Notebook 📒

2:45 am

 I remember there was a girl in my class whom I didn't talk too much... but she had been with me for many years. One day, the seating arrangement was such that she sat next to me... I noticed that the notebook she had had dark brown pages. It seemed like if you rubbed an eraser too hard, the paper could tear. The teacher had been telling her for three days to change her notebook, but she was probably careless... or maybe it didn't matter to her; otherwise, after so much scolding, who wouldn't listen? Her hair was brown, and some people used to make fun of it. Her skin was quite oily. She used to come with kajal on her eyes. She also had some bright-colored nail paint on her hands, which is why she would get punished in the morning assembly. Anyway, a few days later, she stopped coming to class... But one day she came to school. That day, I don't know why, I felt like talking to her... I asked her how she was and where she had been all those days. She smiled a little and replied, but I think I was just looking at her hair, eyes, and nails that people used to make fun of. I didn't pay much attention and I seriously don't remember what she answered me... 

One time in the library, a female teacher had made her stand aside and was saying some things to her... I was reading a book in the library, but I could hear the faint sounds. They were talking about arranging some small piece of cloth. I don't know what that was about. Days passed like that... and one day, the teacher from the admin office came and started announcing the names of some children.

Has this ever happened to you that when you were in school, your family couldn't pay the fees for some reason? If not, then you're lucky! My school used to be the top school in my town.Any parents would want their child to study in a good school, but there were some kids in my class whose parents struggled a lot to submit the fees. She was one of them... her name was announced. Those who had not submitted their fees were humiliated a lot. She would come to school but would get scolded every day for the fees in front of everyone. The first terminal exams were coming up... one day our bus arrived at the school much earlier than the assembly time, and I was just roaming around the school building when I heard her voice from the reception; she was probably crying... talking to someone on the phone... I don't remember it clearly, though. But she was probably saying, "Papaji, please submit the fees today, otherwise I won't be allowed to take the exam." Maybe her dad said something like "Okay" on the call, and then she said, "And I also need my CLASSMATE's notebook... the teacher scolds me in class."

Then I realised why her hair was brown like that. Why her skin was oily... and when the teacher was talking about clothes in the library, it was because she had gotten her period and there was a stain on her skirt. So the teacher was probably telling her to use a cloth... or something like that. It took me years to understand all this. I didn't understand any of it back then.

I wonder.. not everyone's life is the same. How was that girl so mature at such a young age? No matter how much people joked about her, she never stopped smiling... never. She had grown up before her age. She doesn't know, but I often think about her even after all these years. Although she is doing quite well in life now. Sometimes when I see her WhatsApp status, it feels good. You go girl !! 🦚

 कभी किसीको मुकम्मल जहां नहीं मिलता,

कहीं ज़मीं तो कहीं आसमाँ नहीं मिलता।

S.S.