When a teacher cares8230;

...and the best speaker of the evening is...'' here the announcer paused dramatically, Devina Rana.''Devina looked up stunned. Had sh...

8220;8230;and the best speaker of the evening is8230;8221; here the announcer paused dramatically, 8220;Devina Rana.8221;

Devina looked up stunned. Had she really heard correctly? Obviously she had, because the announcer was beaming at her, while her friends surged towards her, congratulating her. In a daze, Devina heard the thunderous applause and the lusty cheering of her friends. She could hardly believe that she had won this All India Inter-School Debating Competition, defeating all those who had come from bigger cities. Most of them were such forceful, eloquent speakers and here was Devina with a handicap, too. You see, she had a speech defect 8211; she stammered.

As Devina held up the glittering trophy, her eyes scanned the faces in the audience before and came to a stop at a white-haired figure, Mrs Helen Morrison, her English teacher.

8220;But for her encouragement, I would not be standing here,8221; thought Devina feelingly. She remembered her first day at nursery school. When the teacher asked her name, her 8220;D..D..Devina8221; sent the whole class into peals of laughter. The teacher too, could barely suppress her smile. Things went from bad to worse. With her classmates constantly jeering and imitating her stuttering speech she became more diffident and the stammer grew worse. There came a time when she could not even answer the daily roll-call without the greatest difficulty.

The moment she opened her mother to speak, her throat would contract, imprisoning the words inside. When she did manage to prise them lose, they would get stuck on her tongue. She had to screw up her eyes, twist her lips, wrinkle up her face and finally after all these efforts,the words would finally explode from her mouth like a pistol shot, 8220;P..p..present M..m..miss.8221; By that time her face was red with shame, effort and embarrassment. Even her parents at times became impatient, especially before guests.

Deliverance finally came in the form of Helen Morrison, who taught English. With her iron-grey hair and gold-rimmed glasses. She looked very strict. But how interesting and simple she made her lessons. Prepositions, participles and precis-writing were now a piece of cake, composing essays became such fun. But Mrs Morrison8217;s forte, the children soon discovered was reading poetry. They would listen mesmerised ad she recited From a Railway Carriage8217;. Her rhythm was so musical they could imagine themselves sitting in a moving train. Her emotional rendering of O Captain! My Captain8217; had the whole class sniffling at the tragedy.

Caught up in this magical spell, Devina too, kept on repeating these lovely lines murmuring softly to herself. Many a time Mrs Morrison found her reading quietly in a corner of the classroom, while the rest of the children played noisily during lunch break. She never failed to give her an encouraging nod or pat, which would fill Devina with a warm glow.

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8220;Devina,8221; called out Mrs. Morrison one day. 8220;It8217;s your turn to read today.8221; Devina stood up panic-stricken 8220;Come on,8221; urged the teacher kindly, while she cast a stern glance at the rest of the sniggering children, 8220;I know you can do it8221;.

And that was the beginning for Devina. She took a deep breath and the words just rolled effortlessly from her lips. With Mrs Morrison encouraging and guiding her all the time, Devina soon overcame her speech impediment, doing her school proud in many public events.

Thank You, dear teacher!