Students rush to aid former teacher after viral video chronicles her homelessness and struggles

Teachers play a vital role in influencing kids as they grow up. In most cases, teachers help students by helping them find their strengths and providing the correct guidance. Interestingly, students can also play a pivotal role in a teacher's life. In the case of 81-year-old Merlin, a teacher hailing from Burma who migrated to India along with her husband, her students turned out to be her guardian angels. Mohamed Ashik, a content creator based in Chennai, got the chance to interview the woman on the street and shared the video on Instagram, which has now gone viral on the social media site with 38.2 million views and counting.

The interview begins with Ashik asking the old teacher a few basic questions about how she ended up in India. "Because my husband is from India! I got married in church only, so he brought me here to his mother," she explained. Merlin then proceeded to share that all of her family members had passed away. As a result of this, she lost her home and had to survive on her own. When Ashik asked how she was able to find food every day, the woman replied that she would "just beg" people for food.

She added, "Sometimes I will get, sometimes I won't get. I have to starve." He then asked her what she did for work in Burma. Merlin revealed that she used to be a teacher who provided tuition classes to kids, but over the years, she stopped teaching due to her circumstances. He then inquired what subjects she taught. She replied, "English, maths, Tamil, just a little." Ashik asked the woman if she wanted something from him and she immediately replied that she did not require anything other than a change of clothes.

She strongly replied, "Just one saree, one blouse and a skirt." Ashik, wanting to help the woman out, informed her that he had got her a saree. She could not believe it and exclaimed, "Oh really?" In the video, he gives her the saree and asks her if she likes the color, to which she replies that she does. She said, "What God gives, I like!" Ashik told her that he wanted to help her somehow since she used to be a teacher and did not want her to resort to begging.

Merlin replied: "If you don't want me to beg, then how can I eat for my stomach?" Ashik stated that he would like to make a "deal" with her. He said, "You help me make English videos. For every video, I'll pay you back!" She agreed to the deal. The video concludes with an inspiring text overlay reading, "A true teacher should never stop teaching for the world is their classroom and every moment is a lesson."

Asik started an Instagram page for Merlin, @englishwithmerlin, to share her teaching knowledge with the world. The first video went viral and one of her old students recognized her. Ashik posted a follow-up video where he revealed what happened after that. One of her old students, Shyam, went to see her in person. Shyam managed to get the contact details of her older students and video-called them while visiting Merlin so she could reconnect with them.

He revealed that the students used to fondly call her by her nickname, "Gamma," which was a shortened form of "Grandma." Merlin mentioned how she used to live for rent in the upstairs area of Shyam's house and took tuition for him. She said, "He used to be so scared of me." Merlin expressed happiness that Ashik's video had allowed her students to reconnect with her.

She reconnected with many others with the help of Shyam. The students managed to convince Merlin to move into an old age home, where she would be properly taken care of and given food. She said, "I want to spend the last days of my life in peace." Ashik concluded the video by expressing his gratefulness to everybody who had shown her so much love and support.