The class
was quiet and Vivan was sitting resting his elbows on the desk, half yawning.
He never liked the Hindi period. It was all right there and ever so obvious.
That’s what we’ve been learning from the time we started speaking, he kept
telling himself. Sure there are some odd words which are hard to pronounce, let
alone learning their meanings, but, a class VI student knows enough of the
language to use simpler words instead which explain the text just fine. The
fact that this was the first period on this day of school didn’t help either.
The only consoling thought being that the period that followed was Mathematics.
He loved numbers. The way numbers and variables worked together and how
different operations brought out something else was nothing short of magic to
him. The Mathematics period was his dose of caffeine. He wasn’t the brightest
or the sharpest or the fastest in Mathematics, but, he liked it nonetheless.
The bell
finally struck after what felt like a lifetime and the Mathematics teacher stepped
in. For the next 40 minutes, Vivan was wide awake and attentive like he was
watching a magician go about his routine tricks. He took notes, and tried to
grasp everything that was being taught. When the bell finally struck again,
indicating the end of the period, he was smiling. Satisfied with what he had
learned.
The class
was noisier again. The hustle of bags and books was because it was the lunch
break. He took out his lunch and went over to his group of friends, Tanmay,
Rishi and Pranav. The boxes were opened and spread across the table and the
chit-chat started. Rishi told the group that his father was planning to take
their family out for a trip to Goa in the summer vacations. Tanmay had already
been there and told him all about the hotel and how there was a pool in which
he played for the entire day splashing water at his younger sister and how they
enjoyed on the beach and the boat ride and what all his father bought him.
Pranav pitched in and told his tale of when they visited Andamans and played on
the beach and about the huge waves that appeared like they’d swallow you and
about the endless expanse of water to which Tanmay nodded his head vigorously
in agreement because his mouth was stuffed with food. “I was standing at the
corner of the world. Water was all that it was in front of me”, added Pranav.
Vivan was silent throughout the conversation. He didn’t go out very often. He
felt uncomfortable at such conversations. Whenever someone was narrating
something like this, he’d try and force a smile so as to suggest he agrees because
he had nothing to comment. He had somehow become better at forcing a smile in
the middle of such conversations because nobody seemed to notice that he was
having trouble sitting through it. He’d chose the Hindi period over such
conversations any time, because it at least didn’t require him to fake a smile
and he could yawn in peace. He was in a similar situation when his friends
discussed where they’d gone for dinners on the weekend and the new video game
that their fathers had gifted them. Their boxes were empty in the first 10
minutes, but, the break lasted for 20, which meant he had to sit through for 10
extra minutes just nodding absent mindedly. The bell finally rang and he was
relieved to return to his seat, but he had trouble gathering his thoughts now.
He too
wanted to see those gigantic waves that Pranav was so scared of. Pranav was
silly, he thought. He wouldn’t be afraid, but may enjoy it. He wanted to go
there, but he couldn’t ask his parents to take him. That break apparently left
the rest of the day rather unpleasant for Vivan.
……………To Be Continued
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