When life gives you a second chance | Wattys2019

Chapter 7- First day in school

Next morning,

Saturday: 9 am

Location: St Mary's Convent school.

'Aarohi, can you recite the English alphabets?' asked Sister Flavian. Today the second round of admissions had started in the St. Mary convent school, and it was Aarohi's first interview as well. More than her, I was nervous and was praying hard for her admission. It looked like the interview was for me and not her. She was so calm and composed but I had not left a single nail in my finger.

Aarohi shared a glance with me and then started reciting. Fortunately she said it well.

'Very good, do you know any poem?' asked Sister Flavian, Aarohi turned to me again.

'You know it, come on say it. Mary had a little lamb....' I gave her a start and she continued brilliantly. My Aarohi was making me proud.

'Very nice, I am very impressed with Aarohi and she is admitted in our school.' said the principal; my heart was literally dancing in joy. This was her first interview and I must say that she was brave enough to crack it. Unlike me, who used to study all night for the next day's interview.

'This chocolate is for you, see you after one month' said she, Aarohi smiled and took the chocolate.

She looked at me before opening the cover because I had restricted her from eating them. Basically she was a chocolate lover, and hence I had to keep her away from them to save her teeth from decaying.

'Okay, you can eat it today' I said, she opened the cover instantly and started munching the chocolate.

'She's very talented and has a bright future,' said Sister Flavian, I grinned.

'Here is the application form and the cheque,' I handed it over to her. 'Please check the form and the cheque once. I filled it for the first time so if something is missing please let me know' I lowered my head.

I had paid her fees from my tuition earnings, which I had since years in my account. But since the day I married Saurabh I had to stop my tuition classes. His family clearly didn't like me working and wanted me to be a full time housewife and hence I followed their demands without arguing. But despite of doing so much for them, I never got that respect. Instead they tagged me Manhoos and chucked me out of their house after his demise.

'Everything is perfect; you have filled all the information.' said she bringing me back to the reality and quickly gave me a small paper. 'This circular has the joining date and the dress code. I guess its self explanatory?' She paused as I nodded instantly.

'Yes, I will get it ready. Thank you sister' said I with a never ending smile on my face. I had always dreamt of getting Aarohi admitted in a school that had all facilities and today was the day. It was happening; my daughter was now a student of one of the best schools in the city.

'Welcome to our esteemed institution' greeted she. I shook hands with her and thanked her. 'It's not me but your daughter's talent that has fetched her seat in our school. May Jesus bless her' she said as I sat speechless. I was so happy that words weren't enough to describe my state of mind. There was a permanent curve in my face as she praised Aarohi.

'The joining date is exactly one month from today, so get ready little Aarohi' she said after a hiatus and pulled her cheeks. Aarohi smiled and kept meddling with the paper weight

'I will take a leave now ma'am' said I and forced her to leave the paper weight as such. Throughout my way till the gate I kept looking around for that guy, like a mad woman. I totally forgot that he would be here only on weekdays, that too after school hours. I hit my head twice for being ludicrous and walked out of the school.

One month later,

One month passed like a whisk of air, and in this one month I hadn't met him. I was longing to face him and apologize for my rudeness but couldn't spot him anywhere. I guess even god was in the mood of punishing me for my behavior.

In the meantime, we had shifted to a separate house. Though it was a rented house but still I was satisfied that my daughter was happy. Our house was to the opposite of Anuya's. Her neighbor, as she had earlier informed, had shifted to US with her son and hence she left this house for rent. Anuya somehow managed to convince her and get this house for me.

'Aarohi, you have to behave like a good girl. Okay?' I dressed her up in a white shirt and Blue skirt and quickly tied a pony tail. Today was her first day in St. Mary convent school and I was excited as well as nervous. I had heard a few staffs saying that children cry a lot in their first day of school, in fact, I had witnessed it a few days back in our school. A little nursery tut was crying for her parents in the class. It had become too tuff for the staff to manage her and they had to call her parents. I was edgy if Aarohi would react in the same way.

'Okay ma,' said she derisively.

'Aarohi, I am serious. If I get any complaints against you then you see what I will do to you' I warned her but she was still playful. 'And one more thing, what will you do if mumma gets late?' asked I

'Uff, don't worry Mumma,' she placed her hand on the head. 'I will wait for you in the school. I will not go anywhere with anybody, promise' said she ironically while I sighed in relief. She was never serious about anything and that kept worrying me a lot. But nevertheless, she was more intelligent and mature than me. I had the confidence in her. Hence without thinking much, I quickly fed her with cornflakes and we started to school. I had to drop her first and then go to my school hence I had already informed Anuya that I might be late.

'Bhaiya, please stop in front of that big gate' said I after ten minutes. Though her school was at a walk able distance from our home, I didn't want her to walk that long. Hence I had taken an auto.

As soon as we got down, I could hear the first bell ring. I quickly paid the driver and rushed into the gate before it shut.

'So, you remember whatever I said?' I huffed after that quick sprint. She nodded horizontally leaving me uptight.

'Aarohi, I am not joking beta' said I, she smiled and gestured me to bend. I bent down to her and she immediately kissed me on my cheeks. It felt like my entire problems were gone after that sweet kiss. I started feeling relieved and confident.

'Don't worry, I remember everything' said she. I laughed at her innocence and held her tiny hands.

'All the best,' said I and embraced her. She gradually released herself from my hold and waved me for the one last time.

'I will miss you' I muttered as she hopped into the school. Her pony tail kept springing from right to left.

All the other kids around me were crying and refusing from going to school except Aarohi. That was when I realized that; she is quiet matured than her age kids. Seeing her hop happily into the school brought a kind of satisfaction and happiness on my face. On the other hand, I had already started missing her. But like any other day, I put up a smile on my face and started for work.

Throughout my day, my mind was not with me. It was with Aarohi. Enormous questions ran in my mind like,

What was she doing now? Did she make any new friends? Did she have her lunch? Did any teacher scold her for her naughtiness? And so on.........

I was waiting for the clock to strike 1:30 and kept watching the same in every five minutes. The staffs and students around me would have declared me mad for my weird behavior but I didn't care about it. My only concern was to meet Aarohi as soon as possible and get the answers for my questions. 

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Aarohi has learnt to be strong from her mother.... what do you think?