Drawing Teacher
It was in 1938. I was 9 years when I left the village and my parents and moved to
Mysore to stay with my Grand-Parents, to pursue my studies. I was proud to join
Marimallappa’s Middle School, an imposing stone building with a large compound
with trees and a play-ground.
My Grandfather took me to the head-master, seeking my admission to class- 1
equivalent to present-day 5th standard. Though admissions for the year had
closed, my grandpa persuaded the Headmaster, and I was taken in as a special
case. Grandpa then took me to the class-room and introduced me to the classteacher. He was telling in Kannada “This boy, ‘Seenu’ is new to the city life but he
is good at studies. He is  ’sadhu’ ( meaning, a docile boy.) … I was a bit
embarrassed to see a few boys giggling at that expression! The teacher asked me
to sit in the first row so that he may help me to catch up with ‘portions ‘. That
evening, when we were rushing out of the class, Jaggu, the bully of the class in the
last row, came to me and tapping on my back, announced to the class
,mockingly,” This Seena is sadhu, I have 5 cows at home , all sadhu like him !’,
and all the boys laughed. My complexion did not reveal how much I blushed!
Soon I got used to the teasing, and gained friendship of a few intelligent boys. The
teachers were good and considerate. I was enjoying the classes. But at the back of
my mind, my being considered ‘meek’ was bothering me.
We had regular teachers for main subjects like English Kannada History.
But, our PT instructor and Drawing teacher were not of ‘Teachers’ cadre. They
could not speak or write English, and as such, were looked down by regular
teachers. The boys also were less respectful to them.
Our Drawing teacher was a tall man , always in his dhoti and coat and ,be it sun
or rain , always with his umbrella folded and carried on his shoulder like a gun
carried by a soldier .He was allergic to civilities like ‘Good Morning ,sir’
‘Namaskaara sar ’,perhaps due to inferiority complex. His response would be, to
chase the boy away with “Do you make fun of me? I will teach you a lesson” The
boys would run away giggling!
It was a Friday afternoon. I was playing in the grounds with my friend. Soon we
saw our Drawing Teacher passing by. On the spur of moment, I went to him and
said” Namaskaara ,Saar’. He moved on ignoring it. This time,   I shouted a bit
loudly in a sing-song way, ‘Good- morning- Sir’, He turned round, casually asked
my name and class. I told. Then his mood changed He moved towards me with his
umbrella lifted, snarling ‘you make fun of me? I will take care of you!’... I ran
away, feeling proud of myself, for my boldness.
Next day was a Saturday, a half day for school. Before my leaving for school, my
Grandpa told me ‘ ‘Sheenu, you have class only up to 1 PM. Today is my father’s
annual ceremony. We are to go to my brother’s house for meals by 1.PM. so I
give a letter to your headmaster, requesting him to permit you to skip the last
period. You come early so that we may go to my brother’s house in time. Do not
come late or waste time, but be early. We are fasting and so, I do not like to keep
others waiting and hungry for our sake.’
‘Annual ceremony’ or Tithi as colloquially called, is a day of remembrance of a
departed person. All near and dear ones assemble, elders perform some rituals. It
is followed by a sumptuous meal with a number of sweets. We Youngsters look
forward to that mouth-watering meal, called ‘Tithi Oota’
I was happy that the last period from 12 noon to 1 PM was the dreaded Drawing
Class and I would be permitted to skip! I was looking forward to a grand ‘ Tithi
oota’.with sweets!
The classes from 9 to 12 noon were uneventful. As the bell rang, I rushed to
Headmaster’s chamber with my grandfather’s ‘leave-letter’. I had to wait for
some time for the Head-master, to return from a class. He read the note, wrote
“permitted’ and signed and gave it to me telling ‘Show it to your teacher and then
go’.
Ten minutes had passed, drawing teacher was already in the class. He was
drawing some sketch on the black- board using his yard-stick. I went to him with
the ‘leave-letter’. He turned round and when he saw it was I, in all civility he said,
‘O, it was you who wished me Good Morning, yesterday! I am greeting you today,
a very good morning’! And the yard-stick landed on me. I yelled in pain. He said
‘Go back to your seat and stand up on the bench till the class is over’. I put forth
the leave letter and said, ‘Sir, HM has permitted me to go home’ He retorted ‘,I
tell you, go and standup. Where had your senses gone when you pulled my leg?’
I had to keep standing in the hot sun till the bell rang. At last, I left the school,
and wearily dragged my feet to reach home. I was hungry, thirsty and tired and
could hardly stand. I was shocked to find  the house locked and a note stuck
telling that key was with our neighbor and I should manage with some bread in
the cupboard, and they would be back by3 PM with a tiffin carrier for me.
You can  imagine my plight, being denied of Tithi oota, and the scolding I would
be having from grandpa on hearing all the happenings. He categorically said I
would be packed off to my parents if anything like this occurred again.
Net result of all this was, the bully became a little bit considerate, and I did not
hear any boy calling me Saadhu  !!
Figure 1Marimallappa's school Mysore-1890

NOBODY CAN ESCAPE AFFLICTIONS FROM SHANI.

