DESTINY'S FAVOURITE CHILDREN

18. A Deadly Beamer

MS went out to leave Rishabh alone in the study. Rishabh slogged at the syllabus, there was a lot left to study and he had no time. He had not realised it would be this tough to cover the syllabus, he had clearly underestimated the subject. Now that he looked at the subject, he felt like he was just not made for this.

Another thing was that the question "why" was constantly lingering in his mind. He really needed to know that for what reason should he study these subjects? What even is the point of studying so much when at the end of the day he wishes to be a cricketer, which needs no economics and no calculus and no algebra?

He was not a bad student per se, but he was also not what people expected him to be. His mother was a doctor and people expected same kind of brilliance from him. He wanted to perform good, but he had no solid motivation, the only thing that motivated him to study was his mother's happiness, she wanted him to do good and he just wanted to make her happy.

So he studied with all his might for 10th boards, he wanted to make his mother proud. But now that he was in 11th and these were not even final exams, he found these useless and waste of time and energy.

MS had went out to make hot chocolate for Rishabh, when he came back with the mug of same, he found Rishabh sitting there with his face in his palms, almost ready to doze off.

MS placed the mug on the table and gently ruffled Rishabh's hair, "Rishu? What happened bachcha? Neend aa rhi hai? "

Rishabh got up with a jerk and sat straight, did I dose off?, he asked to himself.

MS placed his palms on his both shoulders to relax him, "I've got hot chocolate for you, drink it, you'll feel better"

Rishabh looked at MS, him making efforts so that he could study was making him feel guilty. He had stayed with him when he studied, he taught him concepts whenever he got stuck, he made coffee for him everyday while he studied and he on the other hand was not making half the efforts on his own studies. "Thanks bhaiya" Rishabh whispered as he picked the mug. By this time he didn't even remember that he was angry with him and had promised to not talk to him.

MS dragged a chair for himself and sat next to him. He could see that the kid was stressing out, he could see the look of distress on his face. "Is everything okay beta? Abhi bhi baat nahi karega? " MS asked him gently.

Rishabh looked at MS and shook his head in no. He could never stay angry at him, one gentle ruffle of his hair with his hands, one loving caress and he was undone. He had stayed away from his brothers long enough to not acknowledge their love, now that he actually got them, he was just counting his blessings. MS nodded his head, deciding to let him have his hot chocolate in peace.

Once Rishabh put the mug back, MS tried to ask him again, "Koi problem hai beta? Kitna bacha hai syllabus? "

Much to Mahi's surprise, Rishabh got up and pushed his chair back, putting his head in Mahi's lap, sitting on his knees. Mahi's hand automatically went to his head, caressing his hair, "Do you want to sleep? Agar neend aa rhi hai toh so ja bachcha, there is no point slogging over it, dimaag mein waise bhi kuchh nahi jayega"

Rishabh didn't speak anything, he was finding enough warmth in Mahi's lap that he didn't want to get up. MS let him take his time, he just continued caressing his head and back until Rishabh decided to speak up.

"Kaafi sara bacha hua hai bhaiya abhi. Nahi so sakta"  Rishabh told MS, lifting his head a little.

"Kitne chapters bache hain? Do you need help? " MS asked.

"3 chapters" Rishabh told him as he put his head back into Mahi's lap.

"Chal toh come on get up, karte hain jaldi se, we'll be done in 30 minutes I promise" MS said as he coaxed Rishabh to get up.