Welcome to the club!
I sat staring at the back of Arjun’s head। It was bent. I noticed the precision of the hair line at the nape indicating a fresh hair cut. His shoulders seemed sagged. Almost defeated! Looking at his crestfallen profile, I could feel a certain rage build inside me. The insides of my eardrums felt hot with the blood gushing to my head as I braced myself to contain the mercurial emotions.
I had joined this school in the seventh grade। It was quite stressful in the initial weeks. The boys ogled most of the times & made fun of anything I said or did. They were a raucous bunch; pretty disorderly in their class-work & audacious when reprimanded by the teachers! I learnt quite a few cuss words attending class with them & enjoyed my mum’s wide eyed expression when I related my new diction to her each evening.
As the exams approached and all of us struggled together with the new course, we became a part of the same group that seemed terrorized by scalene & isosceles triangles। We were bonded by a common skirmish....trigonometry!
Arjun had been kinder than the others. He spoke only when all suggestive body language failed to convey the message. So it would be most appropriate to say that he used his vocal cords sparingly. When Sir Dubey actually paired us to sit together in class, I was most relieved.
Back to what had triggered the blood to flow like molten lava in my veins।
It was the math period & Ms Iyer our class teacher suddenly asked Arjun if his parents were separating। Silence suddenly descended in a fish market of a class. The uncomfortable hush could actually be sliced into thin strips & fed to the crocodiles. Arjun stood there meekly all flushed with an iron tongue. Ms Iyer probed deeper. “What is the reason for the divorce…. Arjun?” She preyed.
We all stared with gapping mouths at Ms Iyer। Had no one taught her any social etiquette? Where was human kindness that our principal talked about relentlessly each morning during the prayers? How could Ms Iyer deport herself like this?
Each one of us could comprehend Arjun’s defeated look except Ms Iyer!
As the class got over, I quickly slid to Arjun’s side & shaking his hand said “Welcome to the club; my parents are divorced too!”
I can bet my entire piggy bank that my smile salvaged Arjun’s shredded confidence to where it belonged। His eyes searched me to share more. And I did. Not because I love to talk about my parents separation. But I owed it to all the kids who are like me. Somebody needed to tell them that they were not alone.
I saw myself in Arjun when Sister Sangita had asked me similar questions three years ago।
Copyright © BuntysBanter 2008
I had joined this school in the seventh grade। It was quite stressful in the initial weeks. The boys ogled most of the times & made fun of anything I said or did. They were a raucous bunch; pretty disorderly in their class-work & audacious when reprimanded by the teachers! I learnt quite a few cuss words attending class with them & enjoyed my mum’s wide eyed expression when I related my new diction to her each evening.
As the exams approached and all of us struggled together with the new course, we became a part of the same group that seemed terrorized by scalene & isosceles triangles। We were bonded by a common skirmish....trigonometry!
Arjun had been kinder than the others. He spoke only when all suggestive body language failed to convey the message. So it would be most appropriate to say that he used his vocal cords sparingly. When Sir Dubey actually paired us to sit together in class, I was most relieved.
Back to what had triggered the blood to flow like molten lava in my veins।
It was the math period & Ms Iyer our class teacher suddenly asked Arjun if his parents were separating। Silence suddenly descended in a fish market of a class. The uncomfortable hush could actually be sliced into thin strips & fed to the crocodiles. Arjun stood there meekly all flushed with an iron tongue. Ms Iyer probed deeper. “What is the reason for the divorce…. Arjun?” She preyed.
We all stared with gapping mouths at Ms Iyer। Had no one taught her any social etiquette? Where was human kindness that our principal talked about relentlessly each morning during the prayers? How could Ms Iyer deport herself like this?
Each one of us could comprehend Arjun’s defeated look except Ms Iyer!
As the class got over, I quickly slid to Arjun’s side & shaking his hand said “Welcome to the club; my parents are divorced too!”
I can bet my entire piggy bank that my smile salvaged Arjun’s shredded confidence to where it belonged। His eyes searched me to share more. And I did. Not because I love to talk about my parents separation. But I owed it to all the kids who are like me. Somebody needed to tell them that they were not alone.
I saw myself in Arjun when Sister Sangita had asked me similar questions three years ago।
Copyright © BuntysBanter 2008
posted by Bunty's Banter at 10:17 AM
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