If Only I could turn back time...

I saw her in the mall. And I knew instinctively it was her. She had changed tremendously from the last time I saw her. But she looked to be at peace. The years were showing. The old limp was still there. She passed by without recognising me, but I knew that I HAD to go and say hi. So, I went up to her and addressed her:

"Excuse me, Mrs. Chopra??"

She turned back, and looked at me. She instantly figured who I was - a student from the years gone by - but couldn't tell which one out of the hundreds that would have passed by her hands.

"I was your student - Chirag Panjikar"

"Oh yes, my... you've grown up.. You had a younger brother, right?? How's he doing?? And do you still live in Sangeeta Colony??"

We spoke briefly and bid goodbye, but that entire conversation left me with a mixed feeling. It is very gratifying to have your old teachers recognize you and your family in an instant even if they have not seen you for 15 years. But you do feel guilty, when you see a person being so genuinely nice to you, when all those years ago, all you did was hated her guts for giving you that one mark less.. You'd ridicule her nasal voice and her habit of saying "Am I right, boys??" after every new concept.. You'd make fun of her behind her back.. There are some teachers in school that you love, and some that you absolutely abhore.. In my school years, Mrs. Chopra would fall in the latter category.. If anything, if there's a reason I would attribute for my distaste for Biology, it's because she taught us Biology in class 8.. But I learnt something today..

Today I learnt that, regardless of what I thought of it at the time, it was never personal. Makes me pity that kid in the 8th standard all those years ago for being so juvenile..