The constant cacophony of the room was back to its vibrant best. The delightful cackles and cadence was also back. I must be honest and say, I really missed these exchange of pleasantries, the broad smiles, the compliments that greeted me every morning. Also the sudden unwanted rants, the occasional rasping of the supervisor or the impulsive behavior of some of the personnel that makes up the ecosystem of this place. The room I am talking about, is the teachers room that I am a valuable part of. Never short of drama nor it ever fails to bemuse you. But whatever happens, it is all in good camaraderie.

If the workplace is not comforting enough, it is indeed difficult to work in that place. And it is so true. I must say I am very lucky to be among such great figures, large and small, wise and astute, bold and beautiful. Twenty eight different beings with twenty eight different fabulous characters all wrapped up in a congenial atmosphere. I could probably go on and on about describing this place but I must keep it brief, for some of my colleagues might not be able to handle such conscientious and fastidious observations. You will find all sorts here. From newbies like me, to seniors who have been here in the range of between 10-20 years. Boy! they must like this place very much. Ha ha. There are religious and pious ones and also there are ones that say “chi” to wearing headscarf. Ok, now the word “chi” would in most cases, refer to disgusting, but here the particular character means “you be religious and do all that. I am not going to do it’. See how powerful a single word can be, in describing feelings. There are quiet and shy ones. Ok quiet maybe but I don’t think shy. There are ones who happily announce the annoying and sometimes unnecessary workshops that we have to attend after school. Their smiles soon disappear when they see their names included in the sessions. And that is when it is turn for the rest of us to mock that person. And yes, some of the workshops are annoying, for we can not fathom the reason for their continuity. Why wont a topic like “teacher as a role model” be annoying to someone who has been working in the same institution for twenty odd years. There are those workaholic, virile ones, who are so much into their work that they actually miss work during their vacation or holidays. WOW. I can see them following their passion here for the next two decades. Such is their mental resilience. But there are also peculiar ones, whom I like very much, who seem to adhere to me for the fact that I give them free entertainment. Entertainment in the form of words that fall from my mouth. I have created such a bubble around me in retrospect that they “feel” whatever comes from my mouth, is a negative thing hurled towards them. I don’t even complete a sentence and they are ready to have a go at me. I enjoy these friendly altercations for these are the things that don’t bore any of us in the workplace. Sometimes I make a fool of myself willingly, when the air becomes heavy and the room becomes stagnant and monotonous. Now let me describe, not so briefly, about what all happens in a days work.

The mornings start with exchange of pleasantries, willingly or unwillingly, but nonetheless exchanged! Then off to different classes as scheduled. But it seems, everyone is totally anxious when the tea flask will arrive. This “one” cup of tea is not the best you could have by any length of imagination, but everybody seems to be fixated towards it. It could be a psychological thing that we have become habituated to. The utter frustration and moaning towards the delay in arrival of the tea flask, is evidence in itself, of the psychological impact this has on us daily. And what is tea without biscuits. After tea arrives everyone starts looking for biscuits. Some even have the notion that there would definitely be biscuits with someone or the other. Now, this biscuit, as I have noticed, by default it seems, is provided by a select group of people. And we are never thankful to them. And that is the best part. Ha ha. After the tea and biscuits phase, off to classes again. In between classes also there is constant entertainment in the room. It is a good thing because after taking a class, we become tired and lethargic, both physically and psychologically, so it is good when all this dissipates in the teachers room with jokes, funny stories, friendly arguments, debates and what not. The room at times becomes a bazaar. Goods are brought to be sold. Till now it has been restricted mostly to clothing for our female counterparts but I do not know what the future holds. Sometimes we do weird but interesting things like wearing black as a dress code, when some duty is forced upon us during our holidays or all the male teachers agree to keeping a “french beard” just for the entertainment. But this fun loving atmosphere is not always the case. It depends on which month the calender is on. If it is the beginning of the new school session, most of us are busy telling our never ending tales and endeavors of the holiday season. How we almost did this, and did that. The necessary and the unnecessary stuffs. The females are mostly good at it. The intricate details with which they convey their stories to us, makes you so excited that, it seems you were also present with them during their quest. This quest could be anything from, visiting a place to shopping to even cooking something in the kitchen. Their stories are also accompanied by the occasional laughter, giggles and wiggles. If it is the “exam season”, everyone is very much engrossed in script checking, trying to meet deadlines, which some of us fail to meet. Well failure is THE pillar of success right? So why shouldn’t it apply in every case? But we are diligent teachers. We get our work done no matter what and that is what makes us a great team.

