It so happened that my brother’s primary school teacher was also my primary school teacher, even after a gap of so many years. This teacher’s name was Shivashankar. He was strictness incarnate. If a student did not do his lessons or if he misbehaved in any way, Shivashankar had a long cane — an absolutely sesquipedalian cane — with which he would strike the naughty pupil. Not only that, but the student would have to kneel down and pull his ears. He would have to keep that difficult pose as long as our teacher wanted. The student’s knees, back and everything else would be hurting very much. That kind of strict teacher was Shivashankar!
After twelve years of being at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, my brother returned home for a year. He went to see Shivashankar and pay his respects. When he saw Shivashankar, my brother fell flat at the feet of his first teacher.
The old man said to my brother, “What are you doing? You are now such a great man! You are a spiritual seeker and you have been in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. How can you do this?”
Hriday answered, “No, no! You are the one who first opened my eyes to knowledge. You are the one in my life who deserves this.”
Right in front of us, with utmost sincerity, Hriday prostrated himself and took blessings from Shivashankar. The old man was shedding tears and tears of joy.
This kind of respect some wonderful teachers receive from their former students.From:Sri Chinmoy,The power of kindness and other stories, Agni Press, 2011
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/pok