Happy Birthday dear @NILA2763!! May you achieve your goals in the year ahead! Here's wishing you the very best in life!!

"Good Morning, everyone! I am going to be your substitute coach until Coach Barnes recovers from his illness! You can call me Coach RS!" Randhir smiled at the eager beavers looking at him curiously. 

The children, in the age group of four to nine years, were trying to size him up. Randhir was much younger than Coach Barnes and appeared friendly. Today was the children's first swimming lesson and most of them had no prior training before. Randhir and his assistants would have to start from scratch. 

Randhir, who had spent six months in Mumbai helping with his father's business, was filling in for Coach Barnes as an emergency measure. He had known the man since Barnes used to coach the students in his father's club in Goa and when the request came Randhir agreed without any hesitation. After all Randhir was an ASCA certified professional and had trained amateurs in the USA on a part-time basis, especially after Nicole moved to university.

"Now I'd like to know something about you. Let's start from our two young friends here! Can you tell me your name and age?" Randhir asked.

"My name is Pebbles, I am four years old, and I like you!" The little girl spoke confidently, looking him in the eye.

"That's great! Do you have another name besides Pebbles?" Randhir smiled, warmed by her spirit. He liked feisty children like her. He was a proud uncle to Vidushi' s six month old daughter Megami to whom he was very attached.

"My true name is Virushka because my Mom likes Virat and Anushka, but I like the name Pebbles more. My boyfriend calls me by that name!" The girl replied.

"My name is Bamm-Bamm, and Pebbles is my girlfriend!" The little boy sitting next to her spoke without batting an eyelid, as he splashed his feet in the water.

The older children stared at the pair and began to laugh. Randhir shushed them.

"What is your real name, and  tell us how old you are!" Randhir wondered if he was getting too old for the new generation! Boyfriend and girlfriend? These two were preschoolers!

"His name is Suketu, but we call each other Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. He is also four years old!" Pebbles spoke for her "boyfriend"!

"Nice, but since Bamm-Bamm is too long we shall call you Pebbles and Bambi!" Randhir asserted himself.

"Bambi sounds like a girl!" The boy protested.

"But even your Mom calls you that sometimes!" Pebbles intervened.

"Mom calls me K2!" Bamm-Bamm corrected her.

"Fine, we'll just call you Pebbles and K2! Moving on, names and ages please!" Randhir looked toward the others.

"Rohit, 8!"

"Sakshi, 7!"

"Neil, 8!"

"Nysa, 6!"

"Sajid, 7!"

"Dylan, 9! Coach, I can swim!"

"Fine, Dylan! We'll just work on improving your skills!" Randhir told him encouragingly.

"Before we begin, let's have an icebreaker! All of you have to tell me what you enjoy eating for breakfast! Let me start, I usually have sprouts and a fruit smoothie in the morning! What about you?" Randhir asked the children.

"I like cheese sandwiches. But Mom always makes dhokla or idli!" Pebbles complained.

"Aloo paratha!" Rohit said.

"Masala dosa!" Sakshi added.

"Upma! "Sausages!" "Poha!" The other children responded.

"Pancakes with syrup!" Dylan shouted at the end of the queue.

"And K2, what do you like for breakfast?" Randhir asked the young boy. He was the only one who had not spoken.

"You did not say what you like eating for breakfast, you just said you have sprouts and smoothie. And I like eating tanti for breakfast!" Came the reply, and again the other children sniggered, unfamiliar with the word he had uttered.

"K2, did you mean you like eggs?" Randhir asked the little boy. Randhir was familiar with the word.

"My Mom says tanti! It is our special word" The boy replied defiantly.

"Right, so K2 likes to eat tanti, which means eggs for breakfast. Actually it is important that everyone eats a good combination of carbs and protein for breakfast. Cereal in the form of paratha, dosa, poha, upma, idli and pancakes contain carbs. Carbs are healthy because they give us energy." 

"K2, did you know that eggs are a good source of protein? They help build muscles, and you need both energy and strong muscles to be good swimmers!" Randhir explained.

"But coach, we are vegetarians, we don't eat eggs at home!" Pebbles pointed out.

"Don't worry Pebbles, your Mom gets pulse protein in your meals when she makes dhokla and idli! You don't necessarily have have to eat meat or eggs for protein, but have your dals and paneer regularly!" Randhir assured her.

"Coach, do you have children? What do you feed them?" Pebbles could not keep her curiosity curbed.

"Pebbles, you should not ask him that!" K2 cautioned her.

"That's all right, K2! No Pebbles, I don't have any kids yet. I do have a lovely niece, but even she is too young for solid food!" Randhir replied. Before they could hound him with any more personal questions he changed his demeanour to a professional one.

"Today we shall train you to float! All of you under the shower, then put on your goggles! And during the training nobody shall not go beyond this marker!" Since they were young they would be confined to the shallow end of the pool where the water level was well above their heads.

 Randhir explained the basics of warming up and breathing underwater before leading them into practice. 

"Breathe with your mouth, dip your head and exhale through your nostrils underwater!" He demonstrated the technique and sure enough, there was a steady stream of bubbles emanating from the children's nostrils under the water. He then showed them how to move their arms and legs while wading through the water. 

"Ok, now that we are all warmed up, everyone line up near this rail. Grip the rail, and try to kick the water with your feet, this way. Slowly K2, we don't need to rush!" Randhir instructed.

After two days, all the children, with floats on their arms, were able to make a lot of progress and had graduated to using kickboards. 

