R. Sridharan analyses a violent student !

The Violent Student

A Short Story By Varalotti Rengasamy


“Madam, my name is Malathi. I’m Swetha’s mother.”

The Principal of that ladies college jerked suddenly as if hit by a bolt of lightening. Then she hardened and said in a cold voice:

“What do you want?”

“I am appealing to your mercy, Ma’am. I know you also have a daughter of my daughter’s age. Swetha’s education and career will be ruined, Ma’am, if you insist on dismissing her from the college and issuing her a bad conduct certificate.”

Now the Principal’s eyes were glowing.

“Listen, Mrs. Malathi, what your daughter did was unpardonable. Such an incident has never happened in this college. She has slapped her teacher on her face. What do you want me to do, recommend her name for a bravery award?”

“But this is the first time…”

“Hitting a teacher is wrong, whether it’s the first time or the fifteenth. You better go now before my anger gets the better of me.”

“But, Ma’am, did you enquire into the incident? Were there any witnesses?”

“About half a dozen girls from her class swore they heard the sound while Swetha was in the lab along with her teacher Mallika.

“They were in the verandah and they rushed into the lab and saw Mallika holding her cheek with her hands. And your daughter confessed defiantly about hitting the teacher. She even commented that “she deserved it.”

Malathi left the room without a word.

S wetha was the only daughter of Malathi and Shiva. They were a higher middle class family.

They had been living in the Gulf till recently. Malathi and Swetha had moved over to Bangalore for the latter’s education. Shiva was still in the Gulf making good money.

Swetha was doing her Bachelors in bio-technology. She was a very bright student and always came in the top 5 in her class.

It came as a rude shock for Malathi to know that Swetha had been dismissed from her college . Swetha had gone into a shell and refused to talk on the subject.

Malathi wanted to confide in someone who could understand the problem and suggest any solution better than just condemning the hapless girl. Sharada came to her mind.

Sharada and Malathi were classmates in school. Sharada had done her Masters in Psychology and was working as a Counsellor for a leading Psychiatrist in Bangalore.

“To what do I owe this great pleasure of meeting my dearest friend suddenly?”

Malathi was sitting in Sharada’s spacious office.

“I have a problem with my daughter, Swetha.”

“My God! That sweet girl! What’s the problem?”

Malathi narrated the incident in great detail. Sharada looked shocked.

“Sharu, I want you to handle this case. I am ready to pay your professional fees. But please help me, dear.”

“What is this, Malathi? You are my best friend. Though I can’t guarantee any solution, I can assure you of my earnestness. I want some more details from you.”

Sharada spent the next one hour enquiring about the childhood of Swetha, her schooling, their family problems, their relatives and friends, the state of Malathi-Shiva’s marriage etc. She had filled up two legal pads with the information she divined from Malathi.

“When are you going to see Swetha, Sharada?”

“I am not going to see her at all.”
“ “
“Leave the matter to me and go home. Spend as much time with Swetha as possible. Take her out to restaurants, theaters etc. Lavish her with new clothes and jewels. That’s the best you can do for her right now. Don’t ever try to discuss the problem with her again. OK?”

“OK.”
A perplexed Malathi walked out of Sharada’s office.

Malathi religiously acted on Sharada’s instructions.

“Yes, Sharada, tell me.”

“Doctor, I want to take the two months sabbath you promised me last year.”

Sharada was seated before her boss, Dr.Raghunath, the city’s leading psychiatrist.

Sabbath was leave without pay to enable the concerned employee either to better her qualification or do a work somewhere else so that she gets a different exposure.

“But right now the pressure is tremendous, Sharada. Can’t you do it after a month or so?”

“Doctor, please. I have an important project.”
“If it’s important, please go ahead. Can I know what kind of a project it is?”

“Yes, Doctor. It’s on educational psychology, especially the role played by teachers and peers in the psychological health of the students. I need your recommendation letter for this college.”

Sharada gave a slip containing the name of the college.

“No problem, Sharada. The correspondent is known to me. Once I treated his son. I’ll give a letter. Wish you all the best. Will you be back to work by March next, Sharada?”

“Surely. Thanks a lot, Doctor.”


“My name is Sharada. I’m an M.Sc.M.Phil in Psychology and a qualified….”

“Oh, Madam, most welcome to our college. It’s really our good fortune that you chose our college to do your Educational Psychology project. Our Correspondent has asked me to provide whatever facilities you want. You just name them, Ma’am, and you have it.”

The Principal was over-awed by the way the Correspondent had talked about Sharada. She was prepared to go to any length to please this lady.

“First, I want a teacher, a dedicated teacher to help me out in the project. Now I don’t want a teacher from your psychology or sociology department. They might influence my project with their knowledge of the subject. I want someone from the science department.”

