In the shadows, was a ‘rare teacher’ with the torch

‘‘The gentleman said I had been selected to be part of the Olympic flame run to be held in Delhi. I was baffled and my first reaction was ‘no’. But he told me that Coke had conducted an essay competition among students across the country, asking them to write about their role models. One of my students, Amit Singh, whom I had taught during my earlier stint at Army Public School (Dagshai), had penned down a few lines, which bagged me this rare opportunity.’’

Today, she calls it the most precious gurudakshina she’s ever received. ‘‘Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s son, Ayaan Ali Bangash, handed me the flame and my run ended at the ITO bridge,’’ recalls Kamal, who lost her husband Major Sanjay to militants in 1995.

For Amit, meanwhile, Kamal remains the strength of his life. ‘‘I lost my mother and I look up to her. She is my mother figure. Whatever I am today is largely due to what I have picked up from her. She has given me the strength to carry on in life,’’ he says.

Amit had stayed in touch with his “role model” over the phone and e-mail all these years, but had never revealed the extent of his admiration for her. When Kamal called up Amit to thank him, he simply said: ‘‘I wrote from my heart.’’

Kamal, who calls Amit her ‘‘beta’’, still remembers the hours she would spend listening to him at Dagshai. ‘‘He began by sharing with me his concern for his younger sister. Gradually, he began talking about himself.’’ Now he’s told Kamal that he will come and meet her when he achieves something in life. ‘‘I am eagerly awaiting that day.’’

Life, says Kamal, is finally beginning to look up after her husband died barely five years after their marriage, leaving her with two daughters— three-year-old Snigdha and 18-month-old Kanishka.

‘‘I was shattered. I was in severe depression till I learned what that was doing to my elder daughter. Her teacher told me how she’d withdrawn into herself.’’ It was then that Kamal, a computer professional, decided to become a teacher.

‘‘The five years I spent with my husband are priceless. I won’t mind my daughters marrying Army officers or even donning the uniform themselves,’’ she says.

Today, she smiles fondly at the replica of the Olympic torch she was gifted in Delhi. ‘‘This is my most prized possession. I have decided to preserve the uniform as well, I won’t even put it in the washing machine.’’