CAN I SLEEP TONIGHT WITHOUT THANKING HER?

I am filled with blissful thoughts but do not know how to express. Today is the day, written for me to thank her from my heart. The voice of my heart turns into the gratitude of my heart today.

Sister Sheeja. It is the name of this nun. A month ago my friend Kishore said that he needed a scribe for his B.ED university exam.

Scribing, is an experience for some people, mandatory for some learners, an option for few, a curiosity for others and a kind of a job for the rest. In my experience, I’ve met all kinds. At the same time,

There are some souls taking it a service and dedicating themselves without any expectations. I called sister Sheeja (currently doing her M.phil with me) to help him out.

‘Yes!’ was her initial reaction over the phone. And then only she thought of her difficulty. She is new to Chennai. That was her only problem. Fortunately, some of Kishore’s classmates stay in Perambur where her convent is located. She said she can manage to come to the exam center with them. I wanted them to meet each other in person before the exam. She said okay to that also. There should be a psychological understanding between scribe and candidate I felt. He explained everything to her in person. Kishore is one of my best friends in the world which was already written in this Blog. I wanted to give him a best scribe in one of his most significant exams. Most of the time, it is very hard to get good scribes for the students. Sometimes, it is even more difficult for the scribes to get a good student.

Many people scribed I never denied that.

But, this is something special.

Six consecutive exams in six days! It started from eighth May to fourteen May 2015. She accepted to travel from Perambur to Triplicane consumes almost one and a half an hour in journey.

Scribing is not an easy job. They have to sit with the candidate for four hours in the exam hall. One hour grace time for visually challenged students in Tamilnadu. First day they gave only half an hour she was very upset. She made it possible from the second exam onwards. Today is her birthday. And the last day of their exam also! I thought of meeting her in person to wish. I, along with my ever best friend Mohan raj was standing in the Perambur bus stop. It took one and a half an hour for her to reach. I felt really unhappy. Certainly not for the delay! I was thinking of certain things while standing with Mohan Raj.

Kishore said ‘she used to reach an hour before to the exam venue’ which means, she does not have time to eat breakfast and she must be eating her lunch only after 4:00 in the evening I assumed.

She never showed her tediousness in the exam hall Kishore told.

Six consecutive days! 6*4= 24 hours! That is one day! She spent her time as a scribe.

Of course! There are many people doing this scribing duty as a service. But, most of them are retired people and homemakers. We are always indebted to each and every one of them.

It is not mandatory, it is not an option, and it is not just for an experience for her. She was having her project to do. She was supposed to go to the school to meet the headmistress to complete the formalities during that time. She was doing her project in another school. But she told me not to worry about anything.

‘Don’t think like that. Don’t think like you are giving some burden to sister’ was her frequent sayings.

Today, when we said we are waiting in the bus stop while she was coming, she insisted us to come to her convent. We were afraid of sisters’ convent and thought of quitting the place after giving the gift. We tried to convince her with some facts and fiction. But, she obliterated all of them. We couldn’t deny her continuous invitation. After reaching the bus stop, she took us to us to the convent.

‘Totally four sisters in our house and one of us went to her place’ she told while commuting in the auto. It took ten minutes for us to reach the convent.

Two sisters were there. We were still scared to enter inside. She told us not to get scared of anything.

The sisters invited us and said today is sister Sheeja’s birthday. I gave her the gift and wished. They found that we were already prepared for this event. We chatted for nearly an hour. One of the sisters asked me,

‘How do you select?’

‘That is why I select usable things. Whether we like it or not we would use it.’ I replied. They smiled and promptly called us inside to offer something to eat. The biscuits and Payasam were delicious. The superior asked us to feel at home. They already knew about Saint Louis (our school.). They have some special children they told. We thanked everyone and left.

‘We can go by any auto’ we said.

Sister Sheeja wasn’t in a mood to listen to us and came till Perambur railway station to drop us.

She dropped us.

The exams commenced from last Friday till today. First day she couldn’t get the bus and paid nearly 400 rupees to the auto along with Kishore classmate. Saturday she was supposed to go to the school. Monday (the third day,) the threat of the verdict of that disproportionate assets case.

Thank you Mr. High court judge for the wrong calculation! Chennai was safe on that day. It was raining yesterday and today morning. Mayhap she is great enough to say that it wasn’t difficult at all. But, we know. It wasn’t easy at all.

Chennai is chill for the last two days. It was raining. Others may give many reasons.

But, I admit,

‘It is because of people like sister Sheeja.’

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!!!