Do Pyaar Karne Waale [RAGHVI]

01: bad grades

inspo:

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"Aai!" a voice Pallavi could recognize anywhere called out from the foyer of their bungalow.

"Haan? Kay zhale?" she asked when she heard the distress in her baacha's voice.

"Aai! Aaj report card milgaya," the boy said and sat down beside his mother who was reviewing the designs submitted for her next saree collection. "Dekho."

Pallavi took the report card from the boy's small hands and studied his worried face. "Munh aisa kyu banaya hain? Did you get any bad grades?"

"Bas ek class mein thodi...kaam marks aaye," the boy muttered, afraid his mother would scold him. In their household, his mother was known to be stricter when it came to school than his father.

"Which class?" Pallavi hummed out, her voice surprisingly calm.

"Woh, uh... Maths." The boy wrung his fingers together in nervousness. He was afraid his mother's cool would end any minute now.

Pallavi looked down to glance at the report card scores and her eyes widened in shock when she saw the percentage. "Forty-seven percent?! Kaise?"

"Woh homework tough tha aur tests be confusing they toh isilye woh score mila. Aur, Aai, anyways aap toh kehti ho ki maths itne important nahin hai!" the boy tried to defend himself.

"Maine kab aisa kaha?" Pallavi asked with an eyebrow raised and her tone, sharp.

"Oh," her son stumbled over his words and thought for a second. "Maybe it was Naana who said it."

"Tumhare Naana ne aisa bola?" Pallavi asked, with an incredulous gasp. "Tu ruk, me abhi uski class leti hu."

"Nahin, Aai, unka fault nahin hain. Please don't fight na," the boy cried out and held onto his mother's arm. Apparently, the boy would often hear his parents' harsh whispers whenever the two adults had disagreed with something.

"Hum fight nahin karenge, beta. Discuss karenge. Tu jaldi se naale, mein dinner ko heat up karungi." Pallavi said as she put her supplies away. "Aur tumhare papa ko neeche bulaiye. Baat karni hain usse."