Turn the Page

It was a fine Tuesday evening. Masterji was returning home from school. He teaches in the government school in a nearby village. The school happens to be the only one in the district. As he walked down the battered road, he let his mind to dwell upon the day's happenings. Today, Charan was absent. His father was lying drunk in the middle of the road last night when a truck ran over him. Preeti too would not be able to attend classes. Her parents had strong objections to sending their girl to school. Masterji would have to stop by their house tonight and try to convince them...again. His class consists of ten students. He can't let ignorance block the path to knowledge.

Masterji was engrossed in his musings when something caught his eye. A hundred rupee note was lying on the ground.

Masterji teaches Moral Science at the government school. He also teaches Hindi, Maths and Science along with anything that he feels will help the students. Masterji had now stopped beside the hundred rupee note. A look around told him that nobody was watching.

Masterji is a religious person. He spends thirty minutes in silent meditation and prayer every morning. Also, he is very dedicated and sincere towards his job. Many teachers had refused to work at his present position. A lot of them had pulled even greater number of strings to get transfers to someplace more urbane. However, Masterji had stayed behind. He wanted to help in his country's progress. "The real India is in the villages", he vaguely remembered the quote.

Masterji owns a bicycle. However, he likes walking the five kilometres to school. Today, A hundred rupee note was lying right in front of him. He could make out a few people standing quite some distance away. What should he do? He had been standing and thinking for over fifteen minutes now.

Masterji stooped. With an elegant stretch of the limbs, the note was in his pocket. Nobody saw him. Masterji walked on to his home.

It is true that Masterji teaches Moral Science at a government school. It is also true that he is the ONLY teacher at the government school. It is also true that he hasn't received his salary for the past six months.

Only the educated are free. - Epitectus

(Inspired from a short story that I had read somewhere a very very long time ago. I don't remember the name of the original author. In fact, I only remember the gist of the story. This is my adapted version of the Hindi original. This line issued in the spirit of GNU. Give credit where it is due.)