THE GIRL IN CLASS 10TH

CHAPTER 6 - NYSA

"Can I sit with you?"

This was the question that gave birth to 'THE INCIDENT' and I constantly regreted asking it. A point to be noted here that the reason of my regret was not the question that I asked but the kid from whom I asked it. I could have asked that question from anybody else. There were more than twenty kids in the classroom.

Why the hell did I ask that question from that sadistic bitch? Pardon my language. A five-year-old girl should not be designated with such kind of adjective; but at the same time, a five-year-old girl was not supposed to attack a five-year-old girl. Yes, that's what happened. Reality is always stranger than imagination. You never see it coming.

She looked up and gazed at me. Same uniform, same looking pair of ponnies, same five-year age, same height. Apart from the face, we both looked almost the same. But looks could be deceptive.

"Yes." She replied with a smile. I thought the smile was innocuous. It was not. I was soon going to realize that. I sat on the chair next to her and kept my bag on the desk in front of me. The chairs - small in size suitable for 5-year-old kids - were arranged in pairs with one desk in front. So, the kids were sitting in pairs.

I paired with Gina. That was her name. I looked around. I didn't just see. I felt. I felt the colors, the walls, the ceiling, the windows, the door, the desks, the chairs, the blackboard, the chalks. Everything. I was in awe of my classroom.

"What is your name?" her question brought me out of my trance. She sounded sweet. Every 5-year-old kid sounds sweet. I turned towards her.

"My name is Nysa. What is your name?"

"My name is Gina. Nice to meet you Nysa."

"Nice to meet you too Gina" It was nowhere going to be near 'NICE'.

"Can you be my friend?" I asked her.

"Of course. I would love too."

She hugged me. I felt nice. First day in classroom and I got my first friend. I started dreaming that we would be together forever. We would become best friends. Inseparable. Always together. My first friend in school – My best friend forever. 5-year olds could be really naïve and stupid.

Our classteacher arrived. All the kids got up. I got up too. All the kids greeted her – 'Hello teacher' – in unison. I greeted too. It was all new for me. Exciting new. I was really impressed with my classmates. They knew everything about classroom etiquette. And I simply followed them.

'Miss Laxmi' was the name of our classteacher. She had the most warming smile on her face when she introduced herself to us. It was her first day as a class-teacher. She mentioned in her introduction and I decided at that moment that I was going to mention about mine first day (in school) too in my introduction. I shouldn't have decided that.

She was friendly and sweet. She looked beautiful too in her long open hair (till waist) and yellow saari. The matching yellow sandles, earrings, bindi and watch were a blessing to the eyes. Yellow was her color for the day and It camouflaged with her yellow desk and chair kept opposite to kids sitting arrangement. Soon everything was going to get red. But she had no idea, neither did I.

She told us our roll numbers in chronological order and one by one we gave our brief introductions. My turn came.

"My name is Nysa. I am 5 years old. I like to read fairy tale books and I like to play snakes and ladders with my papa because he always let me win. This is my first day in a school and I am very happy to meet everyone."

Everyone clapped. It was a kind of ritual after every introduction. I was on cloud 9. So many kids were clapping for me, cheering for me. it had never ever happened to me. I felt special. But It was momentary. The very next moment, as the clapping stopped, I was bombarded with questions.

"Why today is your first day in school?"

"What about pre-school?"

"Have you not gone to a pre-school?"

"Why didn't you go to pre-school?"

"We all went to pre-school. Why didn't you go?"

Kids could be curious, blunt too. They asked all these questions as a 'matter of fact' in the most polite and sweet way they could. It translated to me as 'L for looser'. I interpreted it as if kids were booing me with their thumps down. I felt like a culprit for not going to pre-school. For the first time after entering the school, I was anxious. I tasted a new kind of emotion – 'EMBARRASSMENT'.

All my excitement faded in a snap. My face flushed red. My eyes were almost wet. My lips were trembling. I was vulnerable. I was about to cry when 'Miss laxmi' noticed the changes in my physical appearances and came to my rescue.

"Finally, I met someone who has not gone to pre-school just like me."

She shook hand with me. I couldn't understand what she meant. It was too sudden for me to absorb it. I kept looking at her.

"I mean...Even I never went to a pre-school."

I was taken aback at first but as Miss Laxmi's words sank inside me, I started to feel less nervous. Kids were totally surprised to hear it. she addressed the kids now.

"Yes, boys and girls. It's completely okay if someone missed pre-school. It's nothing to question about. just like Nysa, I missed it too. My pre-schooling was done at home."

"Mine too. My father handled it from home" I blurted out. My excitement was back. All the redness of the face, moistness of eyes and trembling of lips were gone in a snap just like the way it had appeared earlier.

"Let's give a big round of applause for Nysa and her father and her pre-schooling from home."

As Miss Laxmi said this, everyone clapped again. And I got all the attention of the class. I was relieved and back to Happy Nysa once again. Thanks to Miss Laxmi. She really was a sweet teacher. She was like a godsend to me who didn't let me cry on my first day in school. A few minutes later the crying happened anyway. Because one of the kids in the class was really unhappy about everything. It was Gina.

Gina was the last one to give her introduction. She told her name, age and instead of telling her hobbies or what she liked, she mentioned that her pre-schooling was done in 'Rainbow School'. And when she mentioned that she didn't look at teacher or address the class, she looked at me. It was more like a stare. I smiled in reply. Still naïve and stupid.

That stare was a clearcut sign of what was going to come my way. I couldn't figure out what triggered Gina to pull off the pencil fiasco. Maybe it was all the support I got from teacher. Maybe it was all the attention from other kids. Maybe it was my constant smiling face. Or maybe it was nothing, no reason. She just did it for the sake of doing it. You couldn't really envisage what went inside a 5-year-old kid's brain. Gina took out her pencil from her school bag and started SHARPENING IT!