The Teacher

Prashanna Dutta was a teacher by profession. He taught English to the students of Haripriya Vidya Niketan. He was an honest and humble man of few words, who never said 'no' to work. And that was the exact reason why he was exploited the most, by the school staff. If there was any work to be done, everyone in the school would push it to Prashanna. Not only his school staff, but his neighbours, his friends, his relatives, everyone kept trying to get their work done by him. Though Prashanna didn't mind being busy, this annoyed his wife greatly. His wife, Alpana, always kept saying,

'Why do you have to be so sincere and hard working,' as if being sincere and industrious were the worst qualities a man could possess.

Although in the context of present times, she was not entirely wrong. Prashanna, however, was of the opinion that sincerity and hard work always pay back in full. So, despite of the students' low attention to his classes, he kept teaching them sincerely; and he liked to do so.

When Vivan, a boy who's father got posted in the town, first attended the school at 5th standard, Prashanna felt that God had finally gifted him with an actual student. Vivan was the only student who paid attention to Prasanna's classes. He and Prashanna had more similarities than anyone could expect. They were like father and son; in fact, Prashanna did teach Vivan like he was his own son. When Vivan got to 8th standard his parents decided to hire Prashanna as a private tutor, as they could no longer give enough attention to their child's studies due to their busy work-schedule. Prashanna was more than happy to guide Vivan; and so, he accepted the proposal.

For Prashanna, it was like the aim of his life, to make Vivan a perfect child in every direction possible. He spent most of his time with the boy, teaching him and guiding him through all the problems of his academic life. But, back in his own home, Prashanna started to become an alien. The more time he gave to Vivan, the less time he had for his family, which was of course, obvious.

'Why don't you live in that Vivan's house, ha?' Alpana would say. She would keep sulking while having dinner with Prashanna at the dining table, just to make him ask her what had happened. But Prashanna, ignorant of his wife's desperate attempts to get his attention, would start praising Vivan's extraordinary intelligence. This daily exercise drove Alpana restless to the point, where she finally said,

'You should leave us and adopt that Vivan as your child. You'd be more happy with him than with us.' Saying this she pushed back her chair angrily and retreated into the kitchen. At that moment, Prasanna's ego got seriously hurt. He shouted at the top of his voice, 'Enough!' He threw the plate of food. Then he blurted out in a loud voice, 'In that boy, I've found a purpose in my life. But what would you understand about it? You're just a lost woman who doesn't even know what she's doing and for what exactly.' After that, he went to his study. But later when his blood cooled, he pondered over the matter. Alpana's rage was not entirely her fault; for the greater part, it was actually his own. He realized how little time he spent with his family. But, there was no way to leave Vivan now, was there? Just a year and Vivan would appear for his High School finals. Prashanna could certainly not leave Vivan during such a crucial time. Unknowingly, Prashanna was standing at a serious crossroad of his life. The next day, he went to Vivan's house with a heavy mind, but once he was busy with the boy, he forgot about all his worries and about his family.

Prashanna had a son, a year younger than Vivan. His name was Abhinandan. Abhinandan grew up, almost without the fatherly affection. For him, his father was just a man, who provided his family with the necessary money and had no other connection with the family. Abhinandan never talked to his father. The awkward silence between Abhinandan and Prashanna, became louder than ever. Abhinandan had no emotional bonding with the man that his father had become after the arrival of Vivan.