She came out of the principal's chamber, all red in excitement and they hi-fived.
"Wow, that was some serious drubbing girl...I am impressed." His shone bright with joy, he said smiling from ear to ear. "That's more like my Nandini."
"Thank God, all this while I was worried if this is good enough or have you set an even higher bar for me."
"Good enough for what?" The Neel angle, which he had merely used as a bait to push her, had completely slipped out of his mind. She however, had not only remembered it, she infact appeared to be damn serious about it.
"Kya Manik, tumhi ne to bola tha ki if I perform well, you will let me be part of the KILL-NEEL team. Now don't tell me you have changed your mind."
'Forget it Nandini, you are not getting into this. Not anymore. I will deal with that creep in MY WAY' he thought, but then he lied to her, because if he had told her the truth, it would have ruined her moment. He wanted her to revel in her new found courage. "You really hate that jerk don't you"
"You know what Manik, waise to I am a very non - violent person" She said animatedly, "But Neel Dixit has some special talent because whenever it comes to him, all my goodness vanishes somewhere and I just feel like smashing his face or maybe feeding him to hyenas, I donno why but I feel that guy is a habitual offender. In fact what you just said, holds good for him too. If we don't finish him now, God knows how many more lives he is going to ruin."
Something in that innocent statement of hers, caught his attention on the fly. What was it, that she had mentioned...he desperately tried to rewind and replay her words in his mind. It took him a bit of brain wracking to finally to recognize what he had been looking for.. 'HABITUAL OFFENDER', yes that was the cue.
Whatever he had done, could not have been a one off offense. Neel's mind, from whatever he had read in that diary was sharp as hell. The kind of trap he had laid for Nandini could only come from years of screwing up people.
Neel's past...Manik was sure, might hold the answers, he was seeking..and perhaps Neel's own deeds would help Manik rewrite his future.
"Chalein?" Manik finally asked, and noticed that Nandini wasn't really listening to him. She seemed lost in a world of her own.
"I want to meet the kids before we leave." She urged. The bright glow on her pretty face from moments ago, was completely gone. She looked away pensively, avoiding locking eyes with him. It must be hard for her, he understood. In fact the hardest part of leaving the town was to leave these kids behind. They had been such an important part of her life when he wasn't there. And then he did remember, in shaky, uneven bits, the good times he himself had had here. He gently nudged on her arm and winked. It was going to be ok, he wanted to assure her. "We can always come back whenever you feel like meeting them Nandini." Only God knew if that would ever happen, coming back to a place you have left behind. The longing, the missing would never go, but the practicalities of life would soon take over and this bond she had forged here would be lost forever in the folds of time.
They went across from class to class, starting from the senior most and while Nandini bid them farewell, Manik observed from outside. His heart both swelled with pride and ached with pain seeing the amount of love she had garnered within the short span of time that she was here. His little girl, the one he had to take care of like a small child was also big enough to be someone's teacher. Many a times, he saw her silently wiping off her tears. He so wanted to go ahead and hug her. But it was her exclusive time with her students and he didn't want to trespass.
It was late into the afternoon, minutes before the school would be over and she still had one last class left to say 'Bye' to. This was going to be nasty and she was mentally bracing herself for the assault. Class 3 B, her favourite class, the most demanding and the least forgiving one. She could pretty much foresee all hell breaking loose, the moment she would tell them, she was leaving for good. But one could hardly blame them, they were too small to understand sudden farewells. If only she could skip this one. But then even if she could, she wouldn't . She had to see them one last time, no matter how badly it broke her down.
When they reached the class, Nandini saw Mrs. Mathews was inside, teaching Maths. Thinking, it would be inappropriate to disturb in between, she turned to leave with a sad heart. She decided to wait in the lobby till the bells rang. But barely had they taken 10 steps when she heard Mrs. Mathews desperately calling out for her.
"Nandini ruko..."There, Mrs. Mathews was gasping for air.
They stopped. "Mmam... aap!!...Wo I guess you already know ki I am leaving, just came to say goodbye, but aap class le rahi thi so I didn't want to disturb."