Thirukkachi Nambi is a famous Vaishnava saint of Tamilnadu, who lived about a thousand years ago. He devoted his life to the service of God, Lord  Varadaraaja perumaal of Kanchi. It is said he would converse with God  during his Service. Even he was not spared by Shani Kaatam or affliction by  planet Saturn

First let us learn a little about Shani kaatam. Our Hindu Astrology believes that the position of the 9 planets in Solar System, at the time of birth of a person, and their subsequent movement during the course of his life influence his life, causing happiness or misery, success or failure. The nine planets are: Sun,(Ravi)  Moon (Chandra),Mercury,(Shukra) Venus(Budha) Mars,(Kuja) Jupiter (Guru) ,Saturn (Shani) and 2 imaginary planets, Raahu and Ketu. The position of each planet with reference to Earth at the time birth of a person is marked in a chart called Janma Kundali or Horoscope having ‘12 Houses ‘The position of Moon in the chart is reckoned as House No. 1
Movement of the planets from house to house roughly correspond to 1/12 the orbital period of the planet ,i.e a planet moves through all 12 houses in one orbital period. For any particular age of the person , the position of the various planets in the kundali is decided by computing the movement of the planets in the houses of kundali .Astonishingly it is observed that the sages who developed the system knew about the orbital period of all the planets.
Orbital period of Saturn or Shani is roughly 30 years so he takes 2 ½ years to transit one house. It is believed that, in a person’s life, the period  Shani takes to transit the 3 houses, the house of Moon and those on either side ,is the crucial period for the person when unexpected hardships may come. So this period of    7 ½ years is dreaded as Shani Dasha or Shani kaata (Kaata in Kannada means, pestering). It is believed that Shani deva, is permitted by God Almighty to pester anybody when the period comes in that person’s life
Now, coming back to the story, Tirukkachi Nambi was a very pious person devoting his time in the service of Varadaraaja  Perumaal at Kanchi. The period of Shani kaat came in his life also! Shani was hesitant to directly attack such a devote of Perumaal as Nambi. So , Shanideva went to Varadaraaja and asked “Lord, The wheel of Time (Kaala Chakra) has turned, and it is time for me to pester Nambi .As ordained by You, nobody can    go against Kaala.  So I have come to take your permission” The Lord said,” what you said is generally true. But in Nambi’s case, I cannot forego his services So ,you better go and ask Nambi when it is convenient.”
Shani deva went to Nambi and said, Sir I know you are a great person and are devoted in Perumaal’s service. Yet, you cannot escape me. I have taken permission of the Lord and he asked me to approach you to get the time suitable for you. You cannot be totally exempted.”
  As a true Vaishnava, Nambi had surrendered himself to God, this is called ‘sharanaagathi. He thought for a while and said, “Alright; God’s will. Tonight after my offering Paryankaasana to the Lord and putting Him to sleep, I go home. Then you may have your possession of me”
Hardly had Nambi reached home, he saw  the Police chief and temple authorities. The Police Chief said “Respected Sir, We have come to arrest you on a charge of stealing Temple Property. A golden vessel in the Lord’s Sannidhi is missing, and you were the last to leave the Sanctum. So we have no alternative but to arrest you now and present you before the King in the morning.” Nambi had to spend the night in the Lock-up with other criminals!
Next day morning ,he was to be taken to the king. At that time , a Temple Employee came running with the Gold vessel telling, “Sir we found this vessel under a heap of dresses of Lord Varadaraaja, when the attendant opened the temple doors and took the clothes for cleaning”
 The Police Chief apologized to Nambi.” Now that the vessel is found, there is no need to go to the King. You are freed.
Nambi looked back. He had been in the lockup for seven and a half hours    So, this was Shani’s pestering. Normally it would have been for 7 ½ years, instead, it had been over in 7 ½ hours only! That was God’s will!
  Nambi smiled, “ Shani had his pestering and Lord did not miss my services”! He hurried to bathe and go to temple as usual!

Though you cannot avoid Shani Kaatam,if you are in good looks of God, He can mitigate it. You surrender to Him and do what pleases Him.