Candid Confession

Remembering names is a task for professors.

- Ritu Kamra Kumar

The Parents - Teacher Meet is usually not held in colleges, but many a time, some parents turn up to enquire about their children's progress in academics. With more than three decades of teaching behind me, I listen to their queries and try hard to remember the demeanour of that student. To their query as to how she or he is performing in my subject, I almost fumble for the right words because after much effort, I fail to know whose parent he or she is as the students are hesitant to accompany their parents, and I can't remember all students' names. I appreciate Oscar Wilde's observation, "Memory ... is the diary that we all carry about with us." But my memory becomes a net of holes, and my mind fails to piece together who the student in question is, despite the parents telling me his or her section and class.

The other day, a father came to enquire about his daughter studying in BA-II and told me that her name is Simran. In the vain hope of getting my dead memory ignited, I opened the Attendance Register but found there were three Simran in BA-II (A class of 80 plus students). I tried my best to recall the girl as her father told me about her physical attributes, but without much success, I just ended up confessing that I am not able to identify the girl. I went to the class, and while taking roll call, I could figure out Simran whose father had come. I felt guilty because I had replied to his queries in a very generic way. If only I knew which Simran he was enquiring about. I admit that my questionable memory isn’t a clean slate as regards every single student in my classes. However, I can register only two types of students: receptive ones and incorrigible ones. Either you have to be outstanding or the naughtiest one to nd a place in my memory box.