Exile

25. PATIENCE!!

As Agastya delved deeper into the concept of Calculus, he couldn't help but notice a murmur of gossip and whispers among a group of students in the back row. His sharp eyes and ears missed nothing. Unfortunately for him, Harika is among that group and somehow, he had a feeling that she is doing it on purpose. 

Harika on the other hand, felt like rebelling just for the sake of it. She was not liking this new Agastya. He is nowhere close to her bhaiyya and she didn't know any other way to make her irritation known because she can't even talk to him now! Her Ego won't let her talk to him, atleast not until he apologizes! 

Agastya had enough of the annoying sound that started grating on his ears. He decided to put an end to it, when it didn't stop even after 5 minutes. He moved away from the blackboard and started walking in between the benches, for better interaction. 

He decided not to use chalk for the rest of the class and started explaining the basic idea of approach. He was so clear with his subject that students, who are actually listening, didn't feel the need of him writing it down for them, very contrast to what they are used to.

He let students ponder over a problem for few minutes before he started giving them the idea, by dictating it. He went through a couple of notebooks and solved doubts before he upped his game. Having an idea of approach and approaching the problem are very two different things and he want to see if anyone could do it, all the while ignoring the students who gossiped before and are now looking bored. He let them be on their own, for the time being. 

Beyond to what he expected, more than half of the class, caught onto the logics pretty fast. 

Students, except for a few, couldn't help but listen to Agastya with all their focus. They are so used to the teacher reading them the textbook, that Agastya's style was breathe of fresh air. Few didn't want to disappoint Agastya because they know him on the personal level. But they are still the very same students who are sitting in his class because they resorted to UFM or failed in the exam. Their patience started to wane after 2 hours of very interactive class. 2 Hours of concentration from them was too much, but somehow Agastya managed to pull that out from them. He decided to end the class when he noticed their energy levels. 

He dismissed the class, but not before addressing the back row students. He instructed them to stay back.

Rest of the students gathered their belongings and fled out of the classroom, leaving the back row students and Agastya behind. The students, which include Harika, exchanged apprehensive glances. Harika was even more annoyed now. Why can't she have one peaceful day in her life?!! She felt like walking out on Agastya, but somehow she stayed put. 

"Come up to the front." His voice was calm, yet Harika could hear a hint of annoyance. Now that is a progress, she thought to herself. 

They shuffled to the front and Agastya silently wrote 5 questions on the black board. Harika and her co, looked at the black board and each other, to and fro, in confusion but stayed silent, not having any other option.

"Solve and then you all can leave." Agastya said, as cool as cucumber without even a hint of annoyance. He dusted his hands and settled down on his chair. He raised his eyebrows when all of them stared at him, their mouths agape and slowly their expressions giving away about the incredulity of Agastya's demand. 

"None of you are leaving without solving all of them." He declared, challenging them to defy his instructions. And as he expected, they didn't dare to!

After scribbling down god knows what in their notebooks, for 10 minutes, Lavanya, Harika's best friend, approached Agastya with a doubt. Agastya simply shook his head and looked at her with a smile "By all means, ask each other, discuss with each other, talk all you want and solve your doubts." His veiled taunt hit home as he wanted.