More than just a teacher
By Dominick Dauni Roising Rymbai
They left their island nation to trade. They came with big guns, perfected the art of psychological warfare, then divided and conquered. For more than 170 years, they divided and ruled, and exploited the land and its resources to their last capacity. Then they left. From the ruins and the rubble, a new and unique nation-state came into being. But some, some came and gave their all. These came not only with a Bible in their hands, some with chalk and a blackboard, and some with a stethoscope. They became one of us. They became missionaries-revolutionaries. To look at it differently, some of them were the early human rights activists and social workers for the Hynniewtrep (Khasi-Jaintia) people, with the most famous name being Thomas Jones. Also, an immediate descendant of a certain Scottish man (Reid) took it upon himself to confirm the correct date of death of our treasured freedom fighter, U Tirot Sing Syiem.
Post-Independence, in the early 1950s, a young woman of Irish Catholic descent, born to an Army officer of the erstwhile Nizam State of Hyderabad, came to our Khasi-Jaintia Hills. She taught Class-1 at the Christian Brothers school, married locally, had children and settled permanently. In the 1970s, she initially set up a boarding house for school children, which eventually translated into a school, the present-day KC Secondary School (formerly Kiddies’ Corner High School), Shillong. The woman is Miss Sheila June Mary Wallang – lovingly and respectfully addressed as Miss Wallang by the thousands of lives she touched with her life and learnings from her teaching. She chose to leave for a better place on September 5, 2022, about nine months before turning 90. What a final day indeed, for a teacher to leave her final mark and leave for good.
For somebody from the Jaintia Hills, what does K.C. stand for? What makes it a school to go and learn, particularly to be able to speak the English language? What did its Founder-Principal stand for?
The school has a strict schedule, a time for everything – a time to study, to pray, play, eat and sleep. Students are encouraged to think rationally and differently. On World Environment Day, while carrying placards and boring functions were the usual norm, the students are encouraged to trek to U Lum Shyllong, pick up the garbage and clean up the place. Besides academics, the latent talents of students are encouraged, be it in Sports, the Fine & Performing Arts, etc. Humility is taught well; there is a roster for all students to clean their own toilets.
While in school, some students, including this writer, had a love-hate relationship with Miss Wallang. The school is marked by discipline, quite military-like. Perhaps the fact that Miss Wallang was the daughter of an Army officer played a role. Coming from a skur phadar Khliehriat High School (a Don Bosco Institution) with its wide open spaces, academics, football, daily mass and democratic rule of law, KC was like Singapore-style one-party democracy. Of course, Singapore is not just a ‘fine’ city; it also played host to the world-famous World of Music, Arts & Dance (WOMAD) festival and the ABBA-inspired musical Mamma Mia! And supposedly, its passport is one of the most powerful in the world. Maybe it’s just teenage angst to rebel against the discipline.
Punishment. A dreaded word. One memory is when Miss Wallang used to depute two of her sons to teach a lesson to the students for this or that transgression, literally playing good cop bad cop. One would speak very little and the next thing was pathash pathash, swut swut. Message delivered, Message understood. The other would give such a lecture that at the end of it, one would feel so guilty, like committing the Biblical cardinal sin that consigned humankind to a life of pain, struggle, suffering and happiness too. In reality, either or both worked. To date, one wonders which one is the good cop, and which one the bad.
For the writer, a relationship of love, respect and gratitude with Miss Wallang started a few years after leaving school. In hindsight, one admires the strong independent woman she was and her school’s endeavours. Many parents from Jaintia Hills were/are not educated. And getting admission to some of the elite schools in Shillong requires more than just merit. She knew very well that the parents work(ed) hard to give their kids quality education that costs reasonably high. Teaching was truly a vocation, a calling for her, not just another bread and butter job. I recall seeing Miss Wallang in her Khasi jainkyrshah and the sounds of communication with the parents (for their kids) in a funny mix of broken English and Shillong-style Hindi.
In today’s age where words like nepotism, cronyism and favouritism are trending, Miss Wallang was one fair human being. She was fair-mindedness. No matter what, irrespective of creed, background or pedigree, she was non-discriminating to all her students and their parents too.
After school, for her former students (single or married with children), Miss Wallang became the teacher at the University of Life, and a Nana to her former students’ children. Like a typical grandparent, she had the right to spoil the kids with chocolates and videos on her Tab. At the same time, she would remind the new parents to make sure the kids brush their teeth before sleeping and to keep specific timings for TV. Heaven help any former student who came to visit her without his/her kid(s). To say that one was given a cold shoulder by her would be an understatement.
Of course, on raising children, she would have her granny’s advice and granny’s remedies. Not all seriousness, she could be quite mischievous too. She would suggest taking videos of the crying kids, and then show those videos to them as they grow older and understand better. Well, who can question her? In her words, she raised five boys on her own. With a good memory to boot while visiting her, she would not only remember names but always remember to offer the particular food and beverage that her former student liked. One always felt acknowledged, embraced, appreciated and welcomed by her.
Of all her lessons, one important lesson from Miss Wallang was on the Gift of Time. Time is Money but Money cannot substitute Time. She stressed on the importance of giving time, and making time if there is hardly any. Time helps build healthy relationships, be it as a parent, a child, a friend or any other relation.
It is said that inimitable Bob Dylan is/was not very happy with the incredible cover of his song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door by Guns N’ Roses (Days of Thunder soundtrack, 1990). Today many will frown on the disciplinary methods employed by Miss Wallang in her school of the 1980s-1990s. However, it was in the spirit of those times. That said, from the writer’s small (21 in all) Class of 1996, there is a District Council Judge, an Indian Army Colonel, a doctor in Sydney, a PR specialist in Singapore and a published poet, teachers, business-people and other well-settled professionals in India. Miss Wallang was more than just a teacher. She was truly a substitute parent, a friend & guide to her students. Until we meet again, we miss you, Miss.
PS: The writer spent three years in Kiddies’ Corner High School, Shillong. Views expressed are personal.
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