minutes is not one of the above kinds, but is very special just for this wonderful person on the other end.

...It was around 7:30 on a fine evening. As usual I was fighting with my program. It was giving all kinds of output except the one that I was expecting it to give..! You could have seen a troll photograph with this caption in facebook.."that awsomeee moment when your program works.. YAAY..!". I was desperately waiting for that moment - trying hard and exhausted. It was at this moment I got this phone call from 94438***** and the number was similar to that of my father's. The mobile was screaming and I quickly took the mobile phone, put it in silence and I was looking at the number for a few seconds. I was wondering who would be calling me from this unknown number
and that too with a slight resemblance to my father's number. Though I was slightly irritated for being disturbed from my work, somewhere from the bottom of my heart I was thanking this unknown person at that moment for giving me a short respite.

I picked up the phone and said "Hello.."
Mr. X :- "hmm.. dharani aras ah..?"

I guess people would sometimes skip this word 'hello' on a phone call only when they are talking to a very well known person or to a close friend. He skipped the word 'hello' on a phone call and straightaway mentioned my name. I was wondering who this person could be..a friend of mine..? But his voice seemed to be well matured.

Me   :- "aama..dharani aras thaan..neenga yaaru..?"
Mr. X:- "naan yaara..? hmm.. kandupudi paakalaam.."
Me   :- "kandupudikuratha..sorry sir..neenga yaarunu theriyalaye..?"
Mr. X:- "sorry ellam ethukku solra..seri..naama rendu perum konja neram pesuvom..enna unakku    
              nalla theriyum..naan unakku nalla  paritchiyamaana aalu thaan...un vaalkaila oru rendu    
              varusham en kooda spend panniruka..naama summa pesuvom..nee enna         
              kandupudikuriyaanu paakalaam..enna?"

All this he said in his own slang. Though at that moment I didn't know who he was, I was excited to talk to him. I felt like I have heard his voice a number of times...

Me   :- "(excitedly)..seri pesalaam..unga voice ah engeyo ketta mathiri thaan iruku..gnyabagam  
              varala..naan kandupudika try  panraen..."
Mr. X:- "try panriya..(he laughs)..paakalaam.."

Then this person told everything about me, my family, my cousin...and asked,

Mr. X:-  "enna naan yaarunu theriyutha..?"

I was telling to myself.."utta vishwaroopam padathula vara maathiri..yaarendru therikiratha..ivan thee endru purikirathaa nu paatellaam paaduvaaru pola iruke....!"

Me   :-  I told the name of a relative of mine and asked..."avaruthaana neenga..?"
Mr. X:- "(laughs and then sighs..)seri..un relative circle ah vitru...un teachers yaaraavathu irukumaanu konjam think pannu.."

When he said he was a teacher of mine, without a millisecond delay...

Me  :- "Nagaraj sir..!Theivame...neengala...!Sir..". Speechless for a second.."sir...epdi sir irukeenga...!!".

I was talking to this person after nearly six years..yes it had been six years since I met him. When I met him or talked to him last time, it was the day when 2007 12th board exam results were announced and I went to his home with a bag full of chocolates. I was one among 50 or 60 of his odd students who got a centum in mathematics and I am damn sure he remembers the names of all his students. To be frank I feel Engineering Mathematics is still one of the worst subjects to have in engineering. But this man made maths to look so simpler to me. One could attend his class just to listen to his own way of teaching, in his own slang, with his trademark words ('tikki', 'kokki' - ever heard of these words in a maths class..?)

He then happily said about a student who is studying in Stanford University and one other student who is doing economics in Delhi University. Both of them are my immediate seniors. He then said about many of his students doing their MBA in IIMs and even about students working for Google. I could feel the sense of pride and happiness in his voice. I cannot be dumb without sensing his pride and happiness, afterall my father is also a teacher.

Finally,
Mr. Maths :- "unkooda pesanum nu romba naala ninaichuttu irunthaen..un kooda pesunathu la   
                       romba  santhosham dharani.."
Me            :- "Sir..actuallah atha naan thaan sir sollanum.."
Mr. Maths :- "all the best for your future da.."
Me            :- "Thank you sir..!"

Don't forget that I am just a mediocre student - I am not one of his students who is doing masters in Stanford or Harvard - I am not one of his students in IIMs - I am not one of his students in Google - I am just an ordinary student. This extra-ordinary teacher remembers even an ordinary student like me. Being an ordinary student, I cannot expect much from him other than his remembrance about me even after these many years..

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great  teacher inspires."    - William Arthur Ward