Gone so young...

Have you ever encountered a situation
whereby the person that you are thinking about suddenly
would call you up...or bump into you?
I have...in so many occasion...
usually it is totally unexpected....
a distant memory or maybe someone that you have not heard of for
a while pop into my mind...
and not long after that i would meet the person or get a call from him/her
or someone mention about him/her to me...

People said that if you thought or dreamt of someone...
it means that the person is also thinking about you...
How true is that?
I don't know.

My sister called me just now and we
chatted as usual...
She told me that she came across a condolence wishes
to someone that we know...
my teacher in primary school and my brother's classmate...
Mr Charlie Adit...
Apparently he has passed away recently...a week or more....

I remember the family well...
Akik Det...as we called his father...was a very close family
friend...my grandmother's close friend...
We used to visit them after mass every Sunday since the
small chapel is situated at Akik Det's village -
Kampung Segenam in along the Samarahan river.
Charlie, was someone whom i knew of as Akik Det's son...
i never really talk to him as he was way, way, way older than
i was at that age...
But he did become my teacher for a while when i was
in primary 3...

I remember vividly how he scolded me...or rather reprimanded me..
so called ....put me in my place...kinda thing...
I was always the top student in my school...
and a pretty naughty one too...not to mention notorious...
I wanted to be involved in everything...
anyway...i remember one day while we were learning
Pendidikan Kesihatan or something - Mr Charlie was the teacher -
he mispronounced a word and
i being my normal self....i laughed...
he was annoyed but i didn't realised that...
so he called me up to read the passage...
i did...
and after i finished he proceeded to scold the whole
class...saying that 'some people' thought that they were so
intelligent that they laughed at others...

Anyway...i dislike him for that...
And i suspected that he purposely didn't choose me
to be in the performance of Hensel and Gretel for
the year end prize giving day or something...
i really wanted to act in the performance that
i was envious of my friends who were chosen...
Of course being rebellious...
i sulked...
and i was the Class monitor....and i didn't control
the class when the teacher wasn't in...
he of course scolded the class for being noisy...
and i told him that i quit...

He made me stay after class to give me a good scolding...
and my brother who was waiting for me to bring me back saw
the scolding...
I felt humiliated....
hahaha...for one so young...
I was 9...what do you expect...
My brother didn't asked me why i got scolded...
He was 4 years older and i was grateful that he was
tactful enough for not rubbing it in my face
or demanded to know what it was all about...
We were both quiet on the ride home...
he cycling the bicycle
while me sitting quietly at the back...
I thought he would have told on me...
but he did not...
I was so afraid that my mom would discover...
but thankfully...my brother kept mum...
i think he must have thought
that i had got enough scolding for the day...
That was my vivid memory of Mr Charlie...
which i never told anyone...

The strange thing was...
i was just thinking about the exact incident
before my sister's call...
I was thinking about how Aisyah laughed
at me for mispronouncing back pain...
and i only correctly myself and took it as a joke...
and how that incident a long, long time ago taught me a lesson
that teachers are human and they too are entitled to make mistake....
but the difference is how you take it...
either to take it hard or just accept that you have
made a mistake and correct yourself and move on...