I was appointed tutor to Ajay, a child whose rebellious nature had affected his studies. 

It soon became apparent to me that it was not Ajay’s intelligence that was the problem (he is very bright). It was his rebellious attitude. 

I discovered that there was virtually a civil war between him and his parents and his way of waging war was to fail in his exams. I had to change Ajay’s character, not his work ethic. I set upon this very surreptitiously at first as I soon discovered that he had had various tutors previously, all of whom had apparently failed, probably because they did not understand the root of the problem. 

Over time I managed to persuade Ajay that his parents were not the ogres that he thought they were, but kind, loving people whose sole desire was that Ajay should grow up into a fine, successful young man. It appeared that they had gone about it the wrong way. 

Fortunately, during the three months that I was Ajay’s tutor, his parents had very little to do with him – he was left almost exclusively in my charge, which was very helpful for me, as I was able to work on him without their interference. 

Slowly Ajay came to trust me and to be persuaded by me, until after about two months, all of which time we spent together, studying a little, but playing squash, going on long hikes up hills and having fun together. I managed to change Ajay’s attitude towards his parents and hostilities ceased; happiness and calm were restored to the family and I understand from speaking to his parents since that Ajay is thriving at school; in fact he is near the top of his class. In short, he is a different boy. KG