“Where’s Ashita?”

Drama rehearsal. Didn’t you see yesterday?

“It is over. She isn’t back?”

I don’t know. Don’t bother me, Avii. I am studying.

“Why don’t you two sit together now? ”

Beacuse you two sit together nowadays.

“No,we don’t.”

Ahhhhhh… Don’t make me a part of whatever it is going on, ok.

“I don’t care for her anymore. It is just that she is being way too friendly with Aneesh nowadys. And I don’t like it.”

So? If you don’t care anymore, why do you bitch to me about it?

“I don’t care for her anymore, but I just cannot stop thinking about her. Oh, how I hate her! She has poisoned even my dreams. I cannot think anything else but them. Not for a single moment. From morning till night, even through the exams, even while I sleep. I cannot stand to see her laughing with him. I want her to be miserable without me. I cannot stop this from my mind.Oh-”

I start to laugh at this rhetoric and then I see his face. My laughter freeze.

“But it never ends,kid. Never ever ends. ”

That is when I saw him cry the first time.

“Avi, what’s with the bandage??”

I fell down.

“Hehe… I mean, so bad. How?”

Well, you know about Siddashram?

“Yeah. Isn’t it where people wear white clothes? ”

They don’t just wear white clothes, silly. It is a community.All are swamys and swaminis or whatever. They sell their property and live together as a group, working there and all.

“So? ”

I went there last week, with Shaila chechi and her husband.

“Really? They let people in? And you fell down there?”

Yes, you can go see all, meet their Gurus, and if you want to, go live with them. Nice people.

“Oh?”

We were just roaming around seeing people and all, you know. Then there was this young Sanyasi ploughing the fields. So Shalia chechi asked him why an able bodied young man like him was working like a water buffalo in there.And that he should be ashamed of himself.

“Oh my God! What happened then?”

That guy is not fit to be a sanyasi. Not at all. And boy, does he run fast!

“I wrote his mother a letter.” I tell Avi.

“What?”

“I even copied some of his lines. But I wrote in Malayalam. I don’t think she can read English.”

“You wrote his mother a love-letter?”

“Yes. I included the bit about flowers and honey and bees in it. You want to read it? Come over on sunday.”

“You are planning to send it? To his mother?”

“Yes. He wouldn’t stop it. And the bastard wouldn’t even sign his name.”

“Why don’t you just tell your father about it?”

“Cause I don’t have the proof. Except his ogling. But you know it’s him!”

“Of course I do. Read the letter for me!”

“I can’t. It’s, well… too literary. Come read it.”

*****

“You can’t send it.”

“How is it?”

“It is perfect. Too freaky. But how old is she? 45?”

“Must be. And I am sending it. The bugger didn’t mind sending me all those nasty letters. He is gonna pay.”

“He should. But maybe this is not the right thing.”

“God, Avi.. From when did you become such a chicken???”

“From when I became an adult? And maybe you should deal with this the grown-up way”

“Ha! I don’t want just to rersolve this, don’t you understand? I want him to be humiliated. I want his mother to feel the shame of reading this .. That’s what women should get for mothering such dogs.I want his fingers and arms and legs and ears and nose cut, okay? I want him to boil inwater and then skinned and then go under a train, okay? So, just go away if you don’t like what I am doing.”

“But why should you send such a letter to his mother?”

“Because.”

“You not going to play Kho-Kho?” Avi asks me on the way to court.

No. Venu sir called us for correcting papers.

“Hmm. I saw you three yetserday in his room.”

We did the juniors’ papers yesterday. Today we are evaluating our answer sheets.

I say proudly.

“It’s his job. Why does he always ask you girls? Didn’t your warden say anything about going to his room?”

Why should she? It’s next to their staff-room. And it’s Venu sir! Aviiii….

“He never asks us boys to correct the papers..”
Coz we girls are the best. You are so jealous of us…

“Don’t go today. Ask him to do it in the study hour in class. Come to the playground.”

He asked us. He’ll be angry.

“You are not going. This is games time. Where’s Tessy and Maya. They are not going either. And even if they do, you are not. Hear me?”

Don’t you tell me what to do.

“Don’t go, kid. Please.”
Avi, I think you are in love with me.

I laugh.

“Phew. I will never love someone not pretty. Let’s have a throwball match between boys and girls.”

“Uhh. I hate that girl.” Avi shakes his head disgustingly at Ashita.