Oh! My Darling Teacher

Chapter# 19

Hira's POV:

"Assalam o Alaikum." I heard the principal greet them before he turned to me, "Miss Hira. These three gentlemen wanted to meet you. So, let's have a seat before starting the introduction." Nodding nervously, I took the seat where I was sitting before, while all men settled themselves on the sofa set of the office.

"Miss, why don't you join us here?" The man with tanned skin said, pointing towards an empty single sofa near them with a smile, a smile of which has become very familiar to me now - The smile of Zulqarnain Shah.

Again, I nodded my head and slowly sat on the sofa.

"You don't have to be nervous. We aren't here to blame you or anything. We are here for our boys." The principal said to me.

We...?

I gave him a questioning look and received several chuckles.

"You haven't noticed I guess. My full name is Wajahat Rehman, father of Zaid Rehaman." The principal announced and my eyes went wide. I looked at Zulqarnains's father and he nodded in agreement with an amused smile.

"Hira, for now, forget completely that you know both of us. We are here to meet our boys' teacher. But before that, we want to apologise to you as it's because of their stupidity you have suffered."

"No Uncle, it's-"

I tried to protest but the person in the beige coloured shirt stopped me by saying. "He is right Miss Hira... Sorry for cutting you in the middle, I am the father of Tahir, Azam." Unlike Tahir, his father seems like a very different man and now I think Tahir got his looks from his mother, as his father doesn't have many similarities. Not even the slightest like how Zaid has his father's hair and well, Ahmar is a copy of his father, same tanned skin, tall figure and hard facial features, unlike Zulqrnain's soft features and a fair complexion.

I raise my gaze to the fourth man in the room. He is wearing a white coloured Kurta Shalwar. Tall and slim, just like Faiq. When our eyes met, he speaks up. "I am Abdul Rehman, Faiq's father." I smiled, nodding my head in acknowledgement.

"Hira, we want to know what happened that day. The whole truth. Because they aren't going to get away with this. Covering them up for the pranks they make is understandable but it's time for them to learn that pranks should remain within limits. The status of a teacher in our society is greater than what today's generation take for. " Uncle said in a serious tone.

"Don't try to be a hero..." Ahmar's words echoed in my mind and I went silent for a minute.

"The status of a teacher is not some holy law that will remain the same forever." I felt my voice coming from a distance, so low and timid. "It is the same as other things and a teacher should work hard for it... Teachers lost their status in our society because we let it. It was a work of Prophets, they were sent to creations of Allah as teachers and we were supposed to be their followers. There were reasons why teachers are called spiritual parents in our society, but we lost them all. We made this profession a business, which it shouldn't be. We sell our knowledge and as a result, we have lost our wisdom. A teacher without wisdom isn't a teacher at all... That's what I believe. I don't think it's entirely the student's fault, Sir. We are responsible too. Educators are supposed to be the people who shape society, not the ones who put blame on kids and their parents and sat idly... What happened that day was a result of the misconceptions they have made in their minds and we didn't try to change it. I thought I could make a difference if I use a different approach, but... I think I am not experienced enough. So, let them go this time" I raised my hopeful gaze to them and after a long moment of silence, Sir Wajahat speaks.