A College Love Story - Part 6

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/stories-fiction/176070-college-love-story-part-5-a.html

Varsha watched as the person opened the gate and walked inside. He greeted his aunty, who responded enthusiastically, and they went in. She went in to her house. She felt a slow surge of excitement creeping up her spine. She was happy to see the person here, where she least expected him. “This is amazing! I never expected to see Madhav sir here!” she thought. “I will go and talk to him later,” she decided.

She washed up and sat for lunch with the rest of the family. “Maga (child), we are going out this evening, there is the weekly santhe (fair) at the playground, get ready, aitha (alright)?” Ajji, her grandmother said. Varsha tried to hide her disappointment at not being able to go and meet Madhav sir. She tried to look excited for Ajji’s sake. She gave a smile, “Sure Ajji, I will get ready soon. When are we going?” she asked. “We can go around four, and return by seven or eight. Everyone will have enough time to spend there.” Ajji replied. Varsha’s heart sank. She was hoping that she could meet Madhav sir that evening, but now it looked like she would have to wait until the next day.

The family left for the fair soon after lunch. Varsha enjoyed herself in her cousins’ company. Her grandma, mother, and aunts had a good time in their gang. The men including her father and uncles chitchatted about things that interested them most. They had dinner at the fair and returned only at nine thirty. Everybody was tired, so they all went off to bed immediately. Varsha was also tired, and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. That night, she dreamt of lac bangles and her gang of friends sitting in Economics class.

Next morning, Varsha made up her mind to go over and meet Madhav sir as soon as she finished her breakfast. She had her bath early, gobbled down her food, and rushed over to aunty’s house. She opened the gate and walked in. Aunty opened the door. “Varsha, come in ma,” she greeted her with a smile. “My nephew arrived shortly after you left yesterday. He had the obbattu and loved them, I told him you helped me prepare them, he was happy.” Aunty chatted on and on. She did not bring up the topic of where Madhav sir was, and Varsha did not want to interrupt her also. She waited for a while, letting the talkative lady have her fill. She waited for fifteen minutes, and could not control herself anymore. “Aunty, is he inside, I thought I will say hello to him.” She blurted out. “Oh, he has gone out, ma, he will be back only for lunch, maybe he will come after lunch.” Aunty said.

Varsha could only say, “Oh!” this was the second time she was facing disappointment. Why was she unable to meet Madhav sir? She forced herself to sit with aunty for a while more, so that she did not look rude. Nearly an hour later, she excused herself, “Oh aunty, Ajji will be looking for me, I will come back later.” She said. “Yes ma, come when he is there, I will introduce you to him,” aunty said with a smile. She rushed back to her house, but she was in no mood to go inside. She decided to go to the cowshed and drown her disappointment in the cows’ company.

The cowshed was behind the house, and took up a lot of space. They had five cows and three buffaloes. When Varsha reached there, only one calf was in the shed, as the others had gone for grazing. She walked up to the calf and asked it, “Why didn’t you go with the others? You are all alone here now. Ok don’t worry, I will keep you company. She sat down next to the calf and picked up a stick lying around. “Do you want some hay?” she asked the calf. The pretty calf batted its big eyes with its long lashes, and tossed its head to get rid of a fly on its back. Varsha smiled at it, “Ok the, tell me if you want some, I will get it for you,” and started laughing at her brilliance. Soon her melancholy enveloped her again, and she sullenly whacked the stick around. A frown came on her forehead. She stood up, and walked around, muttering to herself. She found the vat where they stored cow dung, and walked towards it. She found a bit on the ground before her, and started prodding it with her stick. She inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet smell of the dung.

“It looks like you are very fond of cow dung,” said a voice behind her. She turned around, and to her horror, saw Madhav sir standing a few feet away, smiling at her with a wide grin. He looked like he would burst out laughing any minute. Varsha felt so embarrassed to be caught in such a situation! Sir spoke again, “It’s nice to see you here, Varsha. Are you the one who helped my aunty in making the yummy Obbattu?” Varsha blinked for a minute, and replied, “Oh ya, that was me.”

Sir smiled at her confusion and tried again. “And what is your little calf’s name? The other cows have gone grazing?” “ Yes sir, the others will be back only by evening. This one’s name is Mini. I don’t know who named it.” She said. After a thought, she continued, “So how long do you have vacation, sir? Have you corrected the answer sheets?” Sir said, “Yes answer papers are done. That is why my vacations started only yesterday; I was busy correcting the papers. Your class has done fairly well. Very few papers have scored below forty. Its ok, I am happy with the scores.” He said. Before she could control herself she asked, “And who got the highest score sir?” Sir laughed this time. “I cannot tell you that, Varsha! That would be putting my job in jeopardy.” He said. “Oh, that’s ok sir, I just asked.” She mumbled, feeling sillier by the minute. “Won’t you take me in and introduce me to your family?” sir asked. “Yes sir, please come in, I forgot.” She replied, feeling very bad for her lack of courtesy. “That’s ok, Varsha, I did not mind. Come, lead the way!” he said.

Varsha took sir indoors, and introduced him to whoever was around. “My Economics teacher,” she said proudly. Her mother said, “Nice to meet you, sir. She always speaks highly about your classes. She loves your subject now. With your unconventional teaching methods, anyone would like Economics.” Sir replied, “Thank you, Amma, I love my subject, and I love to teach. That is what makes it fun for me. And I want my students to have fun as well. So I try to make it as interesting as I can.”

Sir chatted with Varsha’s grandma and aunts for a while, then excused himself. He said, “My aunty will be waiting for me. I will come sometime later. Varsha, you must also come home. My aunty loves your company.” She said, “Sure sir, I will come.”

 

Would like to see some participation, ILites as promised, I have posted Episode 6.