Jivika~

"Aarush, why did Anne miss her grandmother?"

Mr. Rane asked the question to one of his favorite students, while fiddling with the English textbook. Diary of Anne Frank, the chapter was alright I guess, but our teacher's repeated pronunciation of 'Annie Frank' was getting on my nerves.

"Sir, she loved her a lot and when her grandm—"

"She loved her a lot, okay, good. But Mr. Dixit, the question is, who do you love?"

Mr. Rane's eyebrows were shooting up and down, wriggling even, as the boy stared back at him, flustered all of a sudden.

Fair enough. I mean, which teacher asks such questions? And rubbing salt to the wound were the hoots and whistles erupting from the boys row, screaming out an insignificant name, 'Manasi'.

"Uh ... sir ... my parents?"

Shameful but hilarious at the same time was how his statement came out more as a question. And Mr. Rane chose not to douse the fire of laughter burning bright.

"Mr. Dixit, I know everything. I was asking to you about the person with whom you have your late night phone calls and all. You don't need to do that with your parents, living under the same roof, right?"

An embarrassed 'Mr. Dixit' was clearly an entertaining sight. Red faced, he ducked his head. Mr. Rane was in a total mood today.

"Those dimples, my god! So cute!" whispered Lavanya, pointing towards the victim of Mr. Rane teasing. "What? You find those cute?" countered Krish, who was sitting behind us. "I was gonna say he would make a 'cute girl' but seems like you find him cute!" she fired back. He fought back, trying to win an argument which he was going to lose, "Please, my choice is way better than yours!"

"Says the guy who had a crush on Milind Soman!"

"I did not have a crush on him!"

Sharing a look with Kiara and Maahi, I realized why great minds think alike. What's cooking? But that's when Mr. Rane broke my train of thoughts by starting with the next chapter.

"There is a languid, emerald sea,  where the sole inhabitant is me — a mermaid, drifting blissfully."

Maahi ducked her head to avoid getting hit by Mr. Rane's hand. This man's poem recital is equivalent to a really wild Bhangra. Amaan has gotten hit twice because of him. That reminds me, where is he?

Glancing across the room, I saw Amaan and Parth, their heads resting on the bench, hands underneath. Not actually believing what they were doing, I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. I perfectly knew that it was not my business, but you can't blame a person for being curious, can you?

Once I spotted the Redmi Note in their hands, the picture was clear in my head. God! What they were doing and what I thought of them doing! A light chuckle left my mouth as I chided my over imaginative brain. Suddenly, he turned around, waving his hands.

Questioning me laughing at them.

However, in that process, he knocked down the phone, plugging off the earphones along.

The phone was caught at the right time, otherwise Sourav, its owner would have thrown a fit. But the unmistakable ringtone of  'The Clash Of Clans' ringing throughout the class, probably did not do any good to those two. Mr. Rane, not knowing whether to laugh or to scold, had his face captivated by a confused expression. His confusion was cut short when a random kid entered the class to make an announcement.

"Sir, principal ma'am has called the class to the ground."

"For what?"

This was Shreyansh asking. The girl shrugged and walked out. Feeling lazy, I stretched out my legs before getting up. Moving along with our gang, I headed towards our destination. On reaching the ground, we saw it empty and decided to wait up for while, so that it could get filled.

Sitting near the stairs, we started talking about how we used to practice for our group song at this very spot. Group song was just an excuse. Among the seven of us, only Kiara and Lavanya were the ones participating while the rest of us were wasting our time.

Picking up a twig, I rolled it in my hand. Watching it twirl, I was lost relishing the stillness, which was so rare to find among our hectic days. And ruining my moment, was the curly haired swimmer of ours, who let out a shriek.

Hi-fing each other, were Pranav and Shreyansh who were laughing their hearts out. It took the rest of us a couple of minutes to comprehend what happened, but once we did, we joined them in as well.

There stood Rhea, glaring at the duo, her eyes piercing the little life in their arms. The small black kitten purred, her hands clawing out as Pranav distanced her from the glaring friend of ours. Rhea could not be kept calm at the moment.

"Wha — what were you doing?!"

Pranav, cradling the kitten like a baby, had stealthily managed to let the black cat stand on her shoulder. Taken aback by the soft fur touching her neck, Rhea let out a shriek, her breathing uneven.

Shocked and still shaken, she started chasing Pranav, who in turn dashed past the teachers, trying to save himself and the kitten.

Cute.

The kitten was cute. And that is quite surprising, coming from me, who was neither a cat nor a dog person. I would love to be a cat. Heck, everybody wants to be a cat! However, their chase came to halt when the red sari clad terror walked up the stage, shouting at the teachers and the watchman.

Principal, she called herself. Maushi, called the whole school, behind her back.

"Teachers take your respective classes to the Mirage Hall. A lecture on how to use the tablets and why to promote digital education is organized. All parents have been sent the mails and they too shall be attending the event."

I don't think that my mother had mentioned anything as such. And even if it was announced, she could not attend it, so why bother? Two weeks back, we were given 'E-Tabs'. Tablets which contained our textbooks and few other reference materials. But no internet connection or even a camera. One of the very few schools in the country to receive the golden  opportunity, mind you!

Note the sarcasm please.

Once reaching the hall, we settled down on those comfy seats, chatter filling the air. The crowd of parents gathered had surprised me initially. Who would have this much time to waste on a weekday? And that's when I observed closely.

True, there were many parents. And a few familiar faces could be spotted too. Those few were the parents of tenth-graders for whom the lecture was meant. The rest of the crowd, almost ninety percent of it, were the parents of first-graders,  who were forcefully pushed into the lecture hall by the school, so that they could save themselves from the embarrassment.

"Children maintain silence!"

The sardarji  who was sporting a fashionable blue turban, tried to silence us. He was the speaker of the event who was going to kill us with his meaningless words. I mean, how difficult could it be to use a tab?

After twenty minutes or so, the lecture began.

Truth be told, I did not hear a single word of it. Not a single word. I was too busy cracking jokes with Maahi and listening to few of Lavanya's as well. All the others contributed their share and when the commotion became unbearable, Sonika ma'am would glare at our class, which happened every ten minutes.

The two hours of lecture was boring, literally.

But, things took a turn when the 'question session' from the parent's side began. It was no hidden fact, that our principal was not someone who held a good reputation among them as well.

Few of the initial questions were alright. But then came this one parent. And that's when it all began.

"Ma'am, in the 'No Objection Form' given by the school for accepting those tablets states that: In case of any damage, the guardians have to pay for the incurring loss. This statement is quite questionable madam."

The principal, seconds away from losing her cool, snapped back immediately.

"What questionable, huh?"

"Madam, the school itself is forcing  the students to take the tablets. Then why should we pay for the loss? It is not our wish to own these gadgets. Yet they are being forced upon our children."

"If your child has damaged it, then you have to pay!"

"Ma'am, my child doesn't require the tablet!"

"NO. IT IS MANDATORY!"

"Ma'am then why do we have to pa—"

"What kind of parents are you? Can't you just pay a small amount? Where do such people come from?! I am the principal of the school! I can do whatever I want! And why can—"

"Ma'am, please refrain from using unparliamentary words!"

By this time, the parent and our principal, both had their temper flaring up. Shouts, screams, echoes; it was dramatic! Fists up in the air, the echoes of the student crowd riled them up further, while we screamed along with them, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'. The teachers and the sardarji  were the only clueless ones.

Second time in the day that I am rolling on the floor. Earlier, it was the 'Clash of Clans' incident. Staring at the boy who sat right in front of me, I mirrored his grin.

I looked.

He looked.

We looked away.

And we looked  back again.

~