ABSTRACT
Our son was not yet five years old, the age to begin one’s formal education, but he was eager to learn. Kindergarten classes were not available, so I taught him whatever I could at home and then persuaded the headmistress of the Girls’ School to give him some private lessons after school hours. He was fond of English and the learning of new words gave him much pleasure. I found him one day with a solemn face repeating, “Matha—is ‘head,’ matha is ‘head,’ ‘Head Mistress’—‘Matha Mistress.’” As he memorized the translation of the Bengali “matha” into the English “head,” he tapped his own little poll with his fingers.
