Teachers' Day was coming; as a teacher, I should have been unaware of that. After three days off, yesterday at school I heard headmaster saying one of my colleagues on sick leave asked whether our school would have a holiday today. I felt puzzled for a while until I knew the reason. Around two o'clock in the afternoon, our waiting in suspense came to an end when our headmaster conveyed the decision from above to us that we could take a day's holiday today. The low status of teachers can hardly be improved by the festival alone. The gifts offered on such occasions to them by their students' parents are mostly bribery rather than the expression of heartfelt respect.