friendship.
Thus within two weeks a lustrous friendship bond developed between us. As time proceeded our bond became stronger even more than the covalent bond that existed between two carbon-carbon atoms in our chemistry book.
Three weeks later, during recess Syed asked me to accompany him to the staff room. He wanted to meet the Physics teacher to clear his doubt. For the students other than toppers such as Syed, entering the staff room was as dreadful as to a sheep entering a butcher’s place of business.
“I would rather go to the graveyard at midnight than to enter the staff room,” I said to Syed and stayed in the class.
Most of the students had gone to the toilet or canteen. I saw that a few still remained in the class. Three boys sitting on a bench called me. I squeezed myself uncomfortably in the same bench.
One of them asked, “How do you find the school?”
Before I could reply “great” I saw from the corner of my eye the other two exchanging meaningful looks (I mildly heard them say one two and three). Before my suspicious brain could warn me, I was already in for their game. Those chaps with the combined force jerked sideways suddenly and shoved me out. I remember only in snatches what happened after that.
I fell down some feet away with my hands hitting a girl’s leg. Usually in our schools the girls sat in three or four rows of benches in a column-wise order and boys sat in separate rows of benches in another column-wise order, separated by a small space in between the girls’ rows.
It would have been better if I have accompanied Syed, I comprehended at that moment.
But now I realise that they did a wonderful thing to me on that day, as they gave me a chance of touching my girl’s leg. As soon as my hands hit her leg, she took her leg and gave an “ssshhh” sound; while I completed saying, “great” word from my mouth.
While others laughed at me, I got up from the place without uttering a word. I was little angry at them but hid my irritation.
After that we all became friends when they later explained to me that they had the habit of doing this to the new students and later apologised for that.
4.THE PLAY (GAMES AND DRAMA):
We had a games hour that day. Every student was happy with that, a chirpy smile resembled in everyone’s face except mine. Because I knew that my rotund body was not decent at games. Like the Pythagoras theorem, the vice versa was also true i.e. my fat physique might have developed because I wasn’t good at games.
In the games period, we all assembled on the ground. Then our physical education teacher gave the balls and other playing equipments to us and left the place. ” Playing” was left optional for the students. Most of the girls sought the advantage of this option. They just gossiped and watched the other boys playing their games.
The boys of my class took the volleyball and went to the volleyball court to play the game. There were 19 boys in our class, and two boys were absent on that day. So the available boys divided themselves into two groups. Since everyone was belonged to the previous class, they went along with their old team members and they all took their positions. Six boys stood inside the court and two boys stood outside the court. The two boys standing outside the court were allowed only to serve the ball, while six boys standing inside the court played the game.
Being a new student, I was standing there idle and thus my best friend Syed requested them to give me a chance to play. With their consent, I went inside the court as a substitute player for another one. The game started, and the opposing team started serving the ball. When the ball came to me for the first time I missed it and cost my team a point.
“Don’t do like this, she is watching you”
I said to myself. I was confident that I will be able to tackle the ball for the second time and save the point for my team. When the ball came to me, once again I collapsed and so I lost another point for my team.
The opposing team marked me as their target and served the ball only towards me, ignoring the other five members.
“The ball is coming near Krishna and the baby’s butterfingers will slip it this time too,"
One of my team mates yelled when the ball came near me. And as scornfully predicted I cost my team another point.
“I would have tackled the ball had you kept your wide mouth shut” I shouted back but that didn’t work out.
My team members got irritated with me and started shouting at me. Few began to yell.
“Who dragged him in? If he continues to remain in our team, then we are 100% sure to lose our game”
After that they asked me to quit the game.
“Being a basketball player for years, it is really tedious for me to play volleyball; both are just the opposite” I said in a jaunty tone and stalked off the court.
I called myself a “basketball player” because in my school, it was the only court which was not seen anywhere and so saying that would be always safe for me.
But from the inside of my heart, I felt humiliated and embarrassed. I was about to cry. And the worst was that she had been watching the drama unfold and was whispering some comments to her friends (a smile playing on her pretty face all the while). The same thing had been happening to me in the old school as well, but I had never been bothered. That night I remained fretful worrying myself sick over the shameful events of that day. I was wide awake that night.
I felt that those were the most painful moments and was something that should not have happened to me. It was because I wished, I to be her hero but on that day all I played was the role of a joker.
5.THE BIRIYANI CONSEQUENCE:
After seeing the movie until midnight on Sunday, my body felt leaden next morning. My mother brought my morning coffee to me and shook me awake. I rose; during which my mother had kept the coffee and went. I drank the coffee and went back to sleep.
Then a few minutes later my mother came in with another cup of coffee and tried to wake me up. I was stirring so my mother gave the coffee to me and went. Keeping the coffee aside I went to sleep once again. After some time, I heard something disturbing my sleepit was my father saying to my mother,
“I think he is going to bunk the class today."
Then I stood up from the bed and saw the time. I was shocked because the time got near to 7.30. I drank the second cup of coffee of that day, which had gone cold by that time.
I thought for a while to bunk my class, but in the following Wednesday, our friends had planned to go to a movie. If I bunked my class, afterwards it would be difficult for me to go to the movie as I had only one day remaining in my allowable leave of that month. If I didn’t watch myself, subsequently I’d have to endure a parent teacher meeting. So I hurried about the business of toilet and ablutions. Then I took my school bag and lunch bag, and as I was about to go,
My mother asked, “Aren’t you having your breakfast?”
” It is already getting late. I am a new student. If I go late, then I will be punished as the rules in this school are very strict, that’s what my friends said to me” I retorted to my mother.
My mom listened to me and expressed her disappointment,
“Today I had prepared vegetable biriyani, your favourite dish,"
I thought for a while that in any case I wouldn’t be getting anything to eat that afternoon. I could trust my friends to empty my lunch, as soon as I open it, even before I can set my eyes on its contents. So I kept my school bag down and went to take the plate.
Although two cups of coffee were doing the rounds in my stomach already, my mum’s words were able to whet my appetite. My mother questioned,
“Just now you said that if you go late, then you will be punished. What happened no
w? You seem to have suddenly changed your decision.”
“I am a new student to their school. How will they punish their fresh students? When they know that I am unlikely to be familiar with the rules and regulations of their school. Even if they do, they won’t kill your son,” I replied to my mother nonchalantly with Biriyani in my mouth.
Though I was fearful of getting punished, I thought that my mother’s Biriyani was worthy enough to get punished for. It was that much tasty indeed. My father would even die for it. After eating it, I immediately ran to the bus stop to take the bus to my school.
I was lucky enough that day because I boarded the bus in the nick of time (Thanks to the Indian Road Transports because the bus, which I took routinely, was also late on that day just like me). I was happy that I had reached the school only with a fifteen-minute delay. I prayed to God that the principal be ‘on leave’ that day.
No sooner had I finished my prayer; the principal stood there to welcome me with a cane in his hand.
“Doesn’t his mother or wife ever prepare his favourite dish?” I reasoned for he always came to the school at the correct time.
As unexpectedly there was an oasis in my journey. To my surprise, I saw her standing there, as another late comer student. I was happy for two things: one was that there was a chance for me to talk to her; and the other was that I had escaped from the beatings of the Principal.
She, being a topper