– Pratikshya Subedi

We talk and preach about Compassion and complain and never see it in practice. But, here, I stand as a proud class teacher of Grade 7 who actually practiced compassion.

One boy student was crying while I entered the class. Some students were gathered around him asking him why he was crying. I did too. He replied, "Miss! my Nepali copy was finished so I asked my mother to give me a new one but instead she hit me so hard". We all felt sorry for him and I wanted to give him a copy but I didn't have it. Then, a sweet little girl named Shayara brought a brand new copy and handed to him. Her sweet and compassionate gesture moved me.

They also mentioned the boy never brings tiffin (lunch) and whenever students called him to share lunch he runs away. On days when he is in the class others share lunch with him and this is how that little boy manages to stay active for the rest of his days.

I know what it is like to be profoundly hungry so I asked him to join me for lunch every day and to my surprise, he denied. I understand why he refused. When I tried to persuade him he still denied. Then, all the students said, "Miss tapai kina paisa kharcha garnu huncha. Uslai ta hamle sadai ta khaja dinchau ni. Hami sabaile diye pachi ta uslai pani pugcha. Miss tapai paisa kharcha nagarnus hai" (Translation: Miss, why are you spending your money. We will share our lunch with him. We have plenty of food to share. Please don't spend your money"). This made me almost burst into tears but I held it back. I found my students to be so compassionate, they knew how I was feeling and some of them started teasing me.

The boy that got a copy realized he had so many loving friends was very grateful to them and you could tell by the tears in his eyes.

This is such a great day for me, it will always hold a special place for each one of us.

What a day!!

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