Freigeist

Freigeist is a German word which means Free Spirit. “A person with a highly individualistic or unique attitude, lifestyle, or imagination; nonconformist. A person who lives according to his or her own wishes and beliefs, unconstrained by society’s conventions.”

My teacher sports a tattoo of this word on her wrist and flaunts it unapologetically in classrooms while taking her classes. I enrolled in the language learning course with Pune University in 2018. It was an intensive program and I would go to classes before my office hours with 3 of my other colleagues including my manager at the time. There is no specific reason for why we enrolled for it, it was my manager who pushed us and we were intrigued by the idea of learning a new language. 

Those 4-5 months were blissful. I was going back to school after 2 years, being a working professional. We had two teachers who took classes on alternate days of the week. I hardly ever missed any class. I would get up early, finish my morning routine and go to office to punch in my time and then drive to the German Classes. The travel time was anywhere between 40-50 minutes, racing our Activas with the morning traffic! It used to feel like we are gauging the security guards like bandits while coming in and out of the office building, they grew suspicious of us many a times. It wasn’t ethical to punch in and leave the office building for some personal work.

We would be terrified on the days when Kavya (name changed) ma’am taught. Sujata (name changed) ma’am classes were light and easy going, we would sail through the assignments and tasks without much effort. But Kavya ma’am was tough, she wanted us to pay attention and would not let us cut the corners. We used to get annoyed with her remarks and her attitude in general. But she used to love us all dearly. She was particularly fond of my friend who is a great photographer and we used to tease him that she would never scold you even if you don’t do your tasks. He would brush it off but after classes they often bonded on their love of photography. She would compliment him in the class for his good physique and skills. He was often taken as a live example while she explained new topics and lessons. It was a fun banter in Deutsch.

Kavya ma’am has a cat. She lived with her husband with no children. She used to always support new ideas and genuine passion instead of conforming to the society. On some occasions her way of living and thinking used to sound arrogant as if she was too proud of not succumbing to conventional ideas of the society. She would talk on and on about her thoughts and how she negates and faces heat for her choices. She was the hero of her story, but it had a tinge of negative outlook towards the society in general and everybody else who did not think her way. That constant reminder of how strong she is and how her parents brought her up would annoy us, we had too much of it I believe.

My thinking changed as the classes progressed and we received much love and warmth from her. She would bring in innovative ideas to explain grammar rules, fun games to understand the meaning of the words and not just by heart them. The interactive dialogues and role plays were interesting. She would add her own touch and independent thinking to the lessons. She was a whole package. She was cold because she had to stand up for her free spirit against the whole world. She was proud because her parents gave her the infinite support and love which the world didn’t show. She would talk on and on because she had lived and travelled and wanted to share the idea of trusting your own instinct and follow it madly because nobody ever tells us to do that. She loved us, called us all her children, she used to always remember every small detail about her students and that is why she always gave examples which were discussed in the class, my photographer friend is an example of the same. She wanted no children of her own and teaching and learning were her passion. She was learning French and Japanese while she was teaching us German. She already knew Marathi, Hindi and English well. She teaches both German and French as of 2022. She always topped her language class and is a lifelong learner. She topped her Spanish class this year. I wonder what is she learning next?! She started her own language classes during COVID and teaches students from age 3 to 73!

There are so many happy colors she flaunts from her life journey and I only smile and send her my love while looking at her pictures online. She is an authentic true spirited human being and beautiful in many unique ways. She is one of my favorite teachers, she taught me not only a new language but a new perspective. Be your own light, tread your own path. Your uniqueness is your beauty. No need to follow the herd, they look all the same from up above. Rise up & up! Be a Freigeist 🔥

Happy Onam 💐