BEEP BEEP
BEEP BE-
"Okay, a new morning this is."
I got up and extended my arms upwards. I took a deep breath and sat on the bed.
"I feel butterflies," I said, holding my stomach. Whenever I thought about what happened last night, I could not help but feel a strange sense of happiness and confidence inside me.
"Could it be that Chhaya had fallen fo-"
I quickly covered my face with my hands and fell on my bed, curling up like a caterpillar.
"No, no, no. This cannot be true."
If you were to see me, I would look more like a red-faced caterpillar. However, I have never seen one in real life.
"Hehehehe"
I kept giggling like a child for several minutes, still lying on my bed.
"WAKE UP AHAN! You will be late for school," my mother screamed from the kitchen. It seems her voice could be heard by the neighbours as well.
"YES! I am awake now."
I controlled myself and got up from the bed.
"Wow, I feel so much better already. Might just skip brushing my teeth today."
That thought crossed my mind. I mean, they say brushing our teeth makes us feel awake and better concentrated. Right? So I don't find a reason to waste my precious two minutes pointlessly.
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BRUSH BRUSH
We should always brush our teeth. It has nothing to do with feeling awake and concentrated. That's just false marketing. Even when you have no toothpaste left at home, you can still brush just with water.
PTHOO
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After finishing my morning routine, I set out for school. I sat on the porch and put on my shoes.
"What is this, Mom?" I asked, pointing to a big box wrapped in cloth that she put beside me.
"Your lunch."
"Lunch?"
"I had taken off today. I need to go with your dad to attend your aunt's daughter's naming ceremony."
"WHAT?! Why am I not invited?" I stood up facing her now.
"Because you have school."
"Didn't you have work then?"
"Don't argue, Ahan. Your studies take priority over our work. Besides, someone had to attend to acknowledge their invitation."
"No fair. You guys are going to a feast without me," I threw my hands up and down.
"It's not a grand feast, Ahan. Just a light lunch."
"Awww, why can't I come along?"
"I already said the reason. Besides, you will get to attend the Bhat-Badi ceremony. Eat all you can then."
Curse you who invented schools. I cannot have a private life now. It just sucks to be a student.
"It's so unfair," I lowered my gaze and turned towards the gate.
"You are getting late. Hurry up, or you will have to stand outside class the first thing in the morning."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
I picked up my lunch and put it in my bag. I reached for the door handle and twisted it.
"So you are not back before nightfall, huh?"
"Yes, you know she lives in a different city."
"Hmph."
As I opened the door, a strong wind welcomed me. The coats offered by the school are useless. They have no insulation. The school should allow us to wear a sweater underneath, too.
"Take care. I will leave the keys with the neighbourhood aunty."
"Just give me a spare already!"
"We will give it to you once you turn eighteen."
What does it have to do with me turning eighteen? Is it some sort of erotic act to carry a spare key with you?
"Bye!"
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HUFF HUFF
I was pedalling to school. It is about 4 kilometres away. Frankly speaking, one should take the public bus for that far, but the buses get too crowded during the evening. One could barely stand inside. I cannot not handle that after being already sucked up by school chores. Cycling is far easier. At least I get to breathe.
The school building was in sight. I was not early today. But there was still some time before the morning assembly. I turned my bicycle towards the entrance of the bicycle parking.
"DAMN!! Man, the fuck is wrong with kids these days?!"
I stopped my bicycle at such a horrendous sight. Someone has managed to topple all the cycles in the parking. It must have been caused by pushing one of them, which then caused a domino effect. Or maybe someone did push them one by one. My school has some crazy kids after all. But the real question is,
"WHERE DO I PARK?!!"
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"Okay, all sorted now."
I dusted off my hands and then parked my bicycle in the correct spot. I locked it and put the key in my pencil case. Just extra security, you know.
"Oh, wait. I am now running late."
I hurried towards the classroom, hoping to drop my bag in and reach the assembly in time. Students who don't make it to the classrooms before assembly have to stand with their bags in the assembly. I didn't want that to happen. I pushed a few students walking my way off as I ran.
"Sorry."
"Sorry. I am in a hurry."
"Sorr-"
THUD
"Aaah! Hey, dude. You have eyes or what? That's why you should never run in corridors. Ah, man, hurts like hell."
