My Encounters With The Prettiest Eyes

1. Making it to the Elite Batch

Making it to the Elite Batch

"Shashank sir ka homework hua?" I asked Tejas, who had just helped me with a question about the Doppler effect.
"Ham toh B1 me hai," he texted back with a laughing emoji, adding that he had done nothing.
"A new batch means a new game...a new game means a new team...and then a new game means a new homework," he explained his philosophy.

I had finished my work, with only questions from Arihant left pending. I imagined myself standing in front of the class, with Shashank sir asking me to show my homework. The thought of being insulted on my first day in the new batch, in front of familiar and unfamiliar faces, made me anxious. I closed my books and shut down my laptop, gambling on not completing my homework.

Our first lecture was scheduled for 10 AM, but I arrived by 9:30. Papa always dropped me off early. I entered the academy and met my mates from Batch 2.

"Tanish Bhai, batch 1 daalna hai," Piyush reminded me to change my batch while I signed the register. We all laughed at the comment. Entering the class, I noticed Aaryan ,Anika, and another girl sitting at the first bench on the left. The right side was empty, so I quickly walked over, placed my bag on the first bench, and sat down.

"Sachin sits there," the girl said, stopping me. Sachin Thakur, the current topper of our JEE tests, sat on the first bench, which didn't surprise me. I took my bag and moved to the fourth bench of the left row, feeling a bit nervous. It felt like a return to the days of 2022.

Adjusting to a new batch is always challenging. I had many thoughts racing through my mind, along with Sunny sir's warnings about the new batch. "Waha Jaa ke bigadne ke chances zyada hai, because waha log zyada hai. Toh apne ko wo bhi dekhna padega."
I worried about whether they would welcome us, as five students from their batch had been moved to Batch 2 and six new students including me had joined them.

However, the toppers in this batch didn't seem to have that mindset. I was congratulated by Sachin and Shubh for making it to the elite batch.

The class soon filled with students. At the back, I saw benches occupied by three students. Tejas was beside me. Prashant was at the back, Karan and Piyush were together, and Sanjana D (from Batch 2) was absent, which was no surprise.

The next person to notice my presence was Shashank sir, who greeted everyone with a firm handshake and a hearty tap on the back. He began, "Toh baccho, aaj hum jo chapter padhenge uska naam hai Solid State. Ye chapter wahi acha kar lega jiska imagination bahut acha hai. Easy chapter hai beta aur iske questions bhi aate hain."

The class began when Vishaka mam opened the door and handed the attendance register to the Class Representative, Arjun Sharma, who was sitting in front of me with Shubh.
"Tanish Bhai..." Arjun turned his back and handed the register to me with a smile, saying, "Aap karlo ye."

"Do you even know all of them?" Tejas asked as I opened the register and saw names like Dhyanchand Patel and Ananya Srivastava, whom I didn't know. I started looking around for students I recognized, with Tejas guiding me through the rest.

The class was as silent as B2, with no gossip at the last benches, which was the only difference. My eyes were on Shashank sir, who wore a white shirt and walked across the length of the whiteboard, stopping to change slides on his MacBook.

"Beta ek galti aur wapas mayke nikalna pad jayega," my mind kept reminding me.

"Beta what is her name?" Sumit sir's question broke the flow as he looked at the other row.

I turned to my right. The girl, who had been sitting with her head down, got up. "Ha beta, you stand up," Sumit sir said, gesturing for her to stand. She was in a black jacket, with straightened hair, spectacles, and a black mask. It was Lea.

"You tell me the names of all the seven crystal structures," Sumit sir ordered.

"Uhh...cubic..." Lea hesitated, her gaze moving to the ceiling, "...tetrahedral..."

"Oh God...she messed up there," I thought, as it became a topic of discussion until Sumit sir quieted everyone.

"...Cyclic?" she continued.

"Cyclic," I whispered to Tejas, laughing silently and keeping my head down.

"Ha beta, ab aromatic bhi bol de," Shashank sir added, and the whole class laughed along with me.

"Abe tu toh bohot gadhi hai," Shashank sir continued with the humiliation. "Don't worry, I'll send you to B2 today itself. That's what we do—move all the garbage students to B2. Today itself I'll talk to Sameer sir."

All my laughter vanished with his words. "I'll send you to B2" echoed in my mind. I recalled all the hard work I had put in to get here. "Beta sab mehnat mitti me mil jayegi," I told myself.

"Abe tu toh pakka gadhi hai ekdum," Shashank sir wasn't ready to stop. Every time he said this, I felt bad for Lea. She did nothing more than any other student might have done—just looked at him for a moment and then down at her desk.

"Bhai tujhe yahi pasand ayi thi? Abe woh toh soti hai class me, wo bhi Shashank sir ki class me...aur phir gaali khaati hai sir se." I imagined telling Sushant about the day.

It was one of those rare moments when I preferred Kurkure over samosa pav. During the break, Sushant, Sushila Geeta, and Sonali listened to my recount of Shashank sir's plans, including his plan to start his lecture by asking about the three states of matter and the differences between boiling and freezing points.

If Shashank sir's chemistry lecture was a trailer, Sameer sir's physics lecture showed me the complete picture.

He entered the class in formals as we all stood up. Standing near the whiteboard, he was looking around.

"I have made all the changes I could. But remember your seat can be taken away anytime. Nobody in this batch is fixed. Be it the ones who were already there, or the ones who got promoted here. We will start with a score of 180 as our aim and will eventually end the session by scoring 250. Remember, our exam isn't even a year away from here.", his words always motivated me to work hard. But 180 was just too big to begin with.

"And I'll not be tolerating absentees.", he mentioned the last point taking the name of a few students at the back.

We began with Electrostatics as our first chapter of 12th physics, and the best highlight of the lecture was when sir explained by saying," Abhi agar Aneesh bolta hai ki usko mai pasand hu, toh phir Taneesh bolega Taneesh ko main nahi pasand.".

"I sort of understood that Electrostatics was the beginning of the series of weaknesses I faced in 12th grade physics."