Second Chance Love

A Day of Happiness

Akshara couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun. She hadn't stopped smiling since the time she had stepped into the twins' room. Talking about the twins, they had bowled her over with their smart repartees and intelligence. But as they showed her their toys and talked about their friends, she realized that they were like any other 6-year olds.

Abhir with his Harry Potter specs and cute, round face and Roohi with her almond shaped eyes and beautiful smile were two peas in a pod. She had never seen twins, even identical twins, so much like each other in their personality and behaviour. She was awed as well as amused by the conversation they had earlier. But she had tried her best not to show her amusement on her face. Although she didn't have much experience in teaching, she knew that most kids wanted adults to take them seriously and not treat their ideas and opinions like a joke. But she also knew that it was important to make them understand if they are going on a wrong track, gently without demeaning them or their thoughts. And here they were talking and laughing like they had known her since forever.

"Akshu," Roohi said. "We would love if you come and play with us everyday. But we are not sure about the studies part."

"Ya studies are boring. We almost always fall asleep when the teacher is going on and on about something. And there is writing to do too," said Abhir.

Akshu smiled at them. "Ok, we will start with just 1 hour of studies. And I promise you to make it as interesting as possible."

"That is impossible," both said together.

"You should give me a chance, shouldn't you?"

Both looked at each other and then nodded at Akshara.

"But not writing," whined Abhir.

"Ok tell me, what do you find the most difficult in writing?"

"The kids in our class always have a competition going about who will finish the worksheet first and we are never able to complete on time. There is so much to write and we never have enough speed."

"Hmm. So what does the winner get?"

Roohi and Abhir looked confused at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean does the teacher ask the class to clap for them or do they get an award at the end of the year."

"Nothing. It is just a competition amongst us.

Roohi nods, "most of the winners are not even toppers of the class."

"Then why do you want to win the competition."

Abhir and Roohi remain silent.

"I understand that it feels nice when you win a competition. But what is the point when the winning does not serve any purpose."

"When you write really fast, you are not really learning anything, which is the main reason your teacher asks you to write."

The kids still look a bit unconvinced. Akshara understands that it is not easy to remove peer pressure. She decided to not say anything about the topic.

"Anyway, we would not write for more than 15 minutes to start with. How does that sound?"

Both the children agreed to it. Just then there is a knock on the door. They turned towards the door to see Avni, " Akshara, come the coffee is ready. Abhimanyu is waiting for you in his study."

Akshara and the kids followed Avni to the study where Neil and Abhimanyu looked deep in conversation. As soon as they entered, the twins made a beeline to their father. "Baba, when will Akshu come next?"