"Koustav?"
"Ahan? Ghorer shotru Vibhishon!"
He held his head, which had just hit the wall. He squinted his eyes and groaned.
"Hey man, I am getting late here. It was not that loud impact, either," I tried explaining to him.
He was clearly overreacting.
"You evaluate people's pain by the sound of the impact?! You psychopath! Come here, I will show you how it actually feels."
I didn't pay any attention to his whines and continued running towards the class.
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Morning assembly was over, and we headed back to our classrooms. Koustav kept staring at me the whole time we were on the ground. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was not in love.
"Hey, Koustav. Your head looks swollen. Did you forget putting on the mosquito net last night?" Anirban asked, chuckling.
"Yeah, bro. A huge, ugly mosquito came and bit me. When I asked the reason, he said he wanted to know what sound it made."
"What are you saying? Were you injected with some kind of venom or what?"
"Ask the mosquito what his sting tastes like. He might sting you once as well."
"Oh, where is this giant mosquito?"
"He is sitting right beside you."
"OH MY GOD!!"
Anirban screamed at the sight of me and moved away from me, squashing Koustav in the corner.
"Boka, I cannot breathe. Move!" Koustav tried pushing Anirban, but he was too heavy for him.
"But there is a giant mosquito there."
"Enough, you guys. I did say it was not that big impact. I didn't do it on purpose either."
"Aaaah! The mosquito can talk. He is threatening me!"
"You runts."
I curled up my fingers in a fist and hit them both. They tried to resist by hitting me as well. It erupted into a dog-fight now.
"GOOD MORNING, SIR!!"
We stood up at once and fixed our shirts.
"Some applications of Trigonometry, exercise 1, fifth question."
We opened our books and began taking notes.
"A kite is flying at a height of 60 m above the ground. The string attached to the kite is temporarily tied to a point on the ground."
The squeaking sound of chalk rubbing against the board was filling the room's ambience. It was the only sound besides his voice that was permitted in the room. At times, he would rub the chalk so furiously that its screech would become unbearable.
"The inclination of the string with the ground is 60 degrees. Find the length of the string, assuming that there is no slack in the string."
He finished writing the question on the board and turned towards us.
"This question is not worth solving for me. You have already solved several questions in this exercise that are similar to this one. I would like one of you to come on the board and solve it."
He lowered his glasses on his nose and scanned the classroom. Instead of picking someone to solve it, I feel like he was waiting until someone voluntarily raised their hand.
"Sir, I can do it."
"Good, Ahan. Come over to the board and solve it."
"Psst, are you suicidal?" Anirban whispered.
I got up and walked towards him. He handed me the chalk and pointed towards the board. I lightly bowed to him and began writing on the board.
TIK TAK SWISH
Man, writing on the board this close was much harder than I expected. From far away where I sit, the letter looks so small. But up close, they are huge. I need to match my handwriting to the letter size Tarak Sir uses.
"Could you make the letters larger?" Ishika said, pointing towards the board.
You must be kidding me! I am already writing them ten times larger than what I write in my notebook. She must be blind not to see them from the first bench.
"Can you see them, Koustav?" Tarak sir asked, pointing towards him.
"Ah, well. Gimme, hat…"
HAHAHAHHA
What?! He read even the first word wrong! How could he read "Given that" wrong? We have been writing that in almost every question for the past few weeks. Is he doing this on purpose? That jerk, Koustav.
"Ahan, write larger." Tarak sir asked.
Tarak sir should not ask the blind to read.
"Okay, sir."
I erased the solution and adjusted my writing. I felt like I was drawing instead of writing. Flipping the chalk up and down in smooth motions. The chalk squealed and screeched against the blackboard, leaving a path of its trail behind.
"Ah."
The dust from the chalk got into my eyes. I was writing too close to the board. A rookie mistake. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times before moving slightly away from the board. I then drew a big triangle on the board. Well, the sides are not exactly straight. It looked more like a slice of pizza with cheese coming out of its crust.
This is theta equal to 60 degrees. So this side should be the perpendicular and must be 60 metres. And we need to find the hypotenuse. So perpendicular and theta angle are given, and we need to find the hypotenuse. Hmph. It's not that hard of a question. It could be solved easily by taking the sine of theta and calculating the hypotenuse.
