Sapa Pendek tu cikgu ?

     I was in year 5 masa tu. A short and thin girl..dengan rambut panjang diikat tocang..My classroom was opposite the school's front gate. Cikgu Adnan, (arwah ) we used to call him Cikgu Nan was teaching Bah. Melayu about pantun.

     He was a serious teacher, very dedicated, a man of few words.Dia jarang bersembang2 , buat kerja dia saja.
      " Pantun ni dah jadi budaya orang Melayu turun temurun.. " He said.
      "Di gunakan dalam majlis2 pertunangan, perkahwinan, kenduri kendara, sebagai pembuka kata, juga senikata dalam lagu..Pendek kata pantun memang dah jadi sebahagian daripada kehidupan kita."

      Sebenarnya dah banyak kali I heard him said, " Pendek kata ..."

      Contoh lagi,.." Kamu mesti rajin belajar supaya jadi orang pandai dan berguna, dengar kata ibu bapa, kawan dengan orang baik2..Pendek kata jadilah anak yang di sayangi keluarga dan menjadi contoh pada adik2 kamu.."
 
      Pendek lagi...takkan he was referring to himself.tak logik la pulak.Although he was a very short man..

     That particular day I was determined to get to it. I waited for all the pupils to leave the classroom. Cikgu Nan was at the table , putting his record book in his bag.

     " Ya, Maznah, apa hal ? "
     " Cikgu saya nak tanya sikit .."
     "Mengenai pantun tadi ka? apa yang kamu tak faham ? "
     " Semua saya faham cikgu , cuma satu saja saya nak tau "

    Cikgu Nan berdiri, " Ha , apa yang kamu nak tau ? "
    "Pendek tu sapa cikgu ? "
    " Pendek mana pulak ni Maznah ? "

    "Tu yang cikgu selalu sebut masa mengajar kami..Pendek kata ini, Pendek kata itu..Pandai sungguh Pendek tu na cikgu ? "
  
    Dia terduduk dan laughed his heart out. I pula yang heran Pasal apa pula. Aku ni silap tanya ke. Cikgu Nan ni selalu serius.Jarang tengok dia senyum apatah lagi gelak sekuat tu..

    "Pendek kata maksudnya..kita pendekkan cerita .. atau dengan lain perkataan, macam kesimpulan seluruh isi cerita yang cikgu sampaikan,. "

    "Pendek tu bukan orang .."

    Baru tangkap dalam kepala. Ya Rabbi, Awat aku ni bodoh sangat ha. Benda lain tau, benda yang paling mudah, paling remeh tak tau..siap pi tanya cikgu pulak..

    The next day masa cikgu Nan masuk kelas I was expecting to be treated like a fool by my friends..But Cikgu Nan was a very special teacher. He did not mention a word about it. In fact he encouraged us to keep on asking questions if there was something we did not understand..

    Ha ha bila ingat balik..or when I hear somebody bagi kursus ke, or ucapan ke..when they said " Pendek kata.." I mesti tersenyum sendiri..Pandainya Pendek tu....kah kah kah..


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