A Piece of my mind..

"No, listen to me Rakesh, don't go.. it wont be good" , Mitti was pleading
He banged the door shut and walked down the lobby rolling up his sleeves and loosening his tie. He came up to the elevator and pressed the call button and waited for it tapping his feet restlessly and breathing heavily.

Fifteen minutes earlier.
He rang the door bell and waited. He could hear Ankur crying aloud.
"Wait, I think it is papa" he heard Mitti telling her son as the door knobs turned.
"Hi.." she said hurriedly as she unlatched the door and let him in.
She had knotted her dupatta across like dancers. She had an ice bag in her left .

"What happened?" he asked
"Oh, Ankur fell down.." she replied

at that very instant Ankur came running to him.. "Pappa.. " he cried.
"What happened son? Hurt yourself?" he asked
"mm.." tears were running down his cheeks. He had never seen his face that red as it was today.
He knelt down and pulled up his trousers. His knee was all bruised and bloody!

"How did it happen son?" he enquired his son.
"That Tanya pushed me pappa.." he cried.
"Why did she push you?"
"She asked for my car and I said I won't give. For that she pushed me pappa.." he cried again.

Ankur was inconsolable, he turned and looked at his wife who was busy in the kitchen.
"Mitti, how did this happen?" he asked her
"Arrey, such things happen yaar. chill out." she replied

"No, tell me how this happened?" he demanded
" well, I did not see exactly how, when I did see, he was on the floor crying "

"People don't know how to bring up their children." he spat
"what?" Mitti looked bewildered

"Dont' they teach them how to behave in public? Is there no decency left in this country?" he felt anger boiling in him.
"Chill down Rakesh, wash up and have dinner. We will talk about it later" replied Mitti

He was not listening. 'Ankur, is this Tanya a big girl or a small girl?"
"BIIIIG! ..." he replied looking up from his play doh set, opening his eyes wide and spreading his arms behind his back to show how big!

"I'm sick of bullies. They want to show their power only to small children." he was seething.
"Rakesh, I think you are over reacting." mitti joined.

"No Mitti, this is why bullies are having the upper hand today. This exact Chalega attitude is why the bullies get away with what they are doing. This is no less than ragging. A menace the society has to be rid of. I do not want my son to be a push over."

".. bullying children are so only because their parents. They have not been brought up right."

" Rakesh, will you listen to me for a moment.."
"No, you will methodically water me down and am not listening to you.. Just tell me their apartment number, I will deal with this myself.' he snapped at her.

"323, third floor'
"I know 323 comes in third floor" he snapped back at her

She thew her hands in the air and rolled her eyes and walked off to the kitchen

Now
"Ding" the lift chimed as it arrived
He rolled up his other sleeve again as it unfolded itself and impatiently banged the number '3' on the elevator.
It jerked as it slowly descended. He got off in the third floor banging the lift door shut. He stomped his way to the door 323 and rang the bell.

"Tanya, not now " he heard a female voice behind the door . Must be one trouble maker he thought to himself as he waited for the door to open.

The door opened and a young woman appeared. "yes" she asked enquiringly.

"I'm Rakesh Kapoor, Ankur's dad.. " he started
"Oh, welcome , welcome to our home.. " his sentence was cut short by the lady's excited reaction

She threw the door wide open and welcomed him in.
He gingerly stepped in and by that time she was already in the living room
"Please come in, have a seat, she said before running away"

he slowly stepped into the living room. It was well decorated, he slowly settled down on the sofa when she appeared with a tray and a glass of water in it.
She offered him the glass and he took it as she seated herself opposite to him and adjusted her Tee shirt
"I'm so sorry for what happened this afternoon, she started even before he could finish the sip of water he had taken"
"How is Ankur now? he was crying badly when I left Mitti and came down." her eyes were showing genuine concern.

"That's exactly what I came to talk about. Children must be taught restraint when they are playing you know..." he started off
"mm. I know, Tanya can get a bit aggressive.." she empathized with him

" I'm thanking that he got off with a small bruise, what if he had broken his arm?" he exhorted off her.
She was a bit stunned, but she recomposed herself and replied
"We were all only nearby Mr.Mookerjhea. We take good care of all the children around" she replied.

" no madam, children today grow up watching all sorts of silly heroic stuff on television and think they can try that on other children.."
" yeah, I agree, even Tanya's father has the same view.He even refuses to let her watch any channel but Ceebebies. you know" she replied

"mm.. but please tell your daughter that she cannot go pushing people around to get her way with things, I cannot tolerate my son getting injured.." he came to the point

"Oh, sure sir, I can understand your pain and am terribly sorry that Tanya has been the reason for this pain. I can understand a parent's helplessness that they could not prevent this from happening to their child, please excuse me this one instance, we will try our best to teach her these things. Her father feels its a bit too soon to teach her these things... "

"Children will be Children even after they are thirty madam, we have to start early else they will never learn" he cut her short

"I understand sir, I will definitely teach her not to do this again.." she was almost pleading now.