"Do I keep silent while solving? Explain the solution as you go."
"Ah, right, sir."
I turned to face the students.
Wait. Why is everybody staring at me? I feel the immense pressure of standing on stage. The air around me got so heavy that it was hard to utter a word.
"Arghm"
They say that while on stage, the best way to focus is to pick a single person among the audience and keep your eyes fixated on them while explaining. Whom should I choose, whom, whom? Koustav, Anirban. No! Their faces will only make me laugh. Then whom…
"So, it's given that the balloon is flying at a height of 60 metres, we represent it as the perpendicular."
"Speak louder."
"ITS THREAD IS TIED TO THE GROUND, MAKING AN ANGLE OF 60 DEGREES WITH IT. WE REPRESENT IT AS THE THETA ANGLE. WE NEED TO FIND THE LENGTH OF THE STRING, WHICH IS THE HYPOTENUSE OF THIS TRIANGLE."
I hope it was loud enough.
"Okay, now, you there, second bench. Tell me what we need to do next." Tarak sir asked one of the girls from the rightmost column.
"Sir, we will find the base using tan theta and then, ah… ummm…"
"And then? After finding the base and perpendicular, what would you do to find the hypotenuse?"
"Oh, we will use the Pythagoras theorem for that."
"Do you agree, Ahan?"
"No."
"But, it is the correct method." Tarak sir stared at me.
"Yes, sir, but there is a better method. We could just take sine instead of tan of theta, and could calculate the hypotenuse right away without needing the Pythagoras theorem."
"Brilliant! That's what I was looking for. You, sit down, and Ahan, finish the solution."
I turned towards the board and continued writing on it.
"So, sine theta is P/H. We have been given theta and P in the question. After putting their values in the equation, we move H to LHS and everything else to RHS. Sine of 60 degrees is √3/2. So H comes out to be 120/√3."
Hearing Tarak sir praise my method raised my confidence a lot.
"To get rid of the √3, we need to rationalise this. So, multiply both the numerator and denominator by √3, and H comes out to be 40√3. The value of √3 equals 1.732, so the final answer is 40 ⨉ 1.732 equals 69.28 metres."
I finished writing and turned towards the rest of the class. I briefly glanced at Tarak sir.
Please don't be the wrong answer. Please don't. After all that effort.
"The answer given in the book is 40√3 only. You went an extra step to find the answer in decimals. Although √3 is irrational and cannot be represented as a number, we can still approximate it to 1.732. So the answer is acceptable as a close approximation. Good job, Ahan. Go back to your seat."
"Thank you, sir."
"Okay, so we will now move on to the next question. I hope this question was easy for you all, so there could be no doubts."
I bowed to him and went towards my seat. Ishika gazed lightly at me and then went back to looking at the board.
Phew! Man, what a troubling thing to do. My hands were full of dust from the chalk. I brushed them off and rubbed my hands with my handkerchief.
"Yo, man! You are a genius."
SMACK
"Aww, why are you up to physical assault today?" Koustav groaned as he held his head in his hands.
"Get a pair of glasses already."
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TRING TRING TRING
"Questions 11 and 14 are based on the angle of elevation. Take them as your homework. Two triangles are forming in both questions. Apply the correct trigonometric ratio and find out what is asked."
THANK YOU, SIR!!
"Hey, did you bring lunch?" Anirban asked.
"Yeah, I brought one today."
"Whoa, cool, what did you bring? Lemme see." Koustav's eyes glinted like an animal.
"I don't know either. I forgot to ask Mom."
"Don't worry, we will handle that job," Anirban tapped on my shoulders.
"Now let me see…"
I pulled out my lunchbox from my bag and put it on the table. I unwrapped the cloth and placed it back in my bag.
"Open it! Open!"
"Wait for a moment, you sound like you haven't eaten in a while, Koustav," I said.
"Well, last time I ate was in the morning."
"We all ate in the morning," Anirban said.
CLACK
As I opened the lid of my lunchbox, a green dish accompanied by a few Ruti was at our sight. Koustav's excitement was now turning into depression.
"WHAT?! You have brought bitter gourd to school? You have committed a crime today, Ahan."
"Hey, it's not like I brought that on purpose."
"Do you hate bitter gourds?" Anirban asked Koustav.
