Friends Forever Chapter 10

Vishnu Sir’s eyes travelled all around the class.

Aamir started following Neelabh’s advice from the very next day. However, he found that concentrating in class wasn’t all that easy. His mind would frequently wander and he had to bring it back to the teacher and the blackboard with a lot of effort. But, slowly and steadily, things improved. He realised that what Neelabh had said was right – most teachers were good; with the right amount of concentration, it wasn’t all that difficult to pick up the fundas.

During Prep too, Aamir made every effort to finish his homework and also brush up on whatever had been taught during the day. Here he found Sagar a trifle irritating. He was always up to some prank or the other and would try his best to involve Aamir in it.

One day Aamir had to tell Sagar, “Listen, buddy, please allow me to concentrate on my studies. This time I have to make it to the top ten. And the only way I can do it is by working my backside off.”

Aamir had seen anger flash in Sagar’s eyes for a fleeting second. But after that momentary glimpse, it was back to the good-humoured Sagar.

“Sorry, Aamir, I forgot. You carry on with your studies and I’ll carry on with my stuff. If I too become serious like you what will happen to our class? It will become dull as ditch water!”

Aamir had diligently put Neelabh’s formula to use in Social Studies with great results. He had even shared this little ruse with Sagar who had joined him in coining funny phrases for remembering boring details. Aamir found Saagar was faster and funnier and soon they had a stock of real gems.

Aamir decided not to go home for his December holidays.

“Abbu, I’ll stay back and study for my final term. Sharma Sir will be here to help me out in English and Neelabh, who is also staying back, has promised to help me in Physics and Chemistry. Moreover, I can help out Gopal too,” Aamir told his father over the phone.

“I understand. But how do I explain to your ammi? She has been counting the days till your next visit since the day you left.”

“Please abbu, tell her what I have told you. I am sure she’ll understand. I too am eager to see both of you but this is my great chance to prove myself.”

***

Exams were held in March. Aamir did well and he was confident his performance would be the best so far. But even he was in for a surprise.

March 17 was a Wednesday, the very first class was Maths, the subject of their class teacher, Mr ST Vishnu. He was a skinny man of medium height with sparse, oily hair and a thin moustache. He had a rasping voice and a foul temper. The rumour was that no one had seen him smile. He was obsessed with Maths and couldn’t think beyond it. Anyone making careless mistakes usually got a mouthful from him. Aamir had so far been spared because he was excellent in the subject and ended up answering most of the questions. But even Aamir had never got the ‘hint of a smile from him.

“I have got your results with me and I’ll hand over the report card to you. You can have a look and then give it back. It will be posted tomorrow to your parents.”

He paused looking at the anxious faces in front of him and smiled. The students looked at each other. They couldn’t believe it – Vishnu Sir smiling! Today not only was it going to rain, there were also chances of a possible Tsunami.

“Looks like he is hallucinating,” Sagar said nudging Aamir, who was too tense even to smile.

“As a Class Teacher I am reasonably satisfied with your performance – there are not many surprises. Shantanu has got first rank and Gyanchand the last. As a Maths teacher, I am not disappointed, I am disgusted. Only three students got above ninety and four haven’t even managed to pass. I think, as a class, your performance has been dismal.”

Vishnu Sir’s eyes travelled all around the class and he smiled once again.

“I think our collective performance has addled his brain. That is why he is grinning like a half-witted orangutan,” Sagar said, and this time even Aamir couldn’t help smiling.

“You must be wondering – if I am disgusted with your performance then why am I smiling?” He paused for effect and continued.

“It is because of the performance of one student. If improvement is one of the indices of excellence, then I would rate him the best in the class. In a few months, he has moved from meandering in the middle to closing in on his goal. I am sure at least some of you would be able to guess his name.”

Friends Forever is a serialized novel by Ramendra Kumar, exclusively on LnC

Once again, Vishnu Sir paused and scanned the faces in front of him. His eyes finally rested on Aamir.

“Aamir, get up.”

Aamir got up in a daze.

“Aamir’s rank was 15^th last term and this term it is 2^nd, just eleven marks behind the topper. In Maths he has scored 100. In English last time he had got 58 and this time he has got 83, the highest in the class! In my twelve-year career as a teacher, I have not seen any student making such tremendous progress.”

Sagar started clapping and soon the others joined in; everyone except Shantanu, and Aamir felt he was in a dream that would soon end.

On 15^th April, the school broke for the summer holidays. For Aamir, it turned out to be a memorable homecoming. His ammi and abbu had organised a small get-together in celebration of his terrific performance in school. Ammi’s cooking and abbu’s jokes had made the evening truly special.

The two months of holidays Aamir spent in brushing up his English grammar, usage, and vocabulary and doing a lot of reading.

Time flew by and before long it was June 14^th and time to leave home.

It was great seeing Sagar after a gap of two months. He looked healthy and sunburnt.

“I played a lot of cricket. I concentrated quite a bit on my bowling action and fielding. I hope I make it to the school team in the Inter-School Cricket Tournament which will be starting on 1^st July,” Sagar said, doing some shadow practice.

(Friends Forever is a children’s novel by Ramendra Kumar with illustrations by Avijit Sarkar, serialized exclusively on LnC every Wednesday and Friday)

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Friends Forever Chapter 11

About the Author

Ramendra Kumar ( 118 Posts)

Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is an award-winning writer, performance storyteller and inspirational speaker with 49 books. His writings have been translated into 32 languages and included in 26 textbooks and many anthologies in various countries. Ramen has written across all genres ranging from picture books to adult fiction, satire, poetry, travelogues, biographies and on issues related to parenting and relationships. His writings have been published by the major publishing houses in India. His books brought out by National Book Trust (NBT), India have notched up sales of more than 4.9 lakh copies in just one year. Ramen has been invited to several international literary festivals as well as Indian events such as Jaipur Litfest and seminars organised by Sahitya Akademi and IGNOU. The author has won a total of 41 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT) over the years, which is among the highest by any writer. Ramen was chosen as the ‘Author and Storyteller of the Year’ (2022), on ‘Talking Stories’, London, UK’s number one Radio Programme dedicated to the art of storytelling. He was nominated as a Jury Member for the Best Children’s Author Category of The Times of India’s ‘Women AutHer’ Awards, 2020. Ramen was also selected as a mentor for the Scholastic Writers Academy. An alumnus of the prestigious Hyderabad Public School (HPS), Ramen is an Engineer & an MBA. He and his inspiration, his wife Madhavi, were General Managers at SAIL, when they took Voluntary Retirement to pursue their respective passions. Their children are bonsai celebrities in their own right. While Ankita is a youth icon and a travel blogger with an Instagram following of 296 K, Aniket creates cool Apps and designs covers for his dad’s books. Ramen is now a Cancer warrior and an inspiration to many. His website is www.ramendra.in and he has a page devoted to him on Wikipedia.
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