So dear people, Ali Mohd Sofi was a professor of physics in our higher secondary department. I'm sure a lot of people here know him. He is one of the most interesting men i have met till now. Strong command, intriguing personality, giant body. (1)

My first interaction, well less of an interaction, was in eleventh standard during an introductory class that he was taking. So the encounter goes like this.
Points me to stand.
I stand up.
"Say your name."
I say my first name.
*Slaps*
"Complete name." (2)

I, a fool obviously, say first and the second name.
*Slaps again*
I say my complete name, the surname included.
"What's your father's name?"
Complete name i answer with, attentively.
"What does he do?"
"Government servant," i answer.
*Slaps again* (3)

"Wuchu boz myin kath, when you say your parent's name, say it with dignity, honour, your head held high," he says, emphasizing a lot on the said words.
" Government servant chu su'tyi yus ekya sarkaeir daftar kis gate es pyeth aasi nazri, adde sharam cha kienh?" (4)

I, understanding the reason of his slap and the following statement, say my father's exact occupation.
"Good, byeih pathar," he says, very empathetically.
I sit down, my face all printed with the white chalk ladden finger prints of his.
Next is a class where he calls me to (5)

clean the board. I, suffering from a mild throat infection, cover my mouth with my free hand while cleaning.
He comes in and snatches the the chalk powder overflowing duster from my hand and kisses it, his nose all white. (6)

"This is my 59th year of teaching, the dust that arises from this board is pure to me, holy, my food, it has helped shape thousands of lives in my career," he says.
(I don't know if i have heard it stupidly wrong or did he actually say 59 but he has been in the teaching... (7)

field for a very very long time). I go back submissively and sit down. Our interactions after this were relatively better although he found me 'kaek' and would raise his eye brows tauntingly but playfully when referring to me.
"Ekye ye chuv khojje, ye wanyav jawaab ath,"... (8)

compliment following. Not that he was like this with me selectively, his general attitude (which had earned him the name 'Ali Don') was like this but I'm just sharing my observations. The interactions by the end of higher secondary were such that he would call me to clean..(9)

the board and i had to escape his slaps and hits once done cleaning to get back to my seat while we would both laugh and he would comment a sarcastic words or two. During the breaks he would, if he found me, come to me and ask about life, not studies. And sometimes.. (10)

about a physics/ chemistry teacher from downtown that he hated for being from a non teaching background. The hated man btw is one of the finest and selfless men out there. Once the college admission procedures started i needed a recommendation letter and went straight to... (11)

him. He made me to sit next to him and inquired.
"Bismillah karith wath te nyer. Recommendation letter chayi zorath, be banavai, it will be the best of all."
That was the last time i met him. After that he had left school and is hopefully fine and healthy. The point of... (12)

narrating a very personal part of life in an open space is to understand such men, men of strange behaviour, blunt, hyper, less calm yet not hypocritical. He had a strong command and control over students. He would slap but it didn't feel insulting, he wouldn't... (13)

degrade, demoralise, defame, somethings that is quite often done by today's teachers. A sense of guardianship overpowers a teacher's harshness, if in a controlled way, in my opinion. The impact stays. May Allah give him a long life and bless our learned men. (14)