"She walks in beauty, like the night...."

George, Lord Byron (1788-1824)

The chattering river of muddied schoolboys roars back to class after recess. Outside our class, an office flunkey sternly awaits. "Mrs. A.V. Teacher", would like to see Francis in the library!" I sneer at him, then like Shakespeare's unwilling schoolboy, climb the stairs snail-like with trepidation. The library is dank and musty.

Moments later "Mrs. A.V." elegantly sweeps in, fine lines delicately drawn, the seductive scent of Guerlain's "Ode" clinging lightly.

"Dear boy, " she tried to be stern, "Friends or not, when someone is in pain, we don't hurt, we com...fort!" Her dark eyes flashed.

Of course I knew what teacher Violet was talking about. Her nephew - also Francis - my classmate, had been laid up at home with a minor illness. We squabbled often, as little twerps do, but I duly signed his card along with the rest of the class....only....wickedly scrawling "Don't" next to the "Get Well Soon!" Of course his parents had a fit. But my elegant teacher Violet smoothly placated them with charm, and finessed an embarrassed apology out of me!

If I had to describe teacher Violet, those are the precise words that come to mind - elegance and charm. She taught us English and History, and sometimes filled in for Father Luis, our French teacher, who perfected his French in Madagascar, and spoke through his nose, as he claimed all Frenchmen do! Madame Necludoff, our other French teacher, a pretty Belgian, disagreed, advising Violet to walk off and just stick her elegant nose in the air at Fr. Luis!

"Pardon moi, Father", Violet laughed, "our paths will croissant again!"

And charm she could! By the time my rambunctious batch entered the upper school, Dr. Ribeiro's had changed to an All-Boys format. Teacher Violet was confronted daily by hordes of garrulous pre-pubes reminiscent of Richmal Crompton. Cat calls were not infrequent. Violet took these all in her stride, charming the boys to the extent that they actually looked forward to study periods of fun and laughter in her classes! A hint of a smile always graced those carved lips.

"Boys will be boys!" she smiles, "But I was no shrinking Violet!"

Violet was brought up in Mumbai where she studied at the prestigious St. Xavier's College in Mumbai. A good student she graduated with Honours in English and French, and gained her Teaching Degree. A keen sportswoman, Violet excelled at hockey, playing on the award-winning Xavier's College Hockey Team in the early 'fifties.

She taught at a couple of well-known Mumbai schools before meeting and marrying Stephen D'Souza in 1956, and emigrating to Kenya. Stephen's sister Felicia, an accomplished young lady herself was Vice-Principal of the Highridge Teacher Training College in Nairobi. Married to Calisto Nazareth they had two 'well-rounded' young sons, Charles and the afore-mentioned Francis!

The following year young Violet joined Dr. Ribeiro's Goan School in Parklands, where she was to teach for over a decade. She had the privilege of working under four Principals, starting with the popular blue-eyed, square-jawed Irish poster boy, Father Frank Comerford, who joined Dr. Ribeiro's the same year as Violet.

"He was a workaholic," she said, "We all loved him".

Fr. Comerford left suddenly after a couple of years, leaving the school to decline, but Violet perked up when the talented Dr. Neves Pereira, who indulged the school in music and many intellectual pursuits, took over from 1962-1965. The following year the upper school became all-male, an interim Principal Peter Pence was deputed briefly by the Ministry, before the querulous disciplinarian Robert Fernandes took over for four tumultuous years.

Through it all the serene Violet maintained her cool, but in 1968, Stephen and she emigrated a final time with their two little daughters to the cold climes of Old Blighty, along with the thousands of Asians fleeing Africanization, and imminent loss of their jobs to the locals.

Violet and Felicia simply picked up where they left off, as teachers in Kenya, working steadily for over three decades in the UK. When Stephen and she finally retired, they crossed the Big Pond to explore California! They had a whale of a time it seems, especially in Vegas.

"We cost the one-armed bandits an arm and a leg!" quipped Violet.

Violet and her family originally lived in Sidcup, Kent, but after Stephen passed away, she moved to Southend-on-Sea to be closer to her younger daughter. Preferring her independence, she lives alone, yet keeps herself extremely busy, cooking, gardening, housekeeping and painting. Ever with the times, Violet is very internet savvy - shopping online, emailing friends, relatives, former students, and fellow teachers Mildred and Celine. She is on Facebook, and visits the DRGS site, Goan Voice, verily any sites that feature new worlds to conquer.

"A good teacher is always learning!" she laughs delightedly.

A still handsome woman (2021), Violet is yet having fun in her twilight years.

Violet always has a smile for me in every week's email, still bringing cheer to her students, so many years after school. A wonderful soul!

As Byron said, "She walks in beauty, like the night....."