"Hate? Man, I despise them. They must be the work of some devil to taste this bad."
"Don't react to food like that. Be grateful for it," I explained to him.
"Whatever, enjoy your lunch," Koustav said before putting his hand into his bag to take out his lunchbox.
"Good, I have my lunch too."
CLACK
CLACK
Koustav closed his lunchbox immediately after opening it.
"What is in there?" I asked while munching.
"Bitter gourds," he said, making a dead face.
"I guess they are selling them for too cheap these days," Anirban brought out his lunchbox, too.
"You better not have bitter gourds too," Koustav's eyes felt glistening again. Like he is holding onto his last hope.
CLACK
"Oh," Anirban gasped.
"Whoa! Not bitter gourds. Give me the first bite."
Anirban has brought just four Ruti without any Torkari. They looked like they had fillings inside. Koustav tore a big piece from the Ruti and put it in his mouth.
"Mmmm, what is the filling? Argh-"
KOFF KOFF
Koustav brought out his water bottle and drank half. We both stared at each other for a moment and took a bite ourselves.
"It's bitter gourd, isn't it?"
"Seems like it, Ahan. They are selling them for cheap indeed."
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"I am going to the toilet. Want to come?" I stood up and put my lunchbox back inside my bag.
"No, take me to a graveyard."
Is he crying?
"Come on, you cannot die after eating them," Anirban said.
"But my mouth tastes like I have taken some poison."
"How did you know what poison tastes like?" I asked.
"If this feeling is not poisonous, I don't know what else might be."
"I am taking him to the canteen for a change of taste. You have to go alone," Anirban said.
"Okay."
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ZZIPPP
PSSSSHHHH
Aaaaah. Feels so great. Koustav sure was overreacting. It must not be the first time he has eaten bitter gourds. I know they taste bad. But it's bearable. One definitely won't die eating them. Though we somehow managed to finish all of our lunch boxes. Bitter gourds are not that bad when you are hungry, huh?
I finished my business and came out of the washroom. I took out my handkerchief and dusted it off before wiping my hands.
"Hey! Mr. India. Did you wash your hands properly?"
A familiar face showed up at the door of our washroom. She rolled her eyes here and there.
"Don't you know it's bad peeping at the boys' washroom?"
"How unfair. You boys peep into ours a lot, so I thought I would return the favour."
"We never do that!"
"Oh, you don't?"
"Why are you surprised at that?"
"Well, I was wondering if someone could deliver my homework to Joymala mam during class."
She changed the topic.
"You know I need to attend the club after lunch. My comp is getting closer. So-"
"Sure," I cut her in the middle.
"You mean you will do it? Okay, so that would be the… ummm… what numbered instalment?" She looked at the ceiling and put a finger on her chin. She forgot how many instalments I have paid so far. I have paid her ten, half of my promised instalments, already. If I were her, I would have used them more wisely than waste them on modest tasks she could do herself. Rich kids need to be taught financial management better.
"No need for wasting your instalments on this. It's something I could even do as a classmate."
"Really? You mean it?"
I nodded lightly in response.
"T-Thanks," she averted her eyes and began walking off.
"..."
"Before I head back, I wanted to ask something," she said, still facing away from me.
"What?"
"Back in the maths class, why were you staring at me while explaining?"
She continued in a grumpy tone.
"Sure, I might not be good at Maths, but that does not mean you can stare at me while explaining. What might others think if they saw you like that? They would think you are directing your explanations specifically towards me, right?"
WHAAT?!! I didn't think about it that way. She is actually right. Man, what an awkward thing it was to people who saw me staring at her. People would be making all sorts of assumptions. This is bad, this is seriously bad.
"Hey now. Answer already, I am getting late," she turned around, facing me.
"A-Ah, actually, they say that when you cannot focus on stage, you can pick one person and keep your focus on them. It's like a trick to stay calm and focused on stage. I-I didn't mean to direct my explanation towards you. I was just trying to keep my calm there."
"Oh," she smiled at me and continued, "So you picked me, huh?"
"Yes, I mean- What?!"
She turned away from me and didn't say anything.
"Listen, Ishika, you have got this wrong. This is not what you think-"
TRING TRING TRING
"Oh boy! Look at the time. I am getting late. Make sure to deliver my homework. See you later, Ahan."