"Nandini, jao unse mil lo. You have no idea, last ek week mein kitni baar they have asked me about you and why you weren't here...and not just me but every single teacher entering that class had to face the same question. You are lucky that they love you so much..Go talk to them." and then looking down she softly said "But be a little careful, jab bacchon ke dil tut te hain to bohot dard hota hai. Its such a pity that people running a school for 40 years don't realize that."
Nandini grabbed Manik's wrist. As always, she needed his support to get her through this ordeal as well.
"Hey buddies...how have you all been?" She asked with a smile, peeping inside. There was pin drop silence. Where was her unruly class? What had happened to the jumping monkeys , the fighting cats and the running mice. Where was their bubbly cacophony, where had their madness gone? Were these the same kids who used to swarm around her all the time. Why were they so deadly quiet today?
Nandini wondered why she could never keep them quiet, why she could never make them behave. Was it because she was inefficient at managing a class or did they feel 'at-home' with her, enough to forget that they had to act in a certain way with her, like they did with the other teachers & remained their natural, restless, naughty selves in her presence. And this is why the principal hated her, because she didn't confirm to the rule book. She treated kids the way they are supposed to be treated. She didn't order them, or micromanage them, she loved them..& she let them be.
Stepping in, she asked again "Aaj koi mujhse baat nahi karega kya? Naraaz hain kya sabhi Nandu miss se because she was absent for so long?"
"Chali jao Nandu miss, waise bhi tum hamare liye nahi aayi ho na, tum to good-bye bolne aayi ho, hai na..." Nidhi the class monitor blurted out. Unable to contain her shock, she gaped at Manik who was equally clueless. How did they know? Was that the reason behind their silence.
She stared at them apologetically.
"Haan miss, tumhe kya laga tum bataogi nagi to hume pata nahi chalega. Humare haath bbhi kanoon jaise lambe hain. Jab koi teacher nahi bol raha tha to humne 6A ki chintu ko pakda, wo nishi madam ka beta hai na...usne bata diya ko aap chor ke ja rahe ho." Even her pet Chirag was complaining today. He was hurt, they all were hurt.
"Bolo na miss, bye bolne aye ho? Hai na?" Prateek, the boy everyone called football, asked. He loved Nandini a bit more than his classmates, and a lot more than any other teacher because only Nandini miss would bake cakes for him and she never made fun of him for being fat.
Manik had never been too comfortable around kids, they reminded him of his own childhood, surrounded with stuff that money could buy but devoid of the love that only parent's could give. As a child, he could never understand why his mother behaved so indifferently, why unlike his friends mothers, she never hugged him against her bosom, or didn't grow anxious when he fell sick. Why she pushed him to a boarding school, and while he was there, never paid a visit. Even on vacations when he came home, expecting a warm welcome, half the time she wasn't home, and even when she was, he could hardly see any longing or joy in her eyes.
The sad faces of these 40 odd little kids, pushed him back, down his own memory lane. He saw the same disappointment in them that he had felt for years, for many of them Nandini had been the only source of love, away from home and family, and today they were losing her as well.
"Manik bhaiya, bolo na nandu mam se ki wo ruk jay." Manik felt a pair of tiny hands on his arm and looked down to see a teary eyed Chirag. "Nandu miss tumhari baat nahi talegi.. Bolo na...bolo na Manik bhaiya." Manik felt helpless. What would he tell that innocent little kid. Would it make any sense to them if he told them the weird truth of their lives. Forget truth, he wasn't even sure he could talk to a child without scaring him away. But the way, the boy held his hand, the hope in his eyes, the sadness on his face, it just shook Manik from inside. So far he had been a silent spectator, an external support to Nandini but the way these kids loved him and trusted him wanted him to cross that line and reach out to them. This is why he always had a wall around himself, because the guy on the other side of the wall was innocent and vulnerable. That's how he felt now, like a kid amidst the children.
Nandini was standing alone in a corner, her back pushed to the wall, her eyes almost on the verge of welling up. Only she knew how she was holding her ground there, holding herself tight enough from falling apart. The entire class had come running to Manik. They were not even speaking to her anymore. They thought talking to Manik would perhaps make her stay back. Little did they know, Manik was helpless this one time... That sometimes, good-byes are inevitable.
What could he do for them, for her, how could he make this any less painful. The initial calm, the deadly silence was gone and now they were all literally crying , surrounding him. Manik knelt down and forced a smile on his face.
