100K Of Happiness

I rarely look at numbers and statistics pertaining to A Son Of A Peach not because I'm weak in Math (terrible to be honest) but because I feel like there is no need for me to be swayed by numbers and figures in the first place. But sadly, there is nothing more emotionally gratifying than seeing huge numbers because let's face it: numbers (especially in staggering units) is a good gauge of success.

I'm not trying to be utterly presumptuous here to say that A Son Of A Peach is a successful blog (it is right?) but what started out as a humble attempt to spread joy and laughter to friends near and far; it has thankfully grown only from strength to strength.

Granted, these days the entries come in at a rather glacial pace but that is only because there is only 24 hours in a day and there is just so many things that I an manage to do in a single day. But don;t you worry, A Son Of A Peach is here to stay.

So 100K unique views eh? Not that shabby for a complete unknown and especially so after being in existence (the blog, not me) for a mere 10 months.

But that's not what I'm writing this celebratory blog post for. See in a fit of ecstasy, I have shamelessly shared this piece of news on Facebook and my ex English teacher, Mr Iaan had validated my efforts for the past 10 months with a succinct "Welcome" when I thanked everyone on Facebook for their support.

That can only mean one thing: My ex English teacher reads my blog. That feeling was equal parts enthralling as much as it is nerve-wrecking.

Nerve-wrecking because you can't quite shake off the fact that your ex English teacher is reading your blog and judging (or quietly corrupting) your grammar.

Once a teacher, always a teacher.

Oh what do you know? I have always been (or I'd like to think) an ace English student. I enjoyed English lessons with every single fibre and pore of my body. There have never been a single day where I dread going for an English lesson. I suppose this stemmed from the fact that I understood the relevance and charm of a well spoken man than a man who can apply Pythagoras Theorem when picking up hot strangers in a club.

And that was all I wanted to be. I wanted to speak well, write in a grammatically perfect manner and have an extensive vocabulary longer that Lindsay Lohan's DUI arrests.

The joy of learning the English language is further fueled by the existence of Mr Iaan. From the start, he wasn't the cookie cutter type of educator. The first lesson was him, in a neatly pressed white paisley printed shirt, openly chiding my other classmates and their inability to differentiate between a noun, verb and an adjective.

This was particularly worrying because our "O" Level examinations was just 9 months away. I, of course knew what was what but had kept my silent to impress him with our first ever composition handout.

I have learned more things in that 9 months than 9 years of learning English in school. Not the technicality of the language per se but the freedom of expression. And isn't that what language is all about? Mr Iaan's lesson is never devoid of puns and laughter and a gracious sense of healthy competition amongst classmates.

And that joy of writing, expressing and immense amount of creativity has only led me to this, and more.  So thank you Mr Iaan for setting the highest example of what it means like to do what you enjoy, and to live their life, one grammatically perfect sentence at a time.