MAKING FRIENDS
By this time of 10 years, not very great changes has taken place in his life but obviously a few. One of the changes that took place in his life is the coming of friendship. One day, when he was in class 10, then he was sitting alone inside his classroom. Nakul was a bit sad by the previous announcement of his class teacher. The class teacher before ending the last class said that tomorrow is parent’s day and therefore the school has arranged a parent teacher meeting tomorrow. The students are requested to inform the same to their parents and if the parents wish, then, they can join and attend the meeting. Though, it is not required, but obviously recommended. Moreover, the students are requested to write an essay on the topic, “My Parents” and submit it by day after tomorrow. Any student, not submitting the same will be punished.
Therefore Nakul was feeling a bit low as how would he write an essay on someone who is not there in his life and moreover it strengthen the horrible memory of his 10th birthday in which he became an orphan.. At that time, a boy came and sat in front of him. He was a bit bulky, but good looking and handsome. He was wearing lens in his eyes and had a quite long hair.
He came and said, “Hello. I am Ellias Khan.”
Nakul also replied, “Please to meet you. I am Nakul Dey.”
Ellias then asked, “Friend. You are looking a bit sad and low.”
Nakul at first totally refused and wanted to hide the real truth but Ellias was really irritating at that moment of time. He continued asking. Finally Nakul answered him. Ellias then patted on Nakul’s back and consoled him.
He said, “I am so sorry to hear that friend. I hope we are now friends.” with a tone of interrogation.
Nakul then looked towards him and said with a smile, “Of course. I will be delighted to be your friend.”
They were talking when the bell rang indicating that the Tiffin time is over and it is now time for their next period —– of biology. By this time, Ellias had changed his previous seat from the second bench to second last bench besides Nakul. The teacher was teaching when suddenly the teacher called Ellias by his name. As soon as she called his name, he stood up. The teacher said in a very calm tone, “I see that the second bench is empty.”
Ellias also replied in a very calm way, “Yes Mam. I also see the same.”
As soon as Ellias gave the answer, the entire class started laughing. The teacher felt very humiliated as if Ellias had insulted her, though he did not, but still the teacher thought so. The teacher then asked him in a straight forward manner, “With whose permission did you change your place?”
Ellias replied in his same calm voice, “No one , Madam.”
The whole class again burst into laughter. This time the teacher was furious. Though there was no fault of Ellias at all, it seemed to the teacher as if it was entirely Ellias’s fault. The teacher then came towards him and said, “My dear student. Do not try to be smart with me.”
Ellias was about to give a justification but the teacher stopped him by saying, “Don’t you dare say a single word. Just keep standing.”
By saying this, the teacher headed towards the blackboard, when suddenly Nakul stood up and said, “Excuse me, Madam. Last class, I did not understand a few notes. He just came here to make me understand those notes. It was not his fault, Madam.”
The teacher then came towards him and said, “Who are you?”
He replied, “I am Nakul Dey.”
The teacher then said, “Mr. Dey, it would be better on your part, if you kindly do not interfere in other’s matters and concentrate in your own work. Remember one thing, next time your friend is in fault, do not try to save him, it gives him the encouragement to commit another fault.”
By saying this, she headed towards the blackboard. While she was moving towards the blackboard, Ellias said, “Thank you, friend” to Nakul in a manner so that the teacher could not hear him. The teacher then started her lecture after saying the class,
“Be thankful to your two classmates who wasted 15 minutes of this class. Next time, I found any nuisance in my class, I promise, serious actions will be taken.”
After that she taught the class about some cardiac muscles that if cardiac muscles stop, then the patient can die, but from that day, it marked the beginning of their friendship. Even after getting scolded from the teacher, when the teacher was teaching about cardiac muscles, Ellias said loudly to the teacher,
“So, if cardiac muscles fail, then we die. It means, if cardiac muscles are tired, we are retired.”
The whole class laughed and the teacher was also not an exception to this. Both of them were very much mediocre in studies. They were able to cope up with their studies, but the main problem that arose was the subject of mathematics. Mathematics seemed to be the only hindrance in their passing of the examination. So both of them decided to join a tution. From the local sources, they came to know of a maths teacher who would teach them mathematics 4 days a week. So, both of them joined there.
