A Heart of Stone with a Coat of Gold

Teacher

Author's Note - Please share your thoughts dear readers, I would love to hear them  

Di- elder sister

Jiju- brother-in law

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By the time Anu woke up, it was already noon. After Neel had fallen asleep yesterday, she had tried to sleep, but his words danced in her head. On top of it all, she was nervous about her own preparation. The time she had prepared for her exams seemed like a lifetime ago. So much has happened, so much had changed since then. 

Ishan's death,  marriage, Neel, her mother's death, Reema all of them seemed to take up all the space in her mind now, leaving little for the words of her textbooks. 

Would she be able to repeat her last attempt results? What if it had all been a fluke?  These were some of her final doubts before sleep finally caught on her.

As she got up from the bed, her eyes searched for Reema. But she was nowhere to be seen. As she entered the living room, yawning, a strange sight met her eyes. Neel was sitting on his usual seat at the dining table with Aryan in his lap. He was looking decent and clean, he probably had taken a bath, shaved and dressed in a white shirt and blue pyjamas. And Reema was seated in front of him with a pen, paper and some textbooks. 

When Reema saw her sister, she leapt from her chair, as an animal freed from the cage. She ran to Anu and hid behind her. "The evil man has been making me study since morning," she whispered in Anu's ears. Anu eyed the blue-eyed man gingerly, while he merely nodded acknowledging her presence.

"What's up?" she asked sincerely.

"Well," Neel as always looked uncomfortable."There is one good school left. Its a bit far, but is on the way to my office. Here," he handed her a brochure which Anu skimmed through. It looked to be a pretty decent school at first glance. "I have submitted the girl's name. The test is next week and I am trying to prepare her."

"And the vice president took a day off just to teach a little girl? That's pretty generous of him," Anu asked, making no effort to hide her sarcasm.

Neel rubbed his head with his hands nervously. "Well, it's not like that. I was feeling sick." He threw a glance at Reema, then lowered his voice so only Anu could hear "Since I was home, I thought of rather than whiling away my time, let me teach the little girl. I don't want to waste another day with her." He told her in a matter of fact tone.

Anu seriously was torn in two. She didn't know whether to be angry at him for condescending her sister or laugh at him for his pathetic attempt he was making to hide his real motives.

In the end, she decided to let it pass. Reema, on the other hand, started to depart for the bedroom. She had been afraid of the man when in the morning he had told her to sit and study, but now Anu was here. She felt safe, the man could do nothing to her now.

"Hey girl, where are you going? I gave you sums to solve, didn't I?" Neel called her out in a loud voice. "Sit," Neel said sternly pointing to the chair.  

The girl looked at Neel fearfully and then turned to her sister, "Di, tell him I don't want to."

Anu looked at Neel and then back to her sister. Neel, on the other hand, was eyeing her earnestly waiting for her decision. 

Anu didn't agree with Neel's way. You can't make children do what you want. Children need to be talked to, understood. Something this blue-eyed man didn't know how to do. 

But somehow, she knew if she told Neel to stop interfering with Reema's matter, he would leave her alone. Forever. He was the man of the house. Of course, his pride would never allow him to stoop. But why was he delving so deep with Reema? And should she give him a chance? A million thoughts were racing in Anu's mind

Anu took a call. She hoped she wouldn't regret it later. She hardened her voice and said," Reema, do as your Jiju says. " 

Reema's heart broke. Of all the people she never expected her sister to betray her. She sobbed as she took her seat with Neel and murmured, "I hate both of you."

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Anu could see that Neel was hard on Reema. He reminded Anu of her school teacher, one who used to be very strict. Strangely though, when Anu left the school, he was the one she was sad to say goodbye to. In his own way, he had cared for her and taught her a lot.

She could see a bit of the same man in Neel. He was stern. But he was not behaving the way he had when he had taken Reema to school the previous day. He was patient, he corrected her, albeit a bit harshly but still there was no anger in his words, no hidden jibes.

For the whole day. He made her do sums. Then essays and comprehensions. After he was satisfied with her performance, he finally said, "Now lets deal with the elephant in the room. The extempore."

He gave her a topic and asked her to speak. Not one word came out of her little mouth. She just looked at her knees and stayed silent. He gave her 5 more topics and only got silence as the reward.

Meanwhile, Anu came and handed Aryan to Neel. She had been studying in her bedroom when he had woken up. Deciding in favour of a short break from her own studies,  Anu took a seat on the sofa while the man and the girl grappled, the bouts of silences broken only by the intermittent sounds of gargle from the giggling baby. 

She could sense that Neel was struggling with Reema. He was giving her tips but Reema seemed to be turning a deaf ear to all of it, her face sporting a big frown. "Where are you getting stuck?  Neel finally asked Reema impatiently. He paused and then after thinking a bit he continued, " Are you afraid of me?"

Reema had had enough. She was herself embarrassed at her own inability to speak. And this man had been making her slave for the whole day. She hated him couldn't believe that she had ever wanted to be friends with him.

"Who's afraid of a thief?" Reema mouthed in a fit of passion. She had sneaked when Neel and Anu had been chatting yesterday. Most of the discussion had gone over the top of her head, but there was one word she understood. 'Thief'. And she was using it to her advantage now, to hurt him as much as he was hurting her.

Reema wanted to pinch Neel, so that he would leave her alone. What she didn't know was that she didn't poke him a bit, she stabbed him

 Anu instantly knew that she had crossed a line. There was a red in Neel's blue. "Insolent girl", Neel thundered. He raised his hand in anger and with a jerk, it moved near Reema. As Reema saw it coming, she shielded her face.

 In an instant, Anu jumped from her seat. What was he doing? In her mind she knew would be too late. From her position, she wouldn't be able to stop him hitting her in time. Thankfully, he stopped his hand in midair which he then clenched into a fist. His teeth were gritted and he was breathing heavily. Throwing a furious glance at Anu he hurried outside, holding Aryan to his shoulder. Anu followed him.

As she closed the door behind her, she saw him sitting on the verandah of the house, holding a cigarette in one hand. Aryan waved animatedly at Anu as he saw her. Anu waved back. 

Noticing her standing beside him, he threw a quick look up and then went back to staring on the ground. When he spoke, a tinge of embarrassment was hidden in his voice. "I shouldn't have done that." 

Anu stood beside him quietly for a few seconds and then kept her hand on his shoulder, which was only possible as she was so short while he was so tall. "Reema was disrespectful there, I know. But still, you shouldn't have done that. It's not the right way. Hitting children will do them no good. It never does. It only destroys them."

Neel got up, getting ready to leave for the market. She knew his routine, he went there on alternate days to buy groceries and smokes. He walked a few steps and then turned back as he spoke, the evening sun casting a dark shadow over him, "Anu, You don't need to tell me about destroying children. I know it all too well."

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