Friend...Philosopher...and Guide.

As Coleridge suggested in his poem, Kubla Khan, life is made up of contradictions and one of these is that of meeting and parting. Human beings, being the social animals that they are, meet plenty of people in their lives. The sadness of parting with these people is directly proportional to the influence and impression that they leave behind.

We never thought that our school life would bring us such a moment; yet it did take shape when our beloved English Teacher, Mrs. Lakshmi Nair announced her decision to leave.

Popularly called LT (=Lakshmi Teacher) by the student community, she was one of those teachers whom everyone was afraid of. Just the knowledge that LT was in a 10 metre radius was enough to get the students to maintain pin-drop silence and sit straight with every muscle tensed until she passed by.

It's interesting how absence makes you realize the true value of someone. We took it for granted that LT would always be there. But on hearing her decision to leave, it became quite next to impossible to picture school without her. Frankly speaking, most of us weren't big fans of poetry till class XI. But gone are the days when we found poetry boring. From Day-1, LT brought poetry to life (no cliché intended). She dedicatedly gave us ample background information about the poet and the poem before actually starting with the poem. Her interpretations of the poems and stories really made you think. She had her own way of teaching, a way that lead every one of her students to imagine the scene perfectly in her mind. Poetry class soon became something to look forward to in the weekly time-table. It was struck off from 'The Bunkable Classes List'.

LT could speak about anything and everything, and you would just stare amazedly at her. She didn't have to try too hard to inspire people. She wiped away my notion that poetry was for boring people. I tried my hand at poetry and writing and would like to think that she would be proud of my work.

Besides her teaching, she is a great person. Everything about her, from the way she carries herself, to her witty comments, is etched deep in our memory. She has the power to intimidate you; yet, you can't help yourself from respecting and loving her. The friendly smile that she graced us with once in a while, her scoldings full of love, and her talks and advice about life, are just a few of the hundreds of things that we are going to miss about her.

She was more than just a teacher to us…she was our friend, philosopher and guide in her own way.

She said that the school will find a better and more capable poetry teacher. But we can't even begin to imagine that. To us, she is THE best poetry teacher. She said that our outburst of emotion at her leaving was momentary and that we would get over it soon. Whether we get over it or not, we will always feel the same way about her. We will always remember her as the lady who taught us the poetry of life, the lady who was dedicated to her work, the lady who made her sarees look good, the lady who always had a good-hair-day with her nose-ring at just the right spot.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Though all of us knew that parting was imminent, we always pictured it to be us who would be leaving her. But the Almighty had other plans and it was her leaving us. Another thing that, the earlier mentioned, they say is that "Distance makes the heart grow fonder". Turns out that they really know what they are talking about; because we really miss her.

All we have left are a thousand unforgettable memories and her blessings. Parting came sooner than expected, but all the same, we all hope that she enjoys her life after school, keeps good health and that God blesses her with His choicest blessings…Our dear Poetry Teacher…our dearest LT.