A teacher evokes memories of childhood longing and infatuation, for Soumya, in this witty verse, exclusively for Different Truths

My pulse was racing
I had not felt like this in ages
It took me back to my teens
It happened when she looked directly at me
I was admiring the lady on the dais
In her crisp starched light coloured cotton saree
Streaks of grey in her well-coiffured hair
Black framed spectacles create an air of gravitas
She spoke with wit and erudition
I raised what I thought was a slightly impertinent question
She looked at me over her glasses,
Eyes twinkling with intelligence and indulgence
And paused for a bit before her incisive retort
Her smile took away the sting
While putting me in my place
But the subliminal thought was that
She approved of my impertinence
As it perhaps reminded her of
Her younger and less reserved days
I felt a rush of blood
Was I in love once again?
With a graceful lady of mature years
Who could have been my teacher
Unfortunately, while I was in college,
She was a rising corporate star
And now that I am making my mark in the marketplace
She’s retired and sharing her wisdom from the teacher’s dais
How I wish she were my teacher or boss
I am unable to think of anything else,
It’s like being back in school,
Adolescent hormones raging in my blood
Glancing at the girl
From the school next door at the science fair
And swearing that she would be mine
Now I am an executive with a future
A beautiful partner who compliments my life
Here I am once again.
A schoolboy in love with the teacher... what a cliché
I am already plotting what to say to her
When the tea break allows us to mingle
Where will this lead?
I am lost in happy, hopeless confusion.

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Soumya Mukherjee

Soumya Mukherjee is an alumnus of St Stephens College and Delhi School of Economics. He earns his daily bread by working for a PSU Insurance company, and lectures for peanuts. His other passions, family, friends, films, travel, food, trekking, wildlife, music, theater, and occasionally, writing. He has been published in many national newspapers of repute. He has published his first novel, Memories, a novella, hopefully, the first of his many books. He blogs as well.