'So this is the famous Dumraon Royal School,’ Riya said, her eyes
widening at the sight of hundreds of kids buzzing around like bees.
‘Nothing royal about it,’ I said.
‘Well, I hear a prince runs it,’ she said.
She smiled at me. I gave her an all-knowing, what-happened-lastnight
look. Of course, not much had happened. But a kiss is a kiss is a
kiss.
‘We decided never to talk about it,’ she said.
‘I didn’t say anything.’
‘Tell your eyes to be quiet then.They talk too much.’
I laughed. ‘How’s your cough?’
‘Better,’ she said.
We reached school at nine, two hours after Ma. Riya had slept in.
Since she did not know the way, I had to wait for her. She, had
donned a skirt and top first, but I had asked her to change into a
salwar-kameez instead. Not that the kids would care but the principal,
or Rani Sahiba, would. She had to approve of the dress code. So Riya
switched to a plain white chikan salwar-kameez.
We entered the staffroom.
‘You finally made it. Welcome,’ my mother said. I ignored her
sarcasm. Riya and I greeted her, but Ma only nodded, without looking
up from her notebooks.
I introduced Riya to the staff.
Tarachand ji duly rang the bell. My mother stood up.
‘Where are you going, Ma? It is my period.’
‘Are you working today?’ she said.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Good, because I have a hundred books to correct.’
She sat down again.
‘Is it okay if Riya waits here?’ I said.
‘Oh, I could walk around,’ Riya said.
‘It’s fine,’ my mother said.
‘Or I could help with the books?’ Riya said.
My mother looked up and lowered her reading glasses.
'Help?’
'I can correct some notebooks. Should I take a pile?’
In a slow movement, Ma pushed a pile towards her.
I smiled. Rani Sahiba’s heart could melt. I imagined the three of us
at school every day, after it had received the Gates grant. If you are
imagining it, might as well dream of the perfect scenario, so I thought .
Of Riya, my mother and me, laughing and correcting notebooks. I
thought of Riya and me teaching the school kids basketball.
‘Madhav?’ my mother interrupted my daydream.
‘Huh?’
‘Class?’
'I was just leaving,’ I said.
*
'Who is that didi?' a little girl in class III asked me.
I taught classes III, IV and V simultaneously. Since we didn’t have
enough teachers or classrooms, we had come up with a new system. I
divided the blackboard into three parts.
Each class had a third of the blackboard. I would teach a concept
in one class and give them a problem.While they solved it, I moved on
to the next class. It wasn’t the best way to teach, but the kids adapted
to it.
‘She’s my classmate from Delhi. Same as you have classmates
here,’ I said.
‘She’s so pretty,’ another class III girl called Shabnam said. ‘Are all
Delhi girls so pretty?’
I smiled.
‘Just like all Dumraon girls are pretty.’
‘Are all Delhi girls so tall?’ Shabnam said.
‘No. Only those who can write the nine-times table.’ The girls
giggled and got on with their ciasswork.
I moved to class IV and then to class V. Forty minutes into the
class, I sat down for a break. I had finally managed to keep all three
classes busy with their respective work.
‘Madhav sir,’ a ponytailed girl next to Shabnam said.
‘What?’
‘Bring your friend to class.’
‘Why?’
‘Please.’
‘No. This is study time.’
A couple of other girls followed and started the ‘please’ routine
Soon, the whole class chanted ‘please, please, please’ to me. I had
taught them about manners just the previous week. Now they were
using them against me.
‘Fine, I will get her,’ I said, ‘provided you stay absolutely quiet and
work.’
Everyone nodded and placed their fingers on their lips. I left the
classroom. The class burst into noise as soon as I stepped out.
My mother and Riya sat in silence, each busy with their stack of
notebooks.
‘Riya, the students want to meet you.’
‘Me? Why?’ Riya looked up, surprised.
‘Just curious, I guess.’
Riya looked at my mother. Ma didn’t react. I pulled Riya s arm.
‘Come, no,’ I said.
Riya and I stepped out of the staffroom.
‘How is it going with Ma?’ I said.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘She is sweet, no? Comes across as strict, but is a big softie.’
‘Why are you telling me this, Madhav?’ R iya said.
‘Just.’
We reached the class. The students broke into applause.
‘Hi, I am Riya,' she said. She knelt down to be on their level. ‘You
are so pretty,’ Shabnam said shyly.
Riya tweaked Shabnam's nose. ‘So are you,’ she said.
Shabnam blushed.
Riya spoke to the girl next to Shabnam.‘What do you want to be
when you grow up?’
The girl buried her face in Shabnam’s lap.
Riya laughed. She repeated the question to another girl.
'Mother. I want to be a mother,’ the girl responded.
‘And?’ Riya said.
And what?’ the girl said.
'Doctor? Engineer? Dancer?’
The little girl thought for a while.
'Teacher,’ she said.
'Nice,' Riya said and patted her back.
Riya and I came back to the staffroom. My mother and the other
teachers had class. Only Riya and I remained in the staffroom. We sat
the long table. She coughed again.
I said, ‘You really don’t sound okay.’
‘I was fine. I don’t know,’ Riya said. She went into another
toughing fit.
‘Let’s find a doctor,’ I said.
‘I’ll see a doctor in Patna.’
Riya excused herself and stepped outside. She looked around.
'There’s no toilet. Kids go in the corner there. Or in the fields
outside,’ I said, coming up behind her.
Riya walked out to the fields, still coughing. I saw her body shake
from a distance. I ran up to her. She turned and smiled at me.
‘I’m fine. I just need to properly cough it out.’
‘Spit out the phlegm.’
‘Sorry, I’m being gross.’
‘As if,’ I scoffed.
‘I should head back,’ she said.
‘Alone? Let me come and drop you.’
Riya laughed. She patted my shoulder.
‘You are so sweet. There is no need. It’s just an allergy.’
‘I should come with you,’ I said.
She held my shoulders and flipped me around.
‘You have classes. Now go back in, mister, before all your little
girls come looking for you.’
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