And she went off. What a clumsy person I am.
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"So you have an answer now?"
"Yes, sir."
School was over. I was again visiting Tarak sir today. It was time for me to give this thing a proper closure.
"My answer is inside."
I put out the same envelope he gave me a few days ago on his desk. He stiffened his posture and picked up the envelope.
"You gave me that empty envelope stating that inside it is my future, right? Well, guess what, it's not empty anymore." I said.
He stared at me briefly, but I didn't waver my eyes. They were fixated on him.
"Interesting," he said before opening the envelope.
"..."
"A photograph? Hmph. Stars?" He pushed his glasses and stared at the photograph for a while.
"It's my passion, astrophotography. And it is what I am going to pursue from now on. It might seem frail to you to cling to something like this. But to me, it's something that has kept me awake every night. It makes me dream all the time. For a normal person, it might be another starry night. But I have learnt that those stars bring us a ray of hope. Those stars are not just any stars. Those are the stars I captured myself. They are a part of the sky, but they are now a part of my photograph, too."
"..."
He kept silent and stared at the photograph. After a few minutes, he put the photograph back inside the envelope and slid it onto the desk.
"I am glad that it's not empty anymore. Take this back and keep it safe with you."
His glasses slid on his nose, and his naked eyes stared at me. A man of few words, he is. I picked up the envelope from his desk.
"Your future is in your hands now. Keep it safe."
I put the envelope back in my bag and nodded lightly to him before leaving the staffroom.
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I headed towards the parking.
CLICK CLACK
I unlocked the only bicycle in the stand and pushed it towards the main gate. It appears even the club members have left already.
Well, I expected this career counselling session to take a lot longer. I knew he didn't like wasting time, but it seemed like he didn't even use any of it today. He did seem satisfied with my answer, though. Good thing, I managed to end this well. Guess he won't drag my parents into this now.
"All right."
As I crossed the main gate, I sat on my bicycle and put a foot on the pedal.
"OOOIII!! ASSHII!"
Mishti? She has not left yet?
"WAIT FOR ME!!"
I turned back and saw her driving her bicycle towards me. Why is she still here? I thought the clubs were over for today. She drove closer to me. Hey, wait, she is not stopping.
CRASH
"Hey, don't you have brakes?!" I said, picking up my bicycle. "And why are you riding inside the school? Isn't it prohibited inside the ground?"
HUFF HUFF
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I was in a hurry. I forgot applying them," she said, almost out of breath.
Forgot applying? Who forgets that? I moved my bicycle a distance from her and parked it there.
"Ah, haa, take this."
"What is this?" I asked as she handed me a pamphlet.
"Read it, huff-huff."
"You okay? Want some water?"
I passed down my water bottle to her.
SLURP SLURP
ARGH, she drank it, touching her mouth.
"Aaaah! Feels so good. Thanks a lot, Asshi."
"Madhyaswapno photography competition?"
"Yeah, it's an astrophotography competition. You could participate in it. The rules are very simple. You need to submit a photograph of the night sky. It's a very beginner-friendly competition"
"Only a camera and a lens between 35mm and 105mm are allowed. Telescopes, tracking devices, guides, and controllers are not allowed. Only standard tripods are allowed. Also, colour grading and contrast adjustment are the only post-processing tools you can use. Stacking is limited to only 30 photographs. Looks like a lot of limitations."
"Yeah, yeah. It's so that pros with high-end equipment don't get an upper hand in it."
"Where did you find this?"
"Ah, well, you see. I happen to be familiar with one of the judges. So, I came to know about it that way."
"What?! You sure know a lot of people in the city."
"Ah, haha, you can say that," she said, rubbing the back of her head.
"I will think about it, thanks, Mishti-Di."
"No need to thank me, though. And best of luck!" She said, slightly crouching and giving me a thumbs up with her other hand on her waist.
I bowed lightly and went to my bicycle. I lifted the stand and began pedalling away.
"Bye! Asshi. See you tomorrow!"
I waved back at her and drove away from the school.
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"Do you think it was a good idea to invite him to the comp?"
"Why do you think it wasn't, Isshi?"
"Paak will be there too, right, Mishiti-Di?"
"That's exactly why it was a good idea."