I had been up all night
studying for my last Board exam. Mathematics, my favorite subject. As the golden
rays of sunshine slowly crept into the room I decided to take a break and went
to stand by the window. The beauty of a
breaking dawn never ceases to amaze me. There is hardly anything more beautiful
than a sunrise accompanied by the distant songs of the birds leaving their
nests.
I contemplated what I
should do next. Should I take a walk to refresh my mind? Should I catch a
couple of hours of sleep? The exam wasn’t until the next day.
My chain of thought was
interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. A small bare footed figure walked
in, hugging a notebook to her chest. She looked like she had been up all night.
“Have you been up all night studying too?” I asked.
“Yeah. You know how much I hate Math. Pray tell me where do you
use sin2A + cos2A = 1 in real life!” she said, screwing her face.
I knew she was enjoying
herself and chuckled at her look of mock indignation.
“At least you don’t have to worry about trigonometry after
tomorrow. Unless, you decide to pursue the Sciences that is.” I joked.
She pretended to faint in
horror and we both burst out laughing.
“Did you need some help?” I asked
her once the laughter had subsided.
“Actually yes. I just can’t seem to work out this problem. Could
you please have a look?” she ventures slowly,
clearly she did not want to inconvenience me.
I spent the next hour or so
helping her out with her doubts on the subject. It felt good that I knew all
the answers. After all, not so long ago I was flaking out of school!
After solving a
particularly long quadratic equation, we decided to call it a day.
“How about a bowl of your favorite Kellogg's Chocos for breakfast Debu?” she asked.
“Sure Maa, I will join you in a minute.”
* * *
Till a year ago, I was the typical spoilt kid born with a silver spoon in the mouth. I thought I could buy everything, a high school leaving certificate included!
 |
| Image Credit: Kellogg's Chocos |
Till a year ago, I was the typical spoilt kid born with a silver spoon in the mouth. I thought I could buy everything, a high school leaving certificate included!
Maa did everything she could to impress upon me the value of education. She scolded me, cajoled me, threatened me but I did not give up my wayward ways. “What do you know about education? Do you even know what a Board exam is?” I shouted
Circumstances had compelled her into an early marriage and Maa never got a chance to get much of an education. She had always regretted it and I knew it was a low blow.
For a moment her eyes welled up, but it was immediately replaced by a steely resolve. “We will do it together then”, she said.
Things did not change overnight for me, but this was the beginning. And here we were almost a year later a day short of completing our Board exams, together.
Things did not change overnight for me, but this was the beginning. And here we were almost a year later a day short of completing our Board exams, together.
_________________________________________________________________________________
This post is my entry for a contest organised by Indiblogger and Kellogg's Chocos.
For details please visit https://www.facebook.com/mychocos