The Lady From Bombay

The lady from Bombay The inner ciity school was big and noisy. I remember being scared and overwhelmed. When I saw her for the first time a cornucopia of colors In her flowing sari. She floated no sound of footsteps. Her skin perfectly brown oh she was the most beautiful lady I had ever seen. I think she loved teaching more than life. She wld break an adult meetng to tend to a childs needs. .Saying we must reschedule I have a very important meeting with my student I must attend to. she taught us patience and respect. To listen to each other and to learn from each person we spoke with. she brought animals to the school and introduced us to new species. Everone wanted to be with her when she taught us the class was silent and every swoosh of her sari could be heard. she stood by the open window of the classroom Once and said listen can you hear it I said its just silence Miss she smiled and said no it is the most beautiful sound in the world it is the sound of learning. she would ask what new thing we had learned since last she saw us. A color a poem a book. I think I learned how to learn from her. She basked in her small successes. Later she told us of the nurses a doctor schoolteacher author and poet that had spawned from her class. Now when I visit England I always try to see her in her small retirement flat. she pours green tea that she says comes from the foothills of the himalayas still teaching me. As I recount for her all the new things I have learned in the years since I saw her last