Wandering Through Lessons:Teachers Who Lit the Way

Today I was feeling heavy about some men who broke my trust in humanity. However, that story is for another day. Today, I want to write about teachers who shaped me, quietly and profoundly.

I grew up in a small town in India, the kind where everyone knows everyone. In elementary school, one of my relatives joined as a teacher. I must have stood out, because he took pride in me. He would show my work to other teachers. He would say, “You see, she will become something, maybe a doctor or a collector.” Back then, those were the most respected jobs. Perhaps he simply thought I was too bright to just stay home as a housewife. He believed I should claim a life of my own.

Even after I left elementary school, I would see him from time to time at parties or family gatherings. He would smile and declare to everyone around him, “She will become something.” I didn’t become a doctor or a collector. But I am the only one working out of all the girls and many of the boys from my class. So yes, I guess I did become something.

Later, I went to a conservative high school, where full-length skirts, braids, and bindis were the rule. I was an obedient student, trying to fit the mold. However, one teacher’s kindness and progressive thinking quietly stirred something in me. In a school that emphasized strict rules and modesty, he started a self-defense course for the girls. He also shared stories of brave women who ruled, fought, and led with courage. One day, he told us, “Every woman has three goddesses inside her: Seeta, with unlimited patience. There is Radha, with unconditional love. And there is Durga, the ultimate warrior.”

His words stayed with me. In a world that constantly whispered that women should be small, obedient, and serving, he reminded us to stand tall. He encouraged us to educate ourselves. He urged us to honor the strength within us. I felt inspired. Even though I was young, I understood that women could carry patience, love, and fierce courage all at once. Till today, I consciously and proudly hold all three goddesses inside me. They are part of who I am: patient, loving, and unyielding when it matters most.

It is that inner strength, shaped by the teachers who believed in me, that I carried forward in life.

Years later, I met my elementary school teacher again, at his granddaughter’s house in Washington, D.C. By then he must have been around 80 years old. He smiled and said, “I always told everyone she would become something. And here she is, she did it.”

Yes. Here she is. Resilient, curious, always learning, venturing beyond her comfort, and rising every time life tried to hold her down. A single mother, a providing daughter, a supporting sister, a loyal friend and a wandering soul.