All the fun stops when one of the supporting staff enters the room with the dreaded “substitute” register. Our faces become like someone just died right now. Grudgingly we accept the fact that, it is better to go to that substitute class, then to observe the inflexible face of the boss. Sometimes we try to shift it to the workaholic ones who happily comply with the requests. I, on the other hand, provide social service in this case. For, I take “substitute” classes unofficially, because i work with such great bunch of people that I feel I owe it to them. Oh did I mention about the irritating phone. I think we should permanently name it “the irritating phone”. It is a normal phone but what makes it irritating is, the amount of time it rings and the timings. Number of times is limitless, since everyone needs us, teachers, in everything. We are the heart and soul that keeps this place alive, well, after the students of course. The timing of the phone ringing is also irritating. For example, when everyone is occupied with important work such as script checking or more importantly, when we are feasting. Sometimes it keeps on ringing indefinitely and suddenly stops. Stops in frustration of not being answered maybe. Or maybe the caller is frustrated when not answered and hangs up. If the phone was a live object, every time it rang, would mean it was shouting “will someone please pick me up”. I am not so sure “it” would be so courteous and say please. And it would stop immediately when it ran out of breath, panting and gasping for fresh oxygen.

Unless “bestowed” with excess duty during lunch break, everyone is present in the teachers room. The best thing about this room during lunch break is, food. Yes! you heard me correct, food. Food, courtesy of the “food fund” or sponsored by different individuals. All you need to do is just say the word that you are treating and instantly phones are out of their pockets and numbers on fast dial directed towards restaurants and fast food shops. Yes! we are that active about eating and food in general during schooling hours.Sometimes it can be two or three people combined to sponsor the food fest. Sometimes comments are thrown in the air about the quality of the food or the quantity but most are propelled away with bemusement. Sometimes the food finds itself delivered to the wrong room through horrible mix up and the person responsible is not spared. It is mostly a he, and he is taunted for the mix up although he is providing this service completely free of charge. The food only comes to the gate and after that it is our responsibility. Anyway, after the hearty meal, off to classes again. Now, I like about everything that happens in school, except taking classes. What an irony no? Ha ha. Now don’t give me a cynical look because the way teachers rejoice in the slightest news of a holiday, even after enjoying a lengthy summer or winter break, is evidence of that. The most holiday being strikes called by different parties, when a government reaches the end of its tenure.

Ok! It is time to go home when the students are leaving. No wait, there is more drama. “We can’t let you go home so early”. ” We would like to keep you for another forty minutes just for fun!” or ” We would like to see how much more you can contribute after staying here for 7.5 hours”. These are probably the silent things our administration says to us. Whether we like it or not is a different matter altogether. When they smile at us, they seem to be conveying us this invisible message. Finally when it is time to go home, one more thing is anticipated like the mornings “tea flask”. This time it is the “signing out” register. When it finally arrives, we breathe a sigh of relief and after that we go our separate ways, hoping to meet again for a brighter, better day. But most of us thanking that another day has passed and it is getting closer to the weekend ahead. When the weekend finally arrives, we start enumerating whether it is the first weekend of a new month. If it is then we get enthusiastic about the pay check which is the reason we all are here in the first place. You can vehemently demur the last remark as much as possible, but that not going to change the only truth.

Good day!