“But the science teachers are under severe pressure. I don’t think they’ll be ready….”

“I am ready to pay them for their work. I have a figure of Rs.30000 in mind for about a month’s hard work.”

“Then there would be a competition amongst our science teachers.”

The principal regretted the fact that she was not a science teacher; she could have grabbed this easy money.

“I would like to see all the aspirants and select the best.”

Almost all the science teachers were aspirants and after two days of gruelling interview sessions, Sharada, expectedly chose Mallika from the Bio-technology Department to assist her in the project. Mallika was elated. The money meant a lot to her.

She took an immediate liking to Sharada and the project work started in all earnest the very next day. Sharada arranged with the principal that she and Mallika should share the same room in the hostel till the project was over.

For the next one week they were very busy preparing questionnaires, administering psychometric tests to students, surveying students and teachers on so many subjects like problems at home, premarital sex, smoking, drinking and usage of drugs.

Meanwhile Sharada was pursuing her hidden agenda. She was making well planned moves towards her goal. It was on the tenth day that she hit pay dirt.

In a matter of another two days, she got whatever she wanted. She was however compassionate throughout her mission and never once was she angry or spoke a harsh word.

“Malathi, Sharada here. Can you come to the Principal’s office – yes, Swetha’s college – tomorrow by ten?”

“But Sharada, she is not happy…..”

“Please do come, Malathi. I’ll be there. Come alone.”

Malathi was surprised by the warm and courteous reception given to her by the Principal. She distinctly remembered the harsh expression on the Principal’s face when she met her last. Sharada was warm as usual.

“Ma’am, can I explain it to my friend ?”

The Principal nodded.

“First, the good news, Malathi. Your daughter Swetha has been cleared of all the charges. The Transfer Certificate and the Conduct Certificate given to her would be withdrawn and she can continue to study in this college.”

Malathi was speechless.

“Second, as a mother you are entitled to know the background and reasons for this change. But as another person is involved, I want you to swear on your daughter that you won’t discuss about this with any one.”

Malathi promised.

“When I heard about Swetha’s insolent behaviour I was puzzled. There was nothing in her childhood to point out to such violence. I’ve known her as a happy and a soft child and this rude behaviour was unbecoming of her.

“When questioned by the Principal and teachers Swetha was defiant. She said something like “she deserved it”. Those were the crucial words.

“I decided that by investigating Swetha nothing would come out. I wanted to investigate at the other end – Miss Mallika, her bio-technology professor.

I came to his college under the guise of doing a psychology project and arranged things in such a way that Mallika became my assistant. We stayed in the same room for days. I slowly dropped enough signs and gestures and after ten days she took the bait.

“Then I confronted her with the truth. Finally amidst tears she confessed everything.”

“What do you mean, Sharada?”

“Mallika has a lesbian orientation. She was sexually attracted to Swetha and had laid her hands on her. Swetha, was shocked by this and in a moment of anger slapped Mallika.

“While the students heard the sound of slapping and could say that Swetha hit her, they didn’t know what happened before that. That was the whole problem.”

“I AM NOT GOING TO LEAVE THAT BITCH ALONE. I’M GOING TO SUE HER, AND TEAR HER INTO PIECES.”

“Relax, Malathi. Relax. Please remember your promise. Swetha is your daughter. Similarly Mallika is someone’s daughter too.

“Imagine yourself as Mallika’s mother. What will you do? Will you be shouting at your own daughter like this? Homosexuality isn’t perversion or immorality. We can’t blame those people.

“Whether someone is a homosexual or a heterosexual is a fundamental aspect of his or her being. There’s nothing the person can do about it. I am going to counsel her to make her accept herself and express her sexuality in ways that do not hurt others.”

“But you can’t let a pervert , I’m sorry, a person like Mallika to stay in the college. Can you?”

Though Malathi directed the question to the principal, Sharada answered.


“Malathi, you are talking as if lesbianism is an infectious disease like AIDS or hepatitis. It’s just a different orientation towards sex, that’s all.

“But I have advised Mallika to quit this job for other reasons. She is taking up a professor’s post in a college in Mysore in the next academic year. That’s more than six months away. I am going to counsel her in the meanwhile.”

“But how can.. she…. She is, you know, abnormal…”

“Not at all. Different, yes. Abnormal, no. Mallika is not like that by her deliberate choice. It’s part of her body, like having brown eyes or blond hair. The only wrong she did was to have invited an unsuspecting child for the act. She has realised her mistake and feels sorry for that. ”

“But Sharada, how can I bring myself to talk these things to Swetha?”

“What am I for? I am sure with a couple of hours’ counselling Swetha will be back to normal. She’s going to be a bright student once again.”

Malathi did not have anything to say now. She just held Sharada’s hand shedding copious tears. Sharada affectionately patted on her friend’s shoulders.