It was their first day in the tuition. Both of them entered silently and took their seats in the already arranged bench. The teacher came with a large spectacle hanging down on his ears on both the sides and started his lessons. He started with Geometry with the lesson on angles construction. It was boring at that point of time. Some of the students were keeping their heads down, some were sleeping and some were just looking up at the board and nodding their heads without understanding a single thing.
Only one student seemed to develop a particular interest in the subject. She was listening to the teacher very carefully and her expression was indicating that she was understanding each and every word of the teacher. The teacher was giving some explanations on acute angles and how to measure an angle with the help of the tools in geometry box like compass, protractors, etc,. Ellias was almost sleepy by hearing the continuous lecture of the teacher and so was Nakul and so was every other students in the room.
Ellias then asked Nakul in a whispering tone, “Hey friend, could you tell me what would you call an angle, which is very much adorable?”
Nakul at first asked him to keep quiet but as usual, he kept on talking and irritating. Finally Nakul gave up and asked him the answer.
Ellias replied, “A cute Angle.”
Nakul did not laugh at that moment but Ellias felt like that he had made a great joke. So, he laughed alone. Finally, the period came to an end. All the students were almost packed and ready to go to their home and as soon as the teacher declared that the class is over, all the students rushed towards the exit gate. Nakul and Ellias also packed their bags and they were ready to leave the tution. They were about to leave the tuition when they saw the girl with blue eyes coming. She passed away the two boys without paying any attention as to their presence, but Ellias stopped her by saying, “Excuse me.”
The girl with curly hair turned back and her blue eyes caught the presence of Nakul and Ellias. She came closer and asked, “Yes. Are you calling me?”
Ellias then came closer and asked her in a manner to irritate her, “Are you a nut?”
She at first could not understand and asked, “Sorry?”
Ellias then said, “Don’ be. Actually we feel sorry for you. How could you listen to the boring and frustrating and irritating and disgusting lectures of the more boring person? It seems you are really a bit abnormal or you must be pretending to be a good student in the class.”
Nakul was trying to stop him from saying all this and on the other hand, the girl was getting hurt and angry. Nakul then in order to manage the situation said,
“Well, we are sorry. My friend is actually a bit funny but…….”
Before he could complete his sentence, the girl raised her right hand to make Nakul silent and said looking towards Ellias,
“Well, you can tell your funny friend that it is not his business to care what I do and nor do I care about all his nuisance. You can also tell your funny friend that teacher occupies the 3rd place in anyone’s life after GOD and parents and anyone who disrespects his teacher would never ever progress in education. Moreover whatever he taught today is only for the sole benefit of his students but may be some people do not deserve to understand all these stuff.”
By saying this , she left the tuition and went away. Nakul then turned towards Ellias and said, “What is the need of saying all these things to her? She got hurt, isn’t it?”
Ellias just didn’t say a word except-“you wait for tomorrow. A blast is coming and it will surely be blowing someone off.”
By saying this, he also left home and Nakul also accompanied him. While they were returning home, Ellias said that tomorrow he will not be coming to tuition. So, there is no need to wait for him and Nakul can go to tuition alone. Nakul asked him the reason while Ellias did not elaborating it further said that he has got some personal work to do. Nakul also did not proceed further into the deep. After that both of them went to their respective houses.
On the next day, Nakul came to tuition and as soon as he entered the tuition, he was surprised. He saw Ellias had already arrived there and he was waiting for Nakul to come. Nakul came and sat besides him and asked him that he told him that he will not be coming today as he has got some personal work to do. Ellias did not say a word except that ,
“Wait for a moment. I want to show you something.”
Nakul did not understand but Ellias did not elaborate further. Ellias was continuously looking towards that girl in a very unusual manner who was sitting in the right row first bench. The teacher then came and wished all the students GOOD MORNING and in return all the students also wished him the same. After that the teacher asked all the students to take out their home works and he will be checking them. Therefore all the students took out their copies and submitted them to the teacher. Ellias was sitting very calm, which was very unusual for a guy like Ellias, and was smiling a bit as if he had achieved something.
Suddenly, the teacher shouted, “Ms. Barsha Ray.”
The girl, whom Ellias was staring at, stood up and went near the teacher. The teacher looked towards her angrily and said , “What is this nuisance?- showing the copy to her.
When she saw her copy, she was also shocked. She saw that a cartoon has been made on her copy where a donkey is teaching to some students. Besides the donkey, the name of the teacher is written. As soon as the drawing was shown in front of the class, everyone started laughing. That humiliated the teacher to a great extent. Ellias, on the other hand, was laughing with his head down. Nakul understood that it was the blast Ellias was talking last day.
