Today is Guru Purnima. A once in a year occurrence in India on which we pay respect and show gratitude to all the Gurus in our life. Anytime, I think about my Gurus, one of the first faces that flash in front me is that of Mr. Mackintosh – a person who has taught me so much in life, a person who has influenced what I do and who I have become today, a person who has shaped the educator I am and aspire to be, all this within just a year.
1996. Our family had moved to New Zealand towards the end of the year and I was enrolled at Kowhai Intermediate School in Kingsland, Auckland. I was in form 2 and still remember the walk to my classroom and being welcomed by my class teacher, Mr. Mackintosh. Little did I know, that I would be sitting here and writing about him 25 years later.
I was a petite, 12-year old Indian girl (the only one in the classroom). I did not know how to speak in English fluently, I was feeling very out of place, missing my friends and family back home, and I was trying my best to try to make sense of all the changes happening around me. On top of all these difficulties, I faced some tough bullying that year from some of my classmates, especially at the start of the year. I would find nasty notes left in my desk, & in my notebooks, I would be the last one picked for any teams, my belongings would be stolen or damaged and some of these kids in the classroom made it clear that I wasn’t welcome in their class. This completely devastated me. It was hard to process at that young age notes about skin colour, being asked to run back to my own country, and being teased for my abilities (I excelled at math, not because I was really good at it, but India was far ahead in its math curriculum) & my disabilities (I was not able to hold or throw a rugby ball properly, because I didn’t even know a game like that existed!)
Every time, I found a note, or when someone said something mean to me, I would break down and Mr. Mackintosh would tell me not to be upset & that they just don’t know better. Any other teacher might have stopped at that. Not him. He took so much time and effort to talk to the kids, kindly and sometimes sternly. He would keep us behind in class at the end of school, before PT, during lunch, to talk to the class about how this is not okay. He would talk to my parents to assure them that this will all ease and that I am strong enough to handle all this and that these experiences will make me stronger. He would talk to the parents of other kids to be mindful of the conversations they have with their kids & at their dinner tables. I remember my father telling me, that at one point, they had seriously thought about going back to India, because I would be upset almost everyday after school. However, it was Mr. Mackintosh’s assurance that gave them the confidence to stay. My parents would say that even though it hurt to send me to school knowing what’s happening, they did anyway knowing that Mr. Mackintosh will take care of me.
Slowly, with his effort & persistence, the number of notes reduced, many more students started being friendly with me and started to accept me. Then came the yearly camp and we were given a list of things to bring for the camp. As my parents were still trying to find jobs and were unemployed at that point, they couldn’t afford to put together all the things required for the camp. When Mr. Mackintosh heard that I may not go to camp because of this reason, he called my parents & told them that he will provide whatever is needed and all that they’d need to do is send me to the camp as it may be a wonderful way for me to make friends. Mr. Mackintosh & his family were so generous to lend me their own sleeping bags and other things, so that I was able to go to camp. Those memories are still vivid in my mind!
At the end of the year, Mr. Mackintosh gave us all a bunch of stars & we had to write something positive about each person in the class. At the end, we collected all our stars and pasted it on a chart & he laminated it and gave it to all of us. I still have that chart. In that, Mr. Mackintosh had written to me, “You have taught me a lot about how be strong & to take on challenges- a role model for others. You will achieve great things with these skills!”
Now, as a leader of a school with over 800 students & about 50 teachers, I have shared his story numerous times with so many at my school. I would share this story with my teachers to show that it is not what they teach that matter, it is who they are that makes a difference. I would always tell teachers, that if you can be a Mackintosh to just one child, if you can go above & beyond to make one child believe in himself/herself, if you can create an impact so that one of your students are sitting somewhere thinking about you decades later with admiration & respect, then you have succeeded as an educator.
What Mr. Mackintosh did for me, didn’t really occur to me until I became an educator myself. More so than remembering what he taught me that year, I remember so strikingly about how he made me feel. That year could’ve broken me and could’ve changed the course of our family’s life in so many ways. But, because a teacher decided to put in extra effort & time to teach the lessons that were not part of the curriculum, that little Indian girl performed well academically inspite of all of this, was awarded ‘Outstanding Student of the Year’ and went on believing that she can achieve anything. Thank you, Mr. Mackintosh, for all that you have done for me and all the other children you have touched and continue to do so. Thank you for being a part of my life. Thank you for making such a positive difference in my life. Thank you.
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