The little girl looked at her reflection in the mirror, the urgency of the first bell weighing on her a bit. But she was almost ready, the breakfast was over and she was dressed in a white shirt with the blue streaks of Ujala (a brand of fabric whitener) and a green skirt. She looked down to make sure that all the buttons on her shirt were fastened and the hook was secure on her skirt. Then she proceeded to comb her shoulder-length hair into short plaits on both sides and tied them using rubber bands. From her desk drawer, she took out white ribbons with the ends charred with a lighted candle to prevent fraying and tied them neatly over the rubber bands covering them. After a dusting of the white talcum powder on her dark skin, the customary eyebrows were painted on and a maroon pottu (bindi) was placed on her forehead and, she was ready.
The school bag was already filled with books according to the timetable. She went to the kitchen and her Ammumma (Grandmother), Thanka, had placed her steel lunchbox and the plastic water bottle ready on the kitchen table.
"Ammumma, I am leaving for school", she said to Thanka.
"Make sure you eat everything, dear", Thanka said to the child.
Malathi carefully covered the lunchbox in a plastic bag and kept it in her school bag, hung the water bottle on her shoulder and gave a kiss to Thanka and ran out.
On the easy chair on the veranda, her grandfather, Appukuttan, was reading a newspaper, dressed only in a mundu (white dhoti) and a thorthu ( thin towel) over his shoulders.
"Appupa (Grandpa), I am leaving for school", she said to him.
"My Malukutty is going to school? Go carefully and study well, dear", he said to her with a smile.
She smiled brightly at him, planted a quick kiss on his cheek, and went down the steps to find her pair of white Lunar rubber slippers with blue straps and wore it, waved at her grandfather, and walked out. The path to the road was unpaved and dusty and on the tarred road were many little boys and girls waddling and chatting all the way to school like little ducks to a pond. Unlike the white and green girls, boys were in white shirts and black pants. Today her friends Seena and Panjami would have already left by now. So she hurried towards the school and reached before the first bell.
"Prayikkal Govt LP school", the faded board over the gate declared itself to the Prayikkal village. The school building wasn't any better than the board. It was just a series of rooms with half walls and a roof made of coconut leaf thatch. You are as likely to hear the teacher in the next class as your own and on rainy days using an umbrella indoors might not be a bad idea. Malathi was a middle bench-er, she was not bad in her studies and was quiet, and never resorted to childish or mischievous behavior, in short, her teachers overlooked her. On her bench, towards the aisle sat Panjami, then Seena, and near to the wall where the shadow was darker, sat Malathi.
Her friends had already arrived and they chatted for a few minutes about the latest movie that Panjami had seen in the rare VCR; Nokethadoorathu Kannumnattu (translation: Gazing as far as the eye can see, a Malayalam movie) until the headmaster, Gangadharan came into the class and everyone fell silent.
"Students, you will be leaving this school soon and will be joining the upper primary school in the next village. Since you are moving up the ladder of education, I wanted to enlighten you on the various subjects you could study in the future. Today you will be meeting someone who will tell you what to study and choose as you move higher up. He is the topper from this district in 10th and he is also going to write the 12th exam this year and the entrance exam as well. He will be telling you what to expect in the future", the Headmaster said. He knew that most of the students in this school were not destined for greatness, but at least one of them might get inspired and choose a different path. He looked outside and beckoned someone to step into the class.
A tall, thin, handsome boy of about 17 or 18 stepped in. Malathi was spellbound; she had never seen such a good-looking, well-put-together boy. He was dressed in a private school uniform; stiffly pressed white shirt and navy blue pants, striped tie, white socks, and shiny black shoes. His hair was neatly trimmed, skin the color of gold, and a smile as brilliant as the sunlight that was strained through the coconut thatch. It was as if he was not made in the same mold that she or anyone she knew was cast in.
"Introduce yourself", the headmaster told him gently.
"Namaskaram, my name is Vishnu Chandrasekharan Paarakkal", said the beaming teen to the bunch of 10-year-olds.
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Malathi charitham (The history of Malathi) (Kalarikkal series - 2)
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