My Ex - Crush

Episode 39

Deepika's POV:

"I'm hungry, I'm hungry!" Joshitha was practically shouting as we got down from the bus.

"I'll faint if I don't eat soon," Lavanya moaned, clutching her stomach dramatically.

"We'll eat first," I assured them, trying to hide my own hunger. We followed behind ma'am as an office staff member from the school led the way.

They brought us to the mess hall. The moment we stepped in, I was taken aback. The children were sitting on the floor around low tables, quietly eating. There wasn't a single noise-no chatter, no clattering of plates, just complete discipline. It was so different from what I'd imagined.

We quickly grabbed some plates, packed them with food, and sat down beside the children. As soon as I started eating, my hunger took over, and I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. But once I had a few bites, I started to really take in the scene around me.

The children-so calm, so disciplined-were finishing their meals, cleaning up after themselves, and quietly leaving for their classrooms. They had no uniforms, yet they moved with a sense of responsibility. It was almost surreal, like stepping into a completely different world. There was a simplicity here, a sense of peace I'd never seen in any school before.

"They're following a gurukul system," Joshitha whispered to me, clearly just as in awe as I was.

As I watched the children move so independently, I couldn't help but feel impressed. Everything about this school was different. The environment, the atmosphere-it felt like a sanctuary rather than a place of strict rules and timetables.

After lunch, we gathered in a thatch-roofed hut where the principal gave a speech. Her voice was soft and soothing, perfectly matching the calm atmosphere of the school.

"Our philosophy is simple," she explained. "We let children learn by seeing and experiencing things firsthand. When we teach about the ecosystem, we take them to a pond so they can observe fish and aquatic plants. Once, a leopard wandered into our campus from the nearby hills, and our students handled the situation calmly. They learn everything here, from pottery to horse riding, from swimming to botany."

I listened, captivated. This place was like a dream. No rigid schedules, no suffocating pressure, no endless exams. Just learning in its purest form. I couldn't help but compare it to my own schooling-a constant race for grades, the suffocating pressure to be the best.

"Ma'am, so the children don't follow any standard syllabus?" Kiran Sir asked.

"No," the principal replied with pride. "In fact, until grade 8 or 9, they don't have exams."

"Then how do they handle competitive exams like NEET and JEE?" Sri Devi ma'am asked, curious.

"Our students perform exceptionally well in those exams too. Last year, ten of our students cleared NEET," the principal said, beaming.

I was stunned. No exams until grade 9, and they were still excelling? It was the complete opposite of everything I'd been taught, but it worked. This school felt like a breath of fresh air-natural, open, and free.

As the principal wrapped up her speech, we were free to roam the campus on our own. The classrooms were simple huts with sloped roofs, trees, and plants surrounding them. Everything about this place felt alive, from the children to the environment. It was hard not to feel inspired here.

But even in this tranquil setting, something felt off. Arjun was sitting a few feet away, scribbling notes and observing the children like the rest of us, but there was something distant about him.