The boy sniggerred at him and slowly worked his way from his bench and moved out with a defiant look on his face.
Balbir was at a loss! he had seen children of many types, but, Kunal was strange for his age. He did not behave like a regular fifth standard student. He rather behaved like a college student, acting defiant and arrogant in class. No child handling tactic he learnt worked with the boy.
The other day, he had pinched Sunil, another boy, so hard that he developed a clot under the skin and it had taken first aid to pacify the poor kid. At that time, Kunal had been standing right next to them watching them apply first aid without even a sign of remorse on him. After Sunil was pacified, when Balbir turned his attention to Kunal, he had simply shook his head to correct the hair falling on his brows and had looked up at him defiantly as though nothing had happened.
When Balbir asked the boy, Kunal showed no hesitation in admitting what he did and again shocked Balbir with no sign of remorse.
The behaviour first shocked Balbir, he had not yet seen a child so cold and brutal. He first took to punishing the child with a ruler and gave him a mild thrashing on his thighs.
Kunal, while he jumped in pain, he soon recovered after the thrashing and brought back the cold look on his face and went back to his seat. He lost no time in re-establishing his grip on his class mates.
His classmates were terrified of him. Being children, they resorted to continuous complaint of one kind or the other.
Things got out of hand one morning when he was having his lunch, a fellow staffer Ranvir came running to him, Balbir, its Kunal , he has pushed a child down the stairs.
Balbir almost choked. He closed his lunch box and ran to the scene.. It was a girl this time, Shivali was a Sixth standard student , she was being tended to by some of her friends while Kunal stood at the top of the stairs watching the scene.
Balbir was enraged, he went straight to Kunal and asked him "Did you do it?" and Kunal lost no time replying
"Yes, I did it sir" he said.
Balbir slapped hard on his face and almost immediately regretted it. He had never slapped a child on the face. He ensured he always used the ruler mildly as the strictest form of punishment on the thighs. Balbir was himself childless and could not bring himself to be any stricter with the children.
Kunal took the slap as though it was a routine affair and looked back with the same steely look on his face.
Balbir felt disgusted. "What kind of a boy was he to be this cold. " he wondered. He then decided that it was time to have a word with his parents.
Thankfully, Shivali was just bruised and the incident was closed without further ado.
He went straight to the office and tracked down his address. Kunal's folks lived in the LLR extension, short for Lala Lajpat Rai nagar extension a kilometer away from the school.
He then discovered that his father was a factory worker at Dunlop India and his mother was an accountant. "Interesting", he thought to himself.
The pushing incident had reached the principal's ears and he was called upon after the school to clarify.
"Sir, give me one opportunity, let me speak to his parents and find out why he is behaving this way" he told the principal
"I do not want such rogues in this school. Give him his TC right away and send him out." the principal hollered his voice echoing down the lobby of the now empty school.
"Sir, just give me one opportunity sir, he pleaded" he really wondered why he was pleading for Kunal, is it because his heart could not admit to any harsh treatment to a child?
He did not have an answer, but he soon found himself pedaling his cycle hard towards Kunal's house.
The principal had given him one month's time to set things right. He hoped that it would work out alright.
He had to cross a small rivulet to reach Kunal's house, he lifted the cycle on his shoulders and crossed the rivulet.
Soon, he reached the extension. There were not many houses in the street where Kunal lived. He soon found the house bordering a cane field. He got off the cycle a short distance before the house and started walking.
Houses in the extension were village types, adjoined wall to wall with old fashion wooden doors with a big brass ringlet for a door bell. Most houses had morphed into a quasi modern setup with multi storied extensions with satellite TVs and motor cycles.
As he approached Kunal's house, he could make out the stark difference between the other houses and that of Kunal's. Their house bore a weathered and old world look with none of the modernities of their neighbours. He even noticed many broken and missing tiles on the roof of the house . There were suspended pots hanging on the front with no plant in them. He wondered when they last played host to a plant. Their house also had a huge porch with a cement platform for sitting.
As he reached the house, he noticed a boy sitting with bent knees and head hidden between his legs. As he put his cycle on the stand, the boy raised his head and looked at him in shock!
It was Kunal, his jaw was swollen and some blood stains were visible on his lips. He had been crying and his eyes were all blood shot and he was still in the school uniform and his shirt was all stained with sweat and mud.
Balbir was not prepared for this sight. He stood frozen and they kept staring at each other. Kunal was the first to recover.
At that exact moment he heard loud voices and sounds of things crashing in the house.
He turned and looked at Kunal. He came running to Balbir and said
"Sir, don't stay here, lets go". He said that with a shaky but firm voice
For some strange reason he found himself obliging. Soon, they found themselves seated by the rivulet.
Kunal was staring blankly at the flowing water and Balbir had lost all sense of purpose for the visit. He turned and put his arms on his shoulders called out to him softly
"Kunal.."
Kunal slowly turned his head and looked at Balbir, his eyes were brimming with tears and he immediately crashed on Balbirs shoulders crying. Balbir held on to him while Kunal let go. He cried as though he was letting go of a huge burden on his chest. Balbir let him cry. It was some time before the tears dried and Balbir gave Kunal the bottle of water from his lunch kit.
Kunal drank it up and said 'thanks sir' with a moist eyes. He then asked with a shaky voice and still unable to control the tears . "Is it too much to expect your parents to be normal sir?"
Balbir felt disarmed once again, he was not prepared to deal with the child in Kunal.
"No Kunal, not at all.." he said.. In the next twenty minutes he learned that his parents fought daily and Kunal often got thrashed by his father and had many a times been hospitalized with injuries. His mother was equally rebellious and spared no time in getting into a fight with his father. He was teased by some children in school about this and he had turned to violence unable to put up with his shame. In all this he had never once complained about others teasing him.
Balbir felt sad for the child, here was a set of parents who had a child and yet could not give him a proper life and here he was a child less man with all the love for a child but still had none to give it to.
He just hugged Kunal . He realized then that all Kunal needed was compassion and love. He decided to give him that. He sighed in relief that there was indeed light at the end of the tunnel.
