Gift Wrapped Memories

By Tanmaye Karri

I stare at the sun rays shining through the window lighting up the classroom. My classroom. The one I’ve taught in for over two and a half decades. One I cherish deeply. But as always, all precious things come to an end, don’t they? Today is my last day teaching here. My last class starts in a few minutes and I can’t help but feel overrun by nostalgia.

I reminisce all my memories here. The first class I’ve taught, the first batch of children I’ve taught. All the naughty and annoying ones which had become so dear as the year came to an end. Fifth standard one’s are quite naughty after all. 

As I reminisce those precious memories, one batch or should I say one child stood out amongst them all. I haven’t thought about him in a long time now but I remember it like it was yesterday.

(Memory)

“Class, I want to do a special activity with you all.” I declare earning enthusiastic gazes and some groans.

“Maaaaammm.” Some whined while the students beside them shushed them. Hoping this will take up lots of time and I will forget about the test I was going to give them today. Fat chance! But…they can hope.

“Now, now. I want you take a piece of paper and write down,” I pause for dramatic effect,“A wish.”

“Wish?” They asked confused.

“One wish. You desperately wish for right now. I want you to write it down. But beware.” I warn as even the one who groaned looked at me with curious eyes. “This wish, you should truly hope for to come true. You must make it come true. Because I will hold onto these for a long, long time and I want you to come to me years from now, proud and smug with a long nose, showing off that it came true.” I tell them in a teasing voice. 

Some laughed, some were deep in thought, already thinking about what to write and some look bored. I let them be. This exercise is for the believers and dreamers.

“Go on. Tick tock. Tick tock.” I encourage them and wait for about ten minutes while walking around, peeking into their wishes.

“Alright pencils down. Pass your paper to the front.” I call out. They do and I collect them and place them on my desk. “Now, for a surprise!” And out I pulled the test papers earning groans from the entire class accept the ones who prepared of course.

As the class wrote the test, I read through their wishes. 

I want mam not to forget about the test today.

I chuckled at this.

I want to be a billionaire. 

I want to be my favourite cartoon.

I want to be a princess.

Well, these wishes won’t come true but I smile softly at these wishes. When I teach them, I forget that they are still, little children.

I want to be a CEO of a company.

I want to be the owner of a five star restaurant and eat unlimited food for free.

I want to earn money by playing games and brag to my parents who are yelling at me.

I want to wear a dress (a famous actress) wore.

I want to make the chief minister give more holidays to school.

Expensive and ambitious wishes but could come true, I guess.

I want my mom to kiss me and hold me tight.

Wrote Navya, whose mom passed away recently. Her wish…made me hope will come true even if I knew it won’t. I write down the wish beside her name in my notebook and move on to the last one.

It’s…empty. I flip the paper to find it empty too. I look to the name at the top…Ashish? 

The bell rings, breaking my train of thought. I collect the test papers and usher them out but ask Ashish to wait. He does and stands beside my desk as the rest take their leave.

“What is this?” I ask him holding up his paper.

“My wish. I wish for nothing mam.” He says quietly.

“No wish? Not…not one? A dream maybe.” I coerce him but he shakes his head.

“Come on, Ashish. Just one? Something silly or something you want to be when you grow up. Anything? Your name itself means to wish or a prayer after all?”

“I don’t have any. I will work hard and whatever happens will happen, mam.” He mutters quietly looking entirely disinterested.

“Come on, Ashish. Just one.” But he didn’t relent. Such an annoying one. But maybe I am the annoying one for pestering when he clearly doesn’t want to. And I don’t care. I’m going to get a wish from him and teach him how to dream if it’s the last thing I do before he leaves me.

(End of memory)

I chuckle at my own stubbornness. I did pester him for days after that only to realise that boy was equally as stubborn as I was. Guess who was the most stubborn in the end? That’s right, me. It took three months to write down a wish under his name. I took him to my cupboard and pulled out my notebook and showed it to him. Told him that almost every student under me had given me a wish and I don’t want him to be the only one who didn’t.

He finally relented but asked me to write a wish of my own at the end of his class’s wish list, first. I thought for a bit and wrote, I wish for all of this class’s wishes to come true. He took my book, grabbed a pen, wrote a few words and ran out of there. When I opened the book after he left the words written in there were, I wished just like you wanted but my wish is a secret, teacher.

I wanted to give him a good whacking but, in the end, chose to leave it as it is. A stubborn student he is, who came to hold a small precious part of my heart. Fine, I decided to yield to that annoying brat.

I pull at the drawer of my desk and pull out an old worn out book which consisted of all my students wishes. I turn to that particular batch to find the few pages of all of their wishes… missing. No. Not missing but torn. What in the world?

Footsteps snap me out of my thoughts. It’s time for my final class and I’ll think about this later. I look up from my desk and watch as…As adults walk in. Adults? Wait a minute…their faces look familiar. Who are they? These familiar faces adults who look about late twenties or early thirties walk in and take their places behind tiny desks as I look on confused.

“Mam.” Called out the last one still standing at the door. His face…Ashish? I squint my eyes wondering if my eyes are failing me.

“Remember your most stubborn student?” He continued, smirking. Standing as many who came to me before him having fulfilled their wish. Smug. Completely and utterly smug. Just the way I want to see him.

“Ashish.” I call out making him smile. “And you all are from that batch.” I whisper smiling, feeling like I am at the top of the world. All their expressions turn from smug to pure joy. Almost childlike. “What are of you all doing here? And together?” I ask nearly laughing in joy.

“You asked us to, didn’t you mam? I want you to come to me years from now, proud and smug with a long nose, showing off, that it came true. These were your exact words.”

“All…all of you?” I mumble astonished.

“Yup. Each and every one of us. Just like the wish you wrote, mam. I made sure it was fulfilled so I can fulfil mine.”

“Fulfil yours?” I ask confused.

“My wish was that yours comes true, mam. And so, I pestered each and every one of them till it came true.” He declared proudly, holding the torn pages from my notebook in the air in victory. And I couldn’t stop my eyes from glistening looking from him to all my other students. So damn proud and so damn happy.

“He really did pester us mam. He forced two of us to become actors because we wrote we want to be a cartoon character and a princess.” Came a whine making me chuckle.

“I made a just cause in my name and declared my birthday, a holiday mam.” Came another.

“I became a gamer and did boast to my parents mam!” Yelled another and then another and another. Shouting the wishes they wrote which came true. Which they made true.

But then, that one wish which was impossible but I wanted to come true, popped into my head.

“Looking for me, mam?” Came Navya’s sweet voice, as she took Ashish’s hand in her own. 

“Navya?”

“I couldn’t get my mother back but I married a wonderful person who has a wonderful mother and treats me like her own daughter. She kissed me, hugged me and loves me nearly as fiercely as my own.” She whispers with tears in her eyes, bringing tears to my own.

“Did you like your gift, mam? We were done fulfilling our wishes two years ago but we wanted it to be special. And what is more special than your last class?” Ashish asked me, his eyes twinkling with glee.

I look from him, to Navya, to the rest of my students. All these years many have visited me exactly like I asked of them to but none of them mean as much as this moment does. One boy, who refused to write a wish down, who reluctantly did when I asked him to and even that he… And yet, now that one boy made my day like none before him was none other than Ashish. He won. Truly. I’m not even half as persistent as him and I’m proud of him for it.

“Yes.”

“It’s Perfect.”  

By Tanmaye Karri