Handbags and more

 

My mother was not much of the handbag types . She preferred using a purse instead . One of my earliest encounter with handbags happened , when I entered school . The Class Teacher was of course an icon of sorts , whether it be in the fashion sense or otherwise . Her handbag was pretty fascinating too . Often I would see teachers moving from class to class with their handbags which would be slung over the back of the chair . With time , of course ,interest in that particular accessory waned  - till I became a teacher . Now , that is quite another story . There are some interesting  , tried and tested theories , that have come to light , ever since that morning in January , when I stepped into a school as a teacher .

 

          Theory number 1 – a teacher never ever steps out  of home without at least two bags . It is mandatory and necessary . There is a nice attractive bag , which may or may not carry the Hidesign tag . It may also be from a local store , but it certainly is the better looking bag and  is meant to be subdued and classy , befitting the  image of a teacher . It has a purse with money , the mobile , and papers – bills , payslips and the like . The other bag is more drab . It contains answer scripts, textbooks , exercise books and  the pencil case that is home to  a dozen red pens , half a dozen blue and black ones , sharpeners , erasers , rulers and other paraphernalia – essentially what one might call , a teacher’s work kit . Of late , my school has become a no plastic zone . Hence , I went into a lot of trouble , searching for the perfect  ‘ second bag ‘ . It had to be big enough to accommodate all my things and also be completely waterproof . I finally did find it  - an oversized white bag , which has been serving me well , especially on examination days . Sometimes , there is a third bag as well – where teachers put in their water bottles and lunch box . It is believed that since teachers are constantly using their vocal chords , they need to drink a lot of water. Hence a bottle of water , accompanies them everywhere . In recent times, there is an addition - the laptop bag. 

 Theory number 2 .  You can identify a teacher anywhere  - a mall , in the airport , in the market , at the bank or simply walking on the road . They have a distinct mark that distinguishes them from the rest of humanity – rather like Vishnu’s sacred mark . It has something to do with the way they walk , talk , stand , look and yes , with the bags they carry . I had , once gone to the bank , carrying my bag and baggage . The man at the counter looked at me and asked if I was a teacher . When I asked him , how he knew I was a teacher, he replied that the number of bags I was carrying indicated that I was one .  I had to grant that . I certainly did not look like I was flying off to the Hawaii islands .

 

              Theory number 3 . The number of bags a teacher carries is usually an index to his or her level of sincerity . The more bags a teacher carries , the more sincere does the teacher appear to be .

 

               Theory number 4 . The teacher carries a single bag , that too , a fancy one ,  only on one day in a year  - Teacher’s Day .

 

               As for my bag , you are bound to find a million things within it . Items range from crumpled notes , bills , bus tickets and odd pieces of paper  to lipsticks , pens and loose change . And yes , when one fine day , I empty out my bag , I find myself quite rich – the loose change and the crumpled notes add up to quite a pretty amount .

 

               That my friends , is the story , the mystery and the  history that surrounds a teacher’s handbag .

 

       Image - Aylin Cobanoglu ( Unsplash )