Looking back

The teacher looked me straight in the eyes. I was hoping to get away with it. “Where is the story you were supposed to bring for me?” he asked.

“Sir, I made the corrections but I did not finish writing it properly for the display board,” I answered, hoping he would forget about it for the project.

“Now, listen to me. You have to bring it in tomorrow morning for the latest. And I don’t want to hear another excuse from you,” he insisted. There was a sort of finality in the no-nonsense tone of his voice.

“Please, sir, don’t put it up. The other students may not like it and I’ll feel too shame,” I was trying a last-ditch effort.

“You don’t know what you have there. You should be glad it was the best. Be sure to write it in your very best handwriting and I’ll see you tomorrow,” my teacher emphasised.

My English teacher at that time was Mr R H E Braithwaite who was the vice-principal of the Modern Secondary School, a co-educational private school at the corner of Roberts and Cornelio street in Woodbrook.

Mr Richard Hope Ellis Braithwaite went on to obtain his MA in London and his Diploma in Education in Leicester. He was graduate master at Queen’s Royal College for 13 years, the first principal of St James Secondary School and Principal Education Officer for five years.

After his retirement from the top post of Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, he contributed numerous enlightening articles on educational topics in one of the dailies. He is still going strong.

Back to the past. When Mr Braithwaite pinned the story on the board, I was congratulated by several students. The response was really surprising. Praises came from persons I never expected. Even some of the girls started to look at me with a twinkle in their eyes. I was on top of the world.

The assignment to the class was to write about pre-historic man. I took a new slant. It was written in the first person and in the present tense. I was the caveman and I expressed my inner thoughts as I set out for food to feed my wife and children.

I described vividly, the search, the chase, the battle between man and beast, my bleeding wounds, the slaughter of the animal and finally, the family’s contented consumption of the carved up carnivore.

“- was written on our blackboard by Mr Braithwaite who pronounced it easily, explaining to the class that the word was in existence since 1741 and appeared in the first edition of the Oxford dictionary.

It means — “an estimation of something as worthless.” He drew our attention to the fact that although the word had 29 letters, the most common letter in the alphabet which is “e” does not appear.

When I was teaching at Barataria Boys’ RC School, a Standard Five pupil who lived in Jogie Road, San Juan, passed the Common Entrance and was sent to Diego Martin Secondary School on Diamond Boulevard — now Wendy Fitzwilliam Boulevard.

His poor parents were so confused, they simply did not know what to do. I volunteered to travel with him by route taxi to the school and try to arrange for a transfer. There, I met Mr Braithwaite who was assisting in organising the curricula. When he heard the problem, he solved it readily.

Three years ago at a function held at Crowne Plaza in the revolving restaurant to celebrate the 60th year of the school, Mr Braithwaite, as pleasant as ever, was our guest of honour. His reminiscences had us in stitches.

He remembered when the big bell on the top of the Woodbrook market was rung in the afternoon, to announce to the residents that beef would then be sold at a penny for a pound. One of the past pupils recalled that when “Braff” taught us French, he had a pet expression which she had often used as a guiding light through her life. The maxim was “La simplicite c’est la plus grande des charmes” which means “Simplicity is the greatest charm.” She was speaking for all of us. Mr Braithwaite used to explain, “In everything, keep it simple. Don’t try to make things difficult and complicated. Don’t put on airs. Be yourself. Be sincere and simple but don’t mix up simplicity with stupidity.”

That reminded me of a function where a number of persons had to speak to the public. A guy received a note from his wife which was simply marked, “KISS” The speaker next to him said, “You are lucky. Your wife sending you a big kiss before you talk.”

The guy replied, “Not really. Coming from her the letters “KISS” mean “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”