Dear Sridhar,
That was a well written ,piece...i dont know whether to call it a story...since so many such incidents happen in real life. Thank God this girl was brave and slapped her teacher...and did not mind getting kicked out of college.....what if it was not such a bold student andfrom a different family background.....she would have been exploited , or might have agreed ,whether she liked it or not since it was after all a teacher and the student needs to be under her control.....this is the same like before when the men lecturers tried to sexually exploit the students or vice versa.....when students use their professors to get better marks!
All kinds of abnormalities do exist , but anyway you brought out this in a positive manner and let the psycologist handle it differently! At least it does not end on a sour note !

Dear Sridhar,

Thank you so much for bringing this story to IL for our pleasure.
I read Sudha's comments. I must say I am totally in sync with her thoughts too.
First things first, it is a very well written story, bringing the emotions and reactions of all characters naturally to the fore with simple dialogue between the interacting characters.
Hats off to you for attempting to bring out the taboo theme of lesbianism. It is an honest attempt to make people understand that such things exist and it is not to be abhorred.
All the same, I do not like Mallika and agree with the mother that she should not work as a teacher in the young girls' educational institute. This also applies to male teachers or female teachers who mishandle their girl and boy students. Has got nothing do do with Mallika being a lesbian. It is the sense of propriety and morality and a code of conduct. It is also hard to believe that Sharada would go so much out of her way just to check Mallika's sexual orientation...a sabbatical plus 30 grand payment!
I just got carried away. It is not my intention to criticise. You are to blame for this Sridhar, you keep encouraging us and now I feel too free to express my thoughts I guess?:)

Love and regards,
Kamla

Dear Varlotti,
What a boldly and beautifully written piece.Yes, It did not seem a story to me as these things are happening in schools.Your positive approach will embolden parents to handle such teachers openly.In fact I know a personwho worked in a leading school here who wrote romantic letters to teenagers. In those days the parents used to hide their shock but now good work like yours will tempt society to handle the problem lesbians have. You are a social reformer,sir. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Meenu

Dear Sudha,
You guessed it right. It is not a story but a real life incident. When my daughter was the President of her union last year, she told me about a girl who had been kicked off from her college in Bangalore. That was because she resisted the advances of a woman lecturer.
That girl then got an admission in my daughter's college though she lost a year in the process.
I was very sad that an innocent girl should suffer because of her teacher's sexual orientation. As a writer I created a situation where the same story could have ended happily for all.
When I said that we should look at alternative sex styles with sympathy I never meant that we should tolerate such sexual advances from the teachers. As you have rightly said what the teacher did was as bad as a male teacher attempting to molest his female students.
There is a very small difference here. Having a lesbian orientation and living in a society where such tendencies are thought of as evil, the teacher might not have had a healthy outlet for her desires. Though we should not condone the excess, we can at least make a genuine attempt to understand the person and provide her with a life where she will not be tempted to do this kind of thing again.
That was the message of the story and I am happy all of you liked it.
regards,
sridhar

Dear Kamla,
I appreciate your honesty in saying what is in your mind. I also appreciate the softness with which it was said.
Believe me, Kamla, I dont tolerate this kind of a sexual nonsense, whether it is from the member of same sex or the opposite sex.
Please also read my response to Sudha's post which explains the origin of the story and some points explaining my stand on the issue.
I wish to add :
You cannot eliminate evil by just resisting it or even by crushing it. It will raise its ugly head sooner or later.
But if its source is identified and eliminated then evil would have been vanquished.
The Counsellor does precisely that in this story.
Is not a sabbatical plus thirty grand a huge price? Yes. But it is not similar to the price paid by Raghavan and Vidya.
Remember when the counsellor takes up the case, her first brief is to reform a rebellious girl and restore her to the normal academic stream.
Sharada could have used her influence to get the student re-admitted. But then the reason for the violent behaviour would not have been known. And there would be a festering wound in Swetha's mind. But now everything's clear. Not only that, Mallika, is aware of her own personality. She would no longer be a menace to the society. Being aware of her orientation she can now live peacefully seeking other outlets than approaching unsuspecting students.
Just imagine if Sharada had not been there in the story, Swetha would have become a chronic mental patient. And so will be Mallika.
I think 30 grand and a sabatical is peanuts compared to the benefits the individuals and the society derived from Sharada's healing gesture.
regards,
sridhar

Dear Meenu,
thanks, meenu. I felt as I were on a tight rope at a height of hundred feet above ground,as one wrong move would mean disaster.
As we can see from Chitra's mail things like this have happened from those days. But only now there is the awareness.
The society is tempted to put all these things under the carpet and pretend as if everything is normal. But only when we probe these things and understand the root causes can we have a really peaceful society.
Thanks for being with me in this crucial story.
regards,
Varalotti