Read Online I Kissed A Girl In My Class by Abhilash Gaur - Free Book Online Page B

stranger to Manu and
his friends. But Manu had one consolation—Neha’s sapling was next
to his own and if he timed his horticultural trips right, there
would be lots of notes to exchange.
    Then, the children
were handed over to the mali, who showed them where the watering
can and the trowels were kept. He told them not to water the plants
too often, but since it was already summer, not to let the soil
below them go dry. That was confusing, but none of the students
raised any questions. They nodded their heads wisely, and the mali,
who didn’t like children anyway because they stole flowers and
played on the grass, and shied stones at the green mangoes in the
trees, was only too happy to get rid of them in a few minutes.
    ***

17. The
Caretakers
    The
first-period bell had already rung and they were well into the
second period now. So, the 12 of them decided to hang around a
while longer. But they knew they would be seen from the class
windows, so they disappeared inside the building from a side door
and hung around the water coolers. There really wasn’t anything to
talk about, yet the talk flowed incessantly and loudly. They
gossiped about their new teachers and discussed the lessons in the
new books. When one said the lessons were too difficult, another
contradicted to show how clever they were. But that’s how students
have always talked.
    Those stolen
minutes broke the reserve between the students who had been in the
same school and class for years yet had remained strangers behind
the walls and doors of their sections. Another bell rang the second
period to an end, and the students were at risk of being discovered
as teachers on their way to the other building were bound to pass
by. So, they quickly broke up into their section-wise groups and
ran up to their classrooms by separate staircases, hurriedly
good-morning-ing all the teachers they met on the way, and hoping
that they would not run into the teachers whose classes they had
missed.
    Early morning was
the best time to look after the trees. Not just because the mali
said so, but also because the students would not get time later in
the day. None of them wanted to spend the tiffin break watering
trees and there was no question of staying back after school hours
for this job.
    On Tuesday
morning, some of the chosen students, the ones who cycled to
school, came early. Manu was early, and so were Neha and Priya, but
the others, like Samar and Deepak and Anisha, who lived further
away and came by the school bus arrived much later. The students
were very excited about their responsibility. There’s neither a
trophy nor any marks for watering a sapling, but the fact that the
principal herself had chosen them, and the trees had been planted
by the PATRONS themselves, swelled the students with pride.
    In the morning,
the school ground was a cool place, much cooler than the road
outside. The second school building cast its long shadow over the
ground and the saplings. Neha, who was the first to arrive because
she lived nearby in Sector 47, dropped her bag in class and eagerly
rushed down to the tap stand near which the watering can was kept.
The steel can was large and heavy, and it didn’t fit into the sink
under the taps, so Neha had to find a hose to fill it. And by the
time she did that, Priya and Manu had also arrived.
    Manu showed his
chivalrous side, letting the girls take the can first, but Priya
who had picked it up in Neha’s absence said she had the first claim
to it. Neha, who never fought or even argued with anyone, didn’t
object but held on to the hose. After a minute’s struggle, Priya
realized that the hose in Neha’s hand was needed, and she
surrendered the can.
    Neha filled the
can to the brim, but when she tried to lift it she couldn’t raise
it an inch. Priya also had a go at it with limited success, and
then Manu stepped in hopefully and happily to oblige the damsels.
He was able to raise it but the sharp edges of the handle bit into
his palms