The girl, on the other hand, was standing with her head bowed down. But after that whatever happened, Ellias did not expect to happen. He saw that the teacher took out a big wooden scale from his desk and started beating her. She was crying but her head was down. Tears were running from her eyes. Ellias really felt bad at that moment. Ellias stood up and shouted to the teacher,
“It was not her fault.”
All the people present there looked at him and the teacher was also not an exception. Barsha also looked back at him but her eyes were still full of tears. Ellias looked at him and continued,
“It was me who has done it. She did not do it. I did it in order to make a fun of her in front of the classroom” and after that turning towards Barsha , “But never with the intention of causing her any harm.” He continued, “I am extremely sorry and I promise that I will never repeat it again.”
The teacher then stood up and said angrily, “So, it was you who thinks that I am a donkey.”
Ellias felt like laughing, but he controlled his emotions. The teacher continued,
“I want you to pack your bag and leave this classroom right now. I do not want students like you who does not respect their teachers.”
Ellias was standing with his head bowed down. Barsha then looked towards the teacher and said, “Sir, at least he told the truth. He could have kept silent and no one, including me, would have guessed that it was he who has done it. So, he told the truth. Moreover, he is saying that he will not repeat it again and so I think that we should presume that he is telling the truth.”
Ellias was just surprised that Barsha, the girl with whom he had recently quarreled, is now saving him. It was really very good of her. The teacher then calmed himself a bit and so he finally asked all of them to take their seats and he started his lessons. After the class is over, all the students went away except Nakul, Ellias and Barsha. Nakul and Ellias came towards Barsha and Ellias said
, “It was very much kind of you that you saved me from the teacher. I am so sorry that for me you got insulted………”
Barsha then looked towards them with a smile but still with red eyes due to tears indicating that she had forgiven them. Nakul then extended his hand towards her and said, “Can we be friends?”
Barsha also shook hands with him and Ellias with a smile in her face and it marked the beginning of their friendship. From that day, they became friends- best friends. After that they became friends and they always sat on a single bench and share notes and so on. The whole tuition stated calling them , “The three Musketeers.” Many used to call them, “the three monkeys of Bapu.” They just became best friends.
One day, all the three friends were roaming about in the park and were talking with each other. Suddenly Ellias said, “Oh! I forgot to mention one thing.”
Nakul and Barsha turned towards him and asked, “What?”
Ellias said, “Tomorrow, all of you should come to my house. Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday and the marriage anniversary of my parents. You two should be there by 6 P.M… OK?”
On the next day, Nakul and Barsha went to Ellias’s house. Their house was on a flat. It was on the 3rd floor. So, Nakul and Barsha took a lift and went to the 3rd floor. As they reached there, they rang the doorbell of Ellias’s house and the door was opened by Ellias. It was not a very big flat but quite good for accommodating four persons. As soon as Nakul and Barsha entered the house, they saw Ellias’s house arranged beautifully with colourful balloons tied with the stopped fans and other decorations which was clearly giving a birthday type of feeling.
Ellias introduced Nakul and Barsha with the other members of his family. Ellias at first took Nakul and Barsha to a middle aged lady of average height and of a little lower than fair complexion and introduced the lady as his mother. Her name was Anju Khan. She was a housewife. She greeted Nakul and Barsha with a very pleasant smile and asked them to take a seat in Ellias’s computer room.
But before they could get there, they were stopped by another middle aged man. Ellias introduced the man as Ellias’s father Sujoy Khan. He was tall, well shaved though a little beard in his face and was wearing a pyjama and a kurta. He was also wearing a spectacle and his hair was properly combed showing that he had just taken a bath. He also had a mark of stitch at the extreme right of his neck which could be visible very evidently.
Later on, Nakul came to know from his friend Ellias that actually his father had an accident in which he got severely injured and that stitch was the mark of the accident. However, after that Ellias took Nakul and Barsha into his computer room. They went into the computer room or the study room of Ellias and Ellias asked them to make themselves comfortable by sitting wherever they prefer and if they want, he can even switch on the computer.
Barsha then said, “Well, all this is fine. But where is the birthday girl?”
Ellias then said, “Oh! I forgot to introduce you two to my sister.” By saying this , he shouted, “Sameera, Sameera.”
