Mrs Abid was a comic, a mimic, a singer, a sportswoman, and she was funny.  She was tall -- I guess all teachers would appear tall when you are in class 4 -- or her thin frame gave me the impression that she was tall. She had a wavy head of hair which she wore like a teen; short and unruly.  She could ride around the school yard on a Yamaha 50 and she would have to stand in the verandah to enjoy a smoke.  She gave everything her all.

She led the boy scouts encouraging us to sing and cycle and perform and she was the first person to put me on a stage in a skit; a conversation between a driver who could not see and a mechanic who could not really fix his car; the script and the characters were her own creation and it was a big hit in rehearsals. She made me feel like a comedian performing on 50-50 in PTV and allowed me to strut the school as a star all in my mind.

And that is what she made you feel.  She would challenge the boys to impromptu games of baseball or basketball and would soundly beat all comers but she would pepper the game with quips of "well-done bachay" that would fill us with courage to try more.

But nothing was a bigger treat than her sing-off. The shyest kid would have to hum with her as she would drum up a storm on the tea-tray beside her. And I now know the energy it would have taken for her to perform with such verve, always.

We passed on to the next class and then on to the next school and we would visit her, my friends, until we passed out of school but now that I sit writing about her I feel a certain sadness at not knowing where she is today.

She gave us a lift which has lived with us all our lives. And yet we have no idea who she really was.