Yrkkh 4- Ek Anokhi Milan

Meet Roohi Goenka

As Vishal sir called the roll, the relief within him grew as he neared her godforsaken name. If she doesn't arrive before her name is called, as the school rule permits, she is not allowed to take the test on today and like always, she'll be placed on isolation. See, Vishal sir was not a bad man, no staff in the school was, but when it came to that girl, their hearts seemed to change. The further they were from her, the better. Devious children were no anomaly here in The School for Troubled Kids, however, this girl was the embodiment of hell in an athletic 5'9 package.

Vishal Sir, "Varun?" 

"Present sir"

With every present sir Vishal sir ensured to look at the empty bench were that girl always sat, just encase, somehow, she shows up in time. He placed the filled roll sheet and moved onto the next one.

"Bhagat?" 

"..."

Vishal sir crossed next to his name.

"Kushar?" No answer, "Kushar Konwal?" Once again, Vishal crossed next to the boy name. "Lakshmi?" Furrowing his eyebrows, Vishal crossed next to the name. "Peer?" Vishal scanned the room, no Peer seemed to stand, "Peer Ali Khan?" Vishal angrily asked and his lifted the sheet of paper. He looked at the paper again, "Alluri Sitarama, Surya Sen, Durgawati Devi?" He said finding the last name a little strange.  He looked up to the lecture class. Silence. He flared his nose as he continued, "Jhalkari Bai, Khudiram Bose, Matangini Hazra," Vishal read out, every name sounding stranger and stranger, "Neera Arya, Velu Nachiyar, Mangal Pandey, Ra-" Vishal hesitated before he said this name and looked up to the confused class, "Ram Mohammed Singh Azad" He sighed in defeat as he found a smirking Roohi Goenka sitting on her spot. Nodding his head in disbelief of the fact that he got tricked into saying all these names to buy her time, he flipped to the next page and called out her name, "Roohi...Goenka?" 

Roohi tood up in an instant, "Present Sir! Waisa, sir, lagta hai kisi na accidently sab indian revolutionaries ki list jo school ke roll call ki paper jaisi lagti hai wahan rakh di" She spoke with a mocking tone and sat down. 

"Sab ko pata hai ki tune hi rakha hai, Roohi" Nandini said from the other side of the lecture room.

Roohi gave a comical gasp, "Itna bada ilzam?!" She chuckled, "Itna time mera paas hai nahi, jo main ek badaaaa list banao, phir raat ki andare main sir ki cabin mein sneak karu, uske files dhundu, phir roll call files dhundu, phir wo paper usme dallu, phir cabin se nik-"

"SAMAJ GAYE" Vishal sir sternly spoke and shook his head, "Roohi, tum time mein aayi thi toh tum test le sakti ho," he said although his whole heart wanted him to get angry at her, he didn't have time to do all that, so he just let her be, just like every other time. Such was Roohi's life, she always got away with what she did, but truthfully, this wasn't the behaviour of some rich spoiled brat like everyone thought it was, this is what a powerless person acts like. From what Vishal knew of her life before she got here, she was a girl plagued with bad luck, circumstance out of her control lead her to being alone. With no one to run to, she sought companionship in the wrong people and that is what lead her to be here.