Coming back to life

Sindu joined a new school in a new city. she is uncertain about her life there. After a dreadful past, She is trying to move ahead from the Past.

She stepped out of the Hostel building with caution. The overnight rain has caused puddles of water to rise up to the front steps. The water was still rushing down the pipage from the roof of the building.  As it was the rainy season, the socks were not required to be worn. It was a relief, she thought as she walked into the water. On the first day in a new school she was uncertain and worried, perhaps unnecessarily whether she would be liked by her fellow classmates. And Of course, she didn’t want any unnecessary attention from the teachers either. As she walked past other students, she tried to smile at them. Quite unnoticed, no one cared to give her a second glimpse.

 

After Entering the VII C class room, she felt a bit comfy as the other girls came forward to talk to her. Also two of her hostel mates were present in her class. She sat on the corner seat towards the right window with a far view of the road. Many a cars, scooters, and the school vans were waiting for their turn to drop the children and escape the hefty traffic. She remembered the last year’s first day to school, where she ran into the classroom, all wet in the rain and the whipping on her arms that she shared with her friends from the then school master. She couldn’t help but to smile about the incident. Suddenly a nun came in and the entire girls rose from her seats and the girl next to her told that the nun was their class sister.

 

The first day began with a small prayer and the introduction of the new syllabus. The class sister also informed them of the list of programs planned for the year. She was quite enthusiastic hearing about the cultural fests and about the big sale approaching the next month. Each girl was asked to participate in some way or the other. There were road shows, skits, sale and the entire fund was to finance the construction of new blocks to the school.

 

Abruptly, the class sister’s glance fell on her and she felt uneasy. The sister smiled at her and asked to come forward and the girl moved slowly after looking around at other girls. The sister told the class, “now, girls, we have a new friend here, Sindu and she is from the tribal area and has come to study in this school on scholarship. Help her to have a good time here.” The class sister understanding her uneasiness told her and the whole class that she would be heading the Fundraiser group and to sell the lucky draw coupons to the entire school. It was a greater responsibility for her and it threw her into swivet. Has she ever participated in any fest/ function? There wasn’t any in her previous hut thatched, mud walled one teacher school. And when she was urged to write the scholarship exam by the previous school master, hardly she knew she would have to do more than just text books and the bench and desks. But the enthusiasm to be part of a grand fest overshadowed her fear.

 

Her Fundraiser group had six girls headed by her. During the 60 minutes lunch break; they went from class to class selling the lucky draw coupons. The 10 Rupee coupons were being sold faster that they thought. This way, she made a lot of friends not just in the class but from the whole school. And her confidence wore a pretty smile on her face.

 

Even after a month, the rain was nowhere near end. It was July, and the cultural fests where to begin by the 2^nd week. From most of the class rooms, girls were tuning out their items in rehearsal and the songs were flowing out. There was fun in the air, and rain was no interruption to them. In a corner of VII C class, the fundraiser group was counting and recounting the money they collected. Two of them were checking the corresponding no: of coupons sold. And finally, after so many recounting, they confirmed that they sold 5730 coupons. And, that is 57300 Rupees in their hands. The girls were really happy about their collection. Now, who shall keep the entire amount? It’s a huge responsibility. “Sindu, why don’t you keep the money till tomorrow? After all you are residing in the hostel, and it would be safe”, the other girls said. Sindu nodded to it and held the 57300 Rupees in her hand.

 

Tomorrow, she would hand over the money and the class sister will be pleased. She was happy that the class sister gave her this job, as with this fundraising business, she had made many friends in the school. As she walked back to the hostel, she remembered about the cash in her hand. Has she ever held such note bundles in her hand? She had seen such cash bundles before, in her village, in the hands of bank officers, which had the notes from her father also; collected from him for loan dues. The notes which cost her father’s life, as he lost everything to the bank. The scene of the dried out paddy field came back to her mind. Her parents as well as the neighbours pouring kerosene over the heap of dried paddy and let it burn in the red flames against the darkest night she ever seen. The weeping farmers; some cursing their fates aloud and some others silently watching the dance of flames while she held her mother’s hand as the ashes filled the air. The very same flames that ate her father’s body.. Her body ached again, her mouth felt the same dryness from crying for hours, numb and murmuring to something past, she couldn’t stand steady anymore, slowly falling in the rain, in the mud filled way to the block.

 

“Sindu”, “Sindu, are you feeling okay, now?”. Sindu palely opened her eyes to her class sister who was holding her head high to her chest. She could smell a fragrance in the air. It smell like her mother, her father, the village and everything she knew in her life. “Sinduu..How you feeling now, my child?”, class sister asked. Regaining her senses, feeling something terrible occurred; she tried to rise from her bed. “I..I.. What happened? I am okay..but what happened?”. “Lie down, my dear, nothing to panic about, you just fell down, you should be more careful next time, okay?” telling this, the class sister smiled at her and continued,” And thank Goodness, that you held the money tightly or it would have been completely soaked in mud.”

 

The next morning, Sindu along with her fundraiser girls gave their collected money to the School’s Principal. But no one noticed the tinge of mother earth in them other than her.     

Author's Note

I am not sure about the title.. if you could give me a better choice of title, that would be better :)
and of course, I need constructive criticism, especially, coz im not a story teller :/

Reviews

[the_stoic]

the title is apt for the little Sindu is finally getting a taste of life that's meant for children of her age ... nice story .. keep writing

[JENY]

Nice story….
Your simplicity impressed me a lot….
I thought of my school days….
I studied in a convent…..
And those days were nice….
Great ….

[indu]

thank you for that lovely review :)

[DeadToTheWorld]

I enjoyed this very nice don't worry about not being a good writer In my opinion it came out great, good write :)