He pulled Chirag and made him sit on his thigh. He remembered this sweet face in the depth of his fuzzy memories... he felt an instant connection with the boy.
"Yaar, tum log kuch samajhte hi nahi, sara din Nandu mam tumhare peeche bhagti rehti hai aur main bechara akela par jata hun. Main bhi jealous feel karta hun yaar, ab kya karun tumhari miss hai hi aisi...so last week main thora beemar par gaya tha and I realized ki main tumhari miss ko kitna miss karta hun. So maine use ultimatum de diya ki ya to tum mujhse shaadi karlo ya fir mujhe bhool jao..yun roj roj ka torture mat karo. Bechari ko accept karna hi para."
"Nandu miss shaadi kar rahi hai? Isiliye u r leaving??" What was that, how did he come up with that.
"To boyfriend bhaiya, tum Nandu miss ko bhaga ke leke ja rahe ho, fir hamara kya hoga... hume kaun maths sikhayega, aur cakes kaun banake layega aur music...music class kaun lega" one voice popped up.
"Shaadi ke baad to Nandu mam hume hamesha ke liye bhool jayegi, hai na.." Another voice came up.
"Hatt, aisa hota hai kya, tum sab apne mummi papa se kitna pyaar karte ho, par jab tum school ate ho, do you forget them because they are away and you can't see them everyday? Hum naye rishte banane ke liye purane nahi bhulate."
"Yeh line to suni suni si lag rahi hai, kaunse movie se copy ki hai bhaiya" Our filmi keeda chirag had to interrupt.
"Baat filmi ho ya real, baat to sahi hai my dear. She will always love you all. But life mein ek time aata hai, when one has to choose one person and commit to them. Jab tum bhi bare hoge, tumhe bhi koi achi lagegi and then you would want to be with her, just like it happens in movies. And fir hum jinhe pyaar karte hain na, we always want them to be happy. Dekho to tumne Nandu mam ko rula diya, aise koi best of luck wish karta hai kya?"
Nandini was silently watching the drama unfold.
"Wo happy rahegi tumhari saath?"..."Tum nandu miss ko hamari tarah pareshaan to nahi karoge?" ..." Tum dono ke bhi cute cute babies honge?"... "Nandu miss hamse milne ayegi?"..."par cake?"
Manik was almost buried under the questions, tucked away inside their little hearts. Nandini witnessed her short tempered, impatient, troubled Manik answer them patiently one by one. He told them that he would always try to keep her happy, that he would bug her just like them because she loved it when they bugged her, he also told them that they would have 3 small babies and that he would make sure he brings Nandini here, every once in a while and finally that he would personally make sure that they get their weekly cakes and chocolates and whatever else they craved for. And on top of that he promised, she would write to them and that they can write back to her.
Eventually, Manik did succeed in breaking the ice. And they all went running to Nandini, to wish her a happy married life. Smiles and screams and tears and jokes and complains..and in the middle of all this, no one noticed that the final bell had gone off. On popular demand, Manik ordered for another feast and what could have ended into tragedy, became a party.
That day when they were leaving, Nandini finally asked Manik, why did he lie.
"What lie?? Don't tell me you are choosing that jerk over me."
"Shut up Manik.. Tell me why did you lie, we are not getting married, are we?"
"WE will, I donno when but we will... but its ok to lie sometimes, if it doesn't harm anyone. And I have learnt it from you Nandini. Tumne bhi to jhoot bola tha na about Neel and you did it for me... fir maine to sach hi bola but in a different way. They should never come to know that you left because you were forced to. They should always know you have something better waiting for you. You are their hero and that's how I want them to remember you " He said, pulling her by her waist.
"Thank you" She smiled as she looked at him.
"For what?" he raised his brows? Even though she was smiling, he knew she wasn't ok yet.
"I don't know Manik, bas bolne ka man kiya"
"Sometimes we have to let go of things, Nandini..because life doesn't always give us a choice. We have to accept and move on. This place I know will always be special to you and in a way to me too. I know you would never forget these kids, that you would keep checking on them from time to time. I know my Nandini, she doesn't give up on people she loves. I wish I could do something but the only thing I can promise is I will be there, I WILL BE ALWAYS THERE... you can count on me."
Song Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mDFMhvtQOE
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