Janani's Revenge - Part 7

'Shhhh, whoever is quiet until the bell will get a big candy bar from me'. This had the most desired effect and achieved what nothing else did. The entire (little) class went quiet but for a few whispers here and there. Janani sighed aloud, she loved these kids, they were like her own and yet they tired her. Each little angel was at least ten times more naughty than what Arya was and kept her on her toes the whole time. She loved to fondly remember the first day she took up this job as a teacher to the kinder garden with so much fear and apprehension.

Arya was in junior school and spent the whole day at the school, tuitions and tennis coaching. Vishnu had been promoted and literally stayed at the work place but for the time when he mostly came home for a quick nap, shower and change of dress. How he managed to work so hard, Janani never understood. Kamala was mostly content with daily pooja, watching the daily soaps on the television, afternoon naps followed by evening daily soaps. Raman had his own schedule of reading the morning paper until noon, going for long walks and spending time with his retired buddies. He loved to write and now that he was retired, spent a lot of time in front of the computer. Janani started feeling bored. Everyone had something to keep them busy. Arya no longer needed her all the time, he was busy with studies.

She had heard about the opening at the school just a mile away from their house and had applied even though she was over qualified for the position. She had been surprised when she had been accepted and asked to teach the higher classes. She had requested to start with the kinder garden and see how it goes. But, she had loved it since the moment she had entered the classroom and had been surrounded by thirty little replicas of Arya. The kids loved her, she had never tried to be strict and let them be at home. The kids fondly called her 'Janni miss' and was very fond of her.

Life was moving pretty quick, now that she was working. Vishnu kept working late most of the days and in spite of her repeated requests and protests that he needed to slow down and take care of his health, he toiled hard. Money was not a big concern as they had enough saved for the future. But, Vishnu loved his job, he loved the long hours, he loved the pride that he felt during every promotion, he loved the awe and reverence that he saw in the eyes of his associates, he simply loved running his fingers on the keyboard and the hours and hours of meetings that he attended, where people waited for his decisions, accepted his rejections and admired his power and charisma.

But, he made sure he was available to his family, especially Arya, during the weekend. Arya was a smart boy and Vishnu took great pride on seeing that the boy was highly ambitious and wanted to excel in everything that he did. He was hardworking and much to Janani's annoyance, never had a free minute and kept himself occupied in everything that was there to do, in addition to studies.

Vishnu was glad that Janani decided to take up the teaching job. He hated to see her waste her skills and was only too glad when she started going to the school. Both of them had spent their entire time and attention on Arya these ten years and were cordial, but never as intimate as they had been before Arya had come into their lives. Janani some how had never realized that being a mother did not exclude being a wife as well and had been a full time dedicated mother. Vishnu had kind of got used to it after some time and spent the whole time being a dedicated father.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

 

Thank you for the first feedback SM, thank you so much for sharing your comments. Well said, some of them fail to understand that spending time with the husband does not necessarily mean depriving the children of time and attention. The children would not mind if spending time with grandma and grandpa now and then, when the parents go for a walk and catch up with things, one need to know how to balance!

 

Thank you Swaran
So true, while she is having a rather beautiful and colorful life in all other aspects, she has no idea(as of this episode) about what she is missing.