Childhood Lessons

This was strange..

The lock was missing..

Had Ma come home early? Had Arjun bhaiyya bunked class and brought his girlfriend home? Shikha didn’t want to walk in on them.  On the other hand he might give her ten rupees again so she kept quiet.

Bhaiyya had said she should knock..

But Ma would question the knocking.

She stood tip toe but couldn’t see through the window. Shikha bit her lip wondering what to do..

“Lucky!”, she called the sleeping mongrel.

“Catch!”

Someone must have heard her. She put her key away. Today, someone would open the door for her. 

Lock and Key

This was strange..

The lock was missing..

Had Ma come home early? Had Arjun bhaiyya bunked class and brought his girlfriend home? Shikha didn’t want to walk in on them.  On the other hand he might give her ten rupees again so she kept quiet.

Bhaiyya had said she should knock..

But Ma would question the knocking.

She stood tip toe but couldn’t see through the window. Shikha bit her lip wondering what to do..

“Lucky!”, she called the sleeping mongrel.

“Catch!”

Someone must have heard her. She put her key away. Today, someone would open the door for her. 

Wagging Tongues

“I bit him so hard, he was almost crying by the time he reached home!” I felt like the star I was meant to be.

Served him right for the way he treated me. The least he could have done was some powder and perfume. Didn’t I deserve that much?

“Don’t be too hard on him”, the loafers replied; “If you go on this way, you’ll end up with the ragpickers. How will that feel then? Such shiny new leather shoes on an urchin’s feet! ”

“True that”, I thought, maybe I should try and let him grow into me.

The Encounter

The tallest of them must have been about 3’ off the ground. He smiled but she’d been warned against their seemingly innocent faces.  They sat in front of her with an impatience she sensed was growing.

35 pairs of eyes looked at her expectantly, hands fidgeting, legs twitching, like they were sitting time bombs.

Even the one with the pigtails had shifted her attention from the beetle on the window to her.

It could be delayed no longer.

She took a deep breath and began, “Good morning children, my name is Rachel and I will be your teacher from today.”