Gratitude to My First Teacher – The One Who Believed in Me

Not All Teachers Need Classrooms. Some Just Sit Beside You in Silence. To my very first teacher who didn’t just teach me – but believed in me before I believed in myself…

You saw something in me when I was just a child with dust on my feet and a drum in my hand. You didn’t teach with power. You didn’t lead with pride.

You simply stood beside me. While others looked through me, you saw through to my essence.

“You didn’t just teach me rhythm. You taught me presence.”

You Called Me Forward Without Ever Pushing.

You let me enter the class before the others. You let me set the mats, arrange the instruments. You let me feel useful before I felt worthy.

And when I skipped class because of shame – because my father couldn’t pay you – You didn’t punish me, You didn’t scold me, You came and found me.

“You caught me in hiding, not to expose me – but to embrace me.”

You Carried My Worth, When I Had None.

You carried me not with arms, but with quiet dignity. You never asked for payment again. You only asked for my presence.

You dropped me at my aunt’s doorstep after class. You bought me candy with your own coins. You lifted me when I didn’t know I needed lifting.

And in that unspoken care – I found my first taste of dignity.

You Were the First Mirror I Could Believe.

When others saw a troublemaker or a dreamer, you saw a child of discipline, of talent, of promise. 

You didn’t teach through lectures, You taught through presence, Through kindness, Through undivided attention.

And though I never completed your full course, though I left for the war at 14, you never left my memory.

A Thank You Carved in Silence.

You are not forgotten. You are etched into the tempo of my life. You are the first beat behind my heartbeat. You are the one who taught me that true teaching is not about information – it is about transformation.

So today, I bow not to a blackboard or a syllabus – But to the first soul who made me feel seen.

Thank you, my teacher.

“You didn’t raise your voice, You raised me”