"Rest your chest on top of the kickboard and grip the kickboard with both hands. Keep your hips up and your back straight. Now kick you legs. Continue to practice the breathing technique!" Randhir's instructions flew briskly.

That afternoon after practice most of the children went away but Pebbles and K2 lingered behind, probably waiting for their parents. Randhir noticed them and walked across to enquire.

"What's the matter? Your Moms have not picked up up yet?" Randhir asked.

"This week it is his Mom's turn to drop us and my Mom's turn to pick us up. But I don't know why she is late!" Pebbles did not sound too anxious, the children were probably accustomed to waiting around. Randhir asked the lady coach if she had Pebble's mother's number.

"Coach, I can give you her number!" Pebbles said quickly and rattled off her mother's hand phone number. Randhir dialed it. The phone rang for a while before it was answered.

"Hello, I am calling from the Academy, you were supposed to pick up your daughter!" Randhir said.

"I am so sorry, Coach, I am on my way, but stuck in a massive traffic jam. I will be there as soon as it clears, maybe another ten to fifteen minutes. Please look after the children until then!" The woman sounded genuine. Randhir assured her that he would personally wait with the kids until she arrived. 

"Looks like it will be a few minutes before your Mom arrives. Would you like an frozen yoghurt each until then?" Randhir asked.

"Sure, why not? I want a strawberry! K2, how about you?" Pebbles asked the boy,

"Sugar is bad for you. I don't want anything!" K2 replied. 

"Fine, Pebbles, here's your strawberry yoghurt!" As soon as Randhir handed it over to him she thanked him and began enjoying it.

"Did you say no because your parents warned you not to accept anything from strangers?" Randhir asked K2. The boy was unsure how to respond.

"If they did they  are absolutely right!" Randhir smiled at him.

"You have still not said what you like eating for breakfast!" K2 asked him.

"Frankly, I still don't know what I like. I have always eaten healthy stuff for my meals, that was how my folks brought me up!" Randhir answered honestly. It was true. All his life he had lived by the rules made by others.

"Coach, do you have a wife?" Pebbles interrupted them.

"No, I don't have a wife!" Randhir wondered what it was about some kids, they had no inhibitions at all.

"A girlfriend, then?" The girl persisted.

"Young lady, why do you want to know?" Randhir had learnt how to dodge her awkward questions. He just had to shoot another question at her.

"Do you like having sex? My Mom likes it very much!" Pebbles kept a straight face as she spoke those words and Randhir did not know how to react.

"Well, your Dad is a lucky man!" Was all he could say.

"Oh, I don't have a Dad. Neither does K2. Our mothers are single parents!" Pebbles added.

"Pebbles, you should not reveal such personal details before strangers!" Randhir warned her gently.

"But I trust you and like you. I am sure my Mom will like you too!" Pebbles grinned at him.

"And how do you know that?" Randhir was amused.

"Because you are handsome and my Mom likes sex!" As soon as Pebbles said that K2 kicked her in the shin.

"I told you not to say such things!" He whispered. 

"Virushka, Suketu, there you are! I am so sorry for arriving late, Coach!!" An attractive young woman in her thirties, dressed in a well cut sleeveless tan dress that finished just above her knees, made her way toward them. 

As soon as her eyes fell on Randhir she gasped. She straightened herself, her posture changing to that of a confident single woman finding herself in the company of an eligible young man.

"Hi, I am Hetal! Virushka is my daughter!" She offered Randhir her hand.

"Hello, pleased to meet you! The children must be hungry, you better rush them home!" Randhir smiled at her and turned to go, saying goodbye to the children.

"Wait a moment! Are you only here until Coach Barnes returns or are you staying on at the Academy?" Hetal asked him. He could see hope rising in her eyes. He knew that look.

"Oh I am just here until he's back!" He responded truthfully.

"Too bad! I was planning to take swimming lessons too." Hetal sounded disappointed. 

"Don't worry, there are excellent coaches at the Academy! You will be in safe hands!" Randhir smiled and went his way.

"At least I have his number now!" Hetal made a mental note and led the children toward the waiting car. Randhir watched her drive away, unnoticed by any of them. He laughed to himself as he recalled Pebbles' revelation about her mother's preference. She was a single mother, and her daughter's remark about her was probably spot on.

"He's really hot! But unfortunately caller id revealed nothing. The kids just told me his initials are RS." Hetal gushed over the phone to K2's mother.

"He clearly told you he'll be there temporarily and still you want to have a go at him?" K2's mother smiled to herself. Hetal would never change her ways.

"Try karne mein apna kya jata hai? Anyway, since you are not interested, I will drop the kids and pick them up too. Maybe I'll get lucky! What do you say?" Hetal asked.

"Suit yourself! But please be discreet, your daughter is too sharp for her age!" The warning was necessary. Children these days were quite perceptible. Hetal agreed and disconnected the call.

"Ma, Pebbles told our coach that her mother likes sex!" K2 whispered to his mother.

"God, K2! Where do you kids learn to say such things?" His mother was both scandalised and amused at the same time. She wondered how the man had reacted.

"Are you going to tell Hetal Aunty what Pebbles said?" K2 sounded anxious.

"Of course, not! It is not proper to do so. But K2, please be careful what you two say before others!" She responded, drawing her son toward herself.

"I told her that already. Ma, why do people like sex?" She knew he would ask her something related to Pebbles' question.

"I don't know, honestly. Go to sleep now, it is late and we have to get up early. You don't want to reach the Academy late, do you?" She switched off the light, mulling over her son's question.