Talent: Can come In Any Form

We've all witnessed talent in one way or the other. Yesterday, I witnessed amazing talent of a lady who teaches English and Music in a school. I visited the school that was about 12 kms away from Marathahalli. The school is one of the best government school I've seen in my entire life. Very well maintained, with teachers taking initiatives to make it more exciting/hygienic for the students. I've never seen Mats being used in a government school. Mostly, students sit on the floor if there are no benches, which is usually the case with almost every other government school. However, in this school one class has proper benches and in the other teachers use Mats on the floor.

We met the lady, N. Rudramma, who teaches English and Music to students. She commutes from Malur, around two and half hours journey, every alternate day to reach the school. She gets up everyday at 4.30am and reaches the school by 8.30am. Her spoken English was much better than many Montessori school's students. She is the sole bread earner for her family. Though she is not employed in the school as a government teacher, the staff employed her seeing her talent and dedication to come to the school every alternate day. She was getting paid till September till the funds were available. Maugre not being paid for last 3 months, she continues her dedication to teach the students and continues traveling every alternate day.

The reason I said the lady has talent is because she is blind. The lady is a BA graduate and an excellent Harmonium teacher. I witnessed her skills live when she played the Harmonium on our request. Every finger was getting placed perfectly on the keys just like every teeth of the Bike's Gear fits perfectly in the chain. Given my limited knowledge on Music, I couldn't figure out any misplaced Sur. Brilliant !!!

I went with a representative from India Sudar Organization. The organization has taken the responsibility of paying her salary till Dec 2009. While awarding the cheque to her, I could see the light on her face. She was extremely happy. While she was thanking all of us with kind words, I took my handkerchief to wipe off the tears silently.