Wednesday, May 4, is the birthday of Sir Frank Peters. I know it because my son, Alamin, had encircled the date in red on the calendar in his bedroom.
Why would he do that? - That was the very question his dad, Raju, and I asked him. He explained that his English teacher, Mr. Sorif, had read an interesting and inspiring newspaper article written by Sir Frank, which stressed on the importance of expressing 'thanks' to people for kindness extended, favours given, and, in general, any kind action performed and not to take people for granted (a feeling every hard-working mum knows only too well).
According to Alamin, Mr. Sorif centred his entire lesson that day on the report, reading extracts from it and highlighting the philosophy it contained and apparently a lively discussion followed with the entire class taking part. Alamin loved Sir Frank's quote "niceness is priceless" so much so that he adopted it and brought it home.
For homework the students were given the task of writing the name of someone they thought deserved thanks and write a 500-word essay explaining why.
The majority of pupils wrote about Sir Frank Peters and thanked him for his efforts to abolish corporal punishment from schools. The teacher agreed and suggested they should pool some money, buy him some flowers, and send him a card containing his personal philosophy on his birthday.
I now regret opening my mouth and asking my son why he had circled the date (which served to remind him of his commitment to the school) - it cost me Tk100. I was only joking. It was Tk100 I was delighted to spend.
Happy birthday to Sir Frank from Raju, Alamin, and me, Beauty.
Raju, Beauty and Alamin Choudhury
Uttara, Dhaka.