"Alright I'll leave now but please instruct your daughter well..." he said and got up
A loud crash interrupted them.
"Oh.. " yelped Tanya's mom and got up from her seat
"Tanya.. " she ran calling out her name and stopped after a few steps

Whirrrr.. a sound came as a baby appeared in a baby walker at full speed with a magazine dangling from her hands where two fingers were barely holding on to the mags. The little infant was charging at full speed at her mom and she literally had to jump out of her to avoid being run over by the baby walker.
"It hurts you know, these babies don't know when they run over our toes! " she said
"Tanya, you naughty girl, again pushed the magazine rack down?" she chided as she picked her up from the walker.
"Tell sorry to uncle here . See you pushed Ankur with the walker na. BHayya is still crying.. say sorry.." she chided the child!
The little infant gave them a large toothless smile and she held up her magazines for them to see. She was showing off her winnings!
He was stunned! He started laughing at the whole thing

Late to school

It was a lazy January morning. The weather was chill and dew was settling on everything in the vicinity. He was awake but he had not risen yet. He covered himself from head to toe in the bed sheet. He peered out from the bed sheet when a parrot chirped its wishes from the nearby Guava tree. There it was, staring at him with its dark eyes and red beaks. What a red! he had not seen anything so red in his life. Not even tomatoes were that red these days!
Sekar, wake up! it is already 7! said the voice from below, it belonged to Shanti the maid!

He hurriedly got up , he was running late! he had to leave for school by 8am if he had to reach the campus by 9. He broke a small twig from the Neem tree and started brushing his teeth quickly as he thought about the school.
He loved school. In fact, he loved everything about the school. The school was a good five kilometers from where he lived. He would cycle to school with Vinod seated in the carrier. He was one of the few people in the Yazhikuppam who cycled to school. He would cross other children who would walk to school and wave to them on his way. They would all wave back and some would even run behind his cycle for some distance before they gave up to catch their breath! It was fun daily playing with the children on his way. Vinod would sometimes pick stones and throw at the girls who would jeer at him.
The school was amidst a paddy field. The bright white walls of the school were complemented by red tiles on the roof! He believed that the white colour made it pure! The class rooms were airy and wind often brought along with it the smell of paddy and the water with it. Even in summer, the winds were cool! Teachers were from the town and they came in bus. They were all very affectionate to him. It was the head master whom he hated. He was always yelling at him for one thing or the other. He understood that the head master did not like to have him around the school.
He did not know all the teacher's names. He knew only Lalitha miss. Lalitha miss taught higher classes and she loved him like her own son. She would share her lunch with him and shower her affection on him. One day she gave him a new set of clothes to wear. He was surprised by her act and asked her.
"Miss what is special today. Is it your birthday?"
She patted him on his cheeks and her eyes turned misty which she hastily wiped with her saree end.
"Miss.." he called out
"mmph... nothing.. its not my birthday dear. Its Arun's. He would have been seven today .. " she said and started crying again.
He did not speak much to her that day. She just hugged him. That day he could not eat his lunch with miss. He was very upset for miss. He cried with her not knowing why. He hugged her back and he cried like there was no tomorrow. His anguish poured out as tears. The anguish he never realized he had deep inside him came out and it found solace in Shanti miss who just hugged him. It almost seemed that she understood his cry while he himself did not.
Later when he thought about it, he told himself that it was perhaps because he loved Lalitha miss like his own mother that her sorrow affected him.

Nothing please him more than learning. Even at lunch he would spend time discussing with Vinod the lessons they taught in his class and debate with him on what he learned before giving him his lunch box and running off to Lalitha miss.

He pulled out the neem stick from his mouth as it hurt him. He then threw the Neem stick with which he was brushing and went straight to his bath! The well was near the banana tree. It was not a big well, but it was deep and he used to shout into the well just to hear it echo. It would almost seem like it was his reflection on the water that shouted back! He let the rope run as the bucket went plummeting down to the depths seeking water.
The water was soothing! He found it surprising that well water was warm in such cold weather and it was cool in peak summer! He felt the water running down his back and then on to his legs as he poured bucket after bucket straight from the well. The bucket had a hole in it and water would pour out from the tiny hole like a shower when the bucket was full. He giggle as he held the bucket on top of his head and immersed himself in the leaky shower! He again found his thoughts wandering.

When he was free he would go around the school, sit near the window listen to the teachers in Vinod's class. Kalai, the maths teacher caught him staring once. But he did not mind. He just instructed him not to make noise and he didn't. He also loved free periods when all the children would come to the play ground and play. He joined any game they played. That's when the head master would yell at him. "Why have free period if children cannot play?", he would be tempted to ask. But he would hold his voice and vacate the place. But that did not stop him. THe next free period he would head straight to the ground again!

He hurriedly finished his bath and changed his dress. The temple loudspeaker from the Ellai amman started belting out the daily dose of relegious songs.
"Sekaaarr.. come here..its already late!" shouted a voice from the kitchen. This time it was amma.
"yes amma, coming.." he shouted as he ran in.
He picked up Vinod's school bag and lunch box and hung it on the cycle.
" Be careful don't drive rash." amma said
" ok amma.." he said
" here eat this and don't run here and there. Wait till the school is over ok?" she told him
"mm.." he said not looking directly into her eye.
"go.. now" she snapped at him
Within minutes he was off to school, Vinod in the back. He reached the school waving to all the children along the way!
He reached the school at 8.45. He let Vinod down, gave him his bags and waved him good bye. He watched Vinod mingle into the crowd of children going to school.
He put the cycle on stand and sat down under his favourite tamarind tree , his hands behind his heads!
He had all day till afternoon when he has to ferry Vinod back home. He closed his eyes and dreamed of the day when he would also go to school, like Vinod.