Better Together

4

Class IX-B was as usual being the loudest in the corridor. The teacher was running late. The girls were busy gossiping and the boys found this an awesome opportunity to get rowdy. Krishiv and his friends were standing in the front of the class and playing an interesting game of catch with a water bottle. Everything was going fine until someone shouted...

"SIR AA RAHE HAIN"

Within a second everybody ran back to their seats. 'like nothing happened'

Mr. Rathore was their maths teacher.

As he entered the class everybody stood up to greet him.

"Good morning, sit down.
So I have your unit test copies with me. The result is average. Almost everybody scored good but there are some of you who need to work hard."

One by one he started calling the names of the students and announcing their marks. The students groaned at that. It was pretty embarrassing but nobody protested.

"Ahana Chatterjee, 45/50. Very good beta." He handed over the first sheet.

"Divya Singh, 39/50. Can do better."

"Jayesh Patel, 21/50. Very less, meet me after this class."

Krishiv was biting his nails in anticipation and soon it was his turn.

"Krishiv Arora, 18/50. You too meet me after this class." He gave krishiv a pointed look.

Krishiv stared at the paper blankly. It was like the floor slipped from beneath his feet. He was not that good in maths but he always managed to score above 30. But this time it was something very serious.

It was actually Krishiv's fault and he knew that too. He was too busy watching a web series with his Bhai rather than studying for the test.
His Bhaiya would be so disappointed.
That thought alone brought tears in his eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mr Rathore.
"Those who scored below 25 meet me in my cabin after this class."
______________________________________

A total of 10 students were standing in Mr. Rathore's cabin. All with their heads hung low as he scolded them.

"You all failed in the unit test. Is this your preparation ?" Is my teaching method too hard for you guys ? Jab Tak bataoge nhi problem pata kaise chalegi."

Nobody dared to look up, too ashamed to face their teacher.

"Beta agar yehi performance raha na to Term exams mein bhi fail ho jaoge. Aur Aisa main hone nhi doonga. Tumhari carelessness ki wajah se Mera record nhi kharab hona chahiye. So I'm warning you guys...start studying. Aur haan agli baar agar fail hue to notebook ke saath saath 2-2 strokes on each knuckle."

With that the scolding session ended. Some left crying, some were ashamed and some didn't even care.
______________________________________

When school ended Krish gloomily walked to his car. Kunal was already sitting there.
He noticed the change in his brother's mood and asked "oye kya ho gya tujhe ?"

"Kuch nhi bhai"

"Kuch to hua h.....bata na. Kisi se jhagda hua ?"
Krish shook his head.

"To fir punishment mili ?" Krish again shook his head.

"Teri crush ne tujhe reject kar diya ?" This time Krish got annoyed.

"Kya h yaar Kunal Bhai mat tang Karo na. Aur waise bhi Ghar par aapko sab kuch pata chal hi jaega.......jab meri pitai hogi." He mumbled the last part but Kunal heard it.

"Kyun hogi pitai ?"

Krish simply took his unit test notebook out and showed it to his brother.
Kunal's eyes widened looking at the marks. His brother failed and not just by a few marks. Failing was a huge offence in Arora family. His Bhaiya was very particular about marks and the one thing that he hated the most was neglecting studies.