The Expression Hub

Author: Patricia Polaco

Genre: Autobiographical

“It takes a big heart to help shape little minds.Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.”

Collen Wilcox

So, finally the month of September is here. September is supposed to be a month in which teachers are celebrated by all of us in my country on a particular day(5th September to be specific). I am sure there might be a day dedicated to teachers in your country as well. Do tell me how do you celebrate Teachers’ Day in your country in the comments section. I would love to hear from you guys if you belong to a country which is different from mine.

Given the role our teachers play in shaping and molding us into good human beings, I thought instead of a single day ;I should maybe dedicate the entire month to them. So, from this September, I will be raising a toast to the people who inspired me in the reel as well as real life. After all, they do have a huge role in our lives apart from our family and friends. And a good teacher can come from anywhere. It can be in the form of a good book which offers us a great perspective. Or maybe from a good movie or any other visual form of entertainment, life lessons can be learned from anywhere. And it is not only books or movies or any other visual form of entertainment. There are even people who by their deeds or actions inspire us . May such people grow in abundance in our lives so that they continue inspiring us as well as give us a lot to learn from them.

When talking about the teachers and the role they play in our life, when we look back as we grow up and enter into new phases of life, we often have some fond as well as maybe unpleasant memories of some teachers who either we grow fond of or end up hating a lot . Do you guys have such teachers in your life ? If you do let me know in the comments section.Would love to hear the same. As far as I am concerned, I used to have some teachers whom I still adore from the bottom of my heart . However there were some teachers who were a pain but had to endure them. The reason for endurance was also very simple: so that you do not end up in their bad books 😅 and end up getting bad grades. After all, when you are a good student such things do matter a lot isn’t it ?

The reason why I spoke about these teachers because they do leave an impact on your life for the good or bad depending upon the relationship which we share with them. If we have had a good relationship with them they do end up occupying a corner of our hearts. But if the relationship is a pain, then I need not mention how it feels. Today’s pick talks about a teacher who through his efforts occupied a special place in a girl’s heart.

About the book: Thank you, Mr. Falker talks about a girl named Trisha who is eager to taste the ‘honey of knowledge’ that her grandfather has always revered. However, whenever she looks at numbers and words, everything is a jumble for her. Due to this, she has to face taunts of her classmates as she is called “dumb” for not displaying age appropriate behavior. Life does take a turn when the encouragement and efforts of a teacher Mr. Falker helps her to blossom and develop her potential. When she grows up, she ends up visiting him and thanking him for the same. But the question is what efforts does Mr. Falker take to develop Trisha’s potential? And why does only Mr. Falker end up being cherished by her a lot ?Read this lovely piece of literature to find out the answers.

Analysis: This autobiographical piece tries to understand the psychology of a child who tries her level best to savor the knowledge which is present in the books but fails to do so. The reason being she suffering from a learning disability called dyslexia. It is a big misconception among people that people who suffer from dyslexia are dumb. The people who suffer from this learning disorder are not dumb. They just interpret things in a different manner and require more time to grasp letters and numbers. But with the right efforts and teacher, these students too start shining as was the case of the author.

This book also tries to highlight the importance of reading books. This is because reading does broaden one’s perspectives and gives wings to one’s imagination. In the age where reading has taken a back seat thanks to the advent of technology, this comes as a great reminder to all of us.

Verdict: A book which is just a few pages long and is written in a language which even a small child can easily understand. Read it to understand the difficulty a dyslexic child faces while studying. Read it to remember the teacher who recognized your potential and helped you grow. Read it to raise a toast to the teachers who play an important role in everyone’s life. My only complaint is that wish it had not finished so soon.

Rating: ***

Cite Bite: “[Honey is sweet] and so is knowledge, but knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to chase it through the pages of a book.”