A Parting…

It was 1^st of July, The Doctor’s Day, and Akruti’s last day in the Model School, where she held the position of a TGT for 3 years now; too long for her but too small in eternity. It was not the experience that made it seem eternity but the monotonous routine her life had succumbed to and she longed for a breath of fresh air. Duly she was to start her life afresh from this very day, had it not been this last ‘do’ for which she was made to extend her notice period for yet another snail-paced day at work.

It was 11 0’ clock and she was counting each minute of the passing time. It seemed to her the longest day of the year with nothing new to offer. All the guests had arrived and even the alumnus, some of whom she recognized having vague similarities with their childlike features. She had spent 12 years of her life as a student there, four years away from it and then further three years with it as a teacher. It looked as if she grew with the institution, as an inseparable part of it; knew each building, all the rooms, the walls, the people and even the air. It was here that she took her first step to enlightenment, to friendship, to love; and yet this part of her life was not getting over while the others, her batch mates, had become years ahead of her. Now it was her turn to detach herself from the ‘school-life’ and move on.

The clock struck 11.30; the function was at full swing and the people still pouring in. A lot of the alumnus had cleared the medical entrance tests from her school this year and some were doing their internships in the renowned medical colleges all over India, making the school proud. Hence, the first time in the history of Model School, ‘Doctor’s Day’ was being celebrated and all the students along with their parents were cordially invited to listen to the bragging about the school’s achievements.

Being on her toes since the morning, Akruti felt tired and searched for a vacant seat preferably a corner one to allow her mobility in case of a sudden need. So, she got one just in the right row and at the right place, and she rested her feet. It was when she bent a little in order to loosen her stilettos that a confidential tone took her attention. It was a tender voice trying to be authoritative, maintaining the low pitch giving some excuse for not being present somewhere; it served a complete foil to the speech of the speaker on the stage whose commanding voice trying to be gentle, yet maintaining a sharp tone was thrusting upon his listeners his indispensible presence at the occasion. She turned her face to right only to see her adjacent seat-holder also bent, barring the noise as well as the sight, by keeping his hand on his left ear and attending a call from the right, sounding a little vexed, and whispering to the caller, “…it’s a G.O. (gazetted off) and I am not in the hospital but somewhere else. I am sure there must be other J.R.s (junior residents) on duty in the male ward having knowledge about that patient. Why don’t you take the rest of the details from them? I’ll talk to you once I get free from here. Ok. Bye!”

She saw him disconnecting the call and was carefully placing her plaits back when their eyes met. Both of them were bent, hiding behind their front chairs. The only view visible to them was each other’s amazed faces. Both were looking at each other, trying to recognize the familiar features when a sudden call interrupted them and brought them back to their straight posture along with the mild pain caused due to the curved poses.

“Miss Akruti!” called out the voice.

“Huh” uttered Akruti stunned by the apparent intrusion; she quickly turned around and saw that a student was calling her. “Yes” she said to her.

“Ma’am, the head-mistress is asking for you. Please come quickly” the girl said.                      

“Yes, I am coming” said Akruti coming back to her senses. She again looked at her beholder. He carried a little smile but before he could say anything she said, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll just be back.” And she rushed to her call.

She returned within 20 minutes. The seat was still vacant. And he was still carrying the little smile. She took her seat and once again both looked at each other and it was he who started, “Akruti, you’ve changed!” He paused to search for the correct words and resumed, “…you look slim, and very different!” he said, his raised eyebrows and the same agreeable smile, which grew bigger, implying the pleasant surprise.

She too responded with a smile and said, “Thanks, Virat. But you haven’t changed much except for the glasses which are the symbol of becoming more studious and serious.”

“Why, even the politicians wear spectacles. But that doesn’t inject even an ounce of seriousness in them, does it?” And they exchanged laughs at the light-hearted banter.

“I remember how introvert you used to be in the school time Akruti. But must say, what an incredible change, huh!” Virat said, his eyes gleaming with pleasure.

Their perfect location made them invite less attention and allowed them to be nostalgic, pulling each other’s leg, enquiring about their respective professions, and the prospective future plans.   

The function soon ended and the time, felt Akruti, was flying. She hadn’t glanced at her watch even once after they met, and now when she did, she was recollecting the hour and a half that went away like a finger-snap! Everyone proceeded for the lunch organized in the garden area. Akruti, now shifting from the initial inhibitions, progressed to the personal chit-chat mode. She started by asking him about his family and further moved on to the college and finally… Girlfriend.  Although hesitating a bit, she merged the question about the girlfriend into the pep-talk to give a more by-the-way impression and said in a curious tone, “…so, you must be having a girlfriend by now, no!?

Her eyes were trying to maintain the eye-contact; the eyebrows first raised and then frowning subsequently; her teeth biting the gums; her lips still trying to maintain the nervous smile; her fingers pursing the border of her sari; her toes slipping beneath the fingers; and her brain zeroing-in the apt fake responses it would supply to a “yes, I do! Or no, I don’t!” replies. And she recollected the last time her body malfunctioned like this was when her XIIth board results were out!

She couldn’t tell Virat about her forever long crush on him. That how she still remembered each and every day of the time they shared as classmates. The recesses where Raima used to eat away all his lunch, the English class where he was made to read the chapters, Mini, the girl she used to despise because she was paired with him by the other classmates, the amazed look by him and all the other eggheads of the class when she scored the highest in the Sanskrit exam and how he asked her for the answer sheet to have a look at it and how she felt for the first time ever the burning under her cheeks; and many such innumerable memories of which her brain was a storehouse.  But she could never reveal him this part of her. An unreasonable fear would never let her do so. Her heart wanted to hear a ‘no’, her brain, on the contrary, was ready for both.

At last came the reply. “Ah, first promise me to keep it a secret!” said he mischievously.

She nodded and he continued, “I do!” scratching his head innocently, “actually she was my classmate in the college and now we are placed in the same college. But the problem is that we belong to different communities; I am a Pandit and she is a Punjabi. So, let’s see what happens! And what about you? I am sure you must be having a boyfriend too, aren’t you?”

Akruti was numb for a moment as if had flunked in her board exams but at once recollected herself and lied about it. Since she couldn’t stretch the lie providing him with some more details, she decided to change the topic. He asked her about her no. She gave him a false no. since she didn’t want to play the role of a third fiddle.

It was 2 o’ clock and the time had again started to hover around her. It struck her that Virat was that last chord and also the last reason that bound her to stay back for another day in the school, and that now she could break free from the shackles of her past entirely in order to enter a new phase of her life.

At this moment, Akruti was not annoyed, instead she felt light. She took a deep breath, wished Virat luck for his future and with his girl, and bid him goodbye.

 ‘The Parting’ didn’t create a void in Akruti’s life. In fact, it cut away all the junk from her life and created space for the New Beginnings that awaited her arrival!

                                                                                  -i_duft