And from the other room came a very sweet and sober voice, “Yes brother, coming.”
After that they saw from the another room a girl with a white dress came. She had a very white type of complexion and her eyes were a bit small but not like the Japanese people. As soon as Nakul saw Ellias’s sister, Nakul thought that he had seen her somewhere but could not remember where he had seen her. But Nakul, ignoring his memory stood up and came towards her and said, “Happy Birthday , Sameera” and gave her his gift.
She accepted the gift with a smile and after that Barsha also came and wishing her the same also gave her gift to her. She accepted the gift with another smile. Ellias then introduced Nakul and Barsha to his sister Sameera. Sameera then keeping the gifts in the bed said,
“Do not mind, but, I am having the feeling that I have seen you somewhere.”looking towards Nakul.
Nakul was also surprised as he was also having the same feeling in his mind. Ellias then said, “Obviously, you two have seen each other. Nakul, Sameera is in our school only, Class 8C”.
Nakul and Sameera then understood that they have seen each other in the school only. By this time, it was time to cut the cake and therefore all of them were called by Ellias’s parents-Mr. Sujoy Khan and Mrs. Anju Khan. At first Sameera went followed by her brother and her brother’s two best friends. They entered the next room and they saw that on the room a beautiful white vanilla flavor cake is kept and on it, it was written , “Happy Birthday Sameera.”
As soon as Nakul saw the birthday cake, his horrible memory of his 10th birthday was recollected in his inward eye but, he ignored that. Sameera went and stood on the other side of the table and blowing the candles off, she cut the cake. All the other attendants started singing the birthday song and clapping their hands with the birthday tone and after cutting the cake, she gave her first bit to her father, then to her mother followed by her brother. After that , they were served some delicious food which they took with them to the computer room of Ellias where they all will be sitting and eating comfortably.
Nakul and Barsha were sitting on one side of the round table and on the other side was sitting Ellias and his sister. Barsha then said, “So, do you four live here, I mean you, Ellias and your parents.”
Sameera answered, “Yes. Tell me about your family.”
Barsha answered, “Well, I live with my father Anil Ray.”
As soon as she said her father’s name, Ellias, who was busy swallowing food, gave up eating and said, “What, Mr. Anil Ray?”
Barsha looking towards him said, “Yes, so what?”
Ellias then asked her in a nervous tone, “Is he the partner of the state’s number 1 and country’s number 3 textile industry “RAY Textiles.”
Barsha then said with a smile, “Yes.”
Ellias said in an amazed tone, “Well, we two had no idea that we are friends of such a rich girl.”
Before Barsha could say something, Sameera said to her brother looking towards Barsha, “Not two, its three including me. After all, now, I am also her friend.”
Nakul also smiled. Barsha then just turned towards them and said her defending, “No guys. That is not the thing. I was brought up in a very simple and mediocre manner just like any other girl. Moreover, my father remained most of the times outside his house due to his business and I was left only with my house maid Rashmi. She is also like my mother,I mean the way she cares and looks on me. But…..”
Before Barsha could complete her sentence, Ellias asked her innocently, “Where is your mother?”
She replied sadly, “My mother died after giving me birth.” Her voice trembled, “I have never known a proper family. Neither I have known my dad properly as he has always been out for business and I had no chance of sleeping in my mother’s arms. In that manner, you two are very lucky.” looking towards Ellias and Sameera.
Her eyes became wet but Nakul controlled her emotions by looking towards her and saying , “Look Barsha, life is not always fair. We all expect many things from our single life but life doesn’t gives us all the things that we expect. So, whatever life gives us, we should make ourselves believe that it was the thing that we expected from life. When my parents were murdered on the occasion of my 10th birthday, at that point of time, I felt like doing suicide. But slowly with the passage of time, I understood that I will have to accept the truth and whether I accept it with smile or with tears——- I will have to accept it.”
Barsha also kept her right hand over Nakul’s shoulders symbolizing that she is sympathetic with Nakul regarding whatever happened in his life. Ellias and Sameera were silent. After that Sameera asked Nakul about the accident of his parent’s death. He told her everything and even the incident of the unknown helper who every month gave Nakul Rs. 15,000. Sameera didn’t say a word except, “Strange.”
By this time, their dinner was over and it was time for Nakul and Barsha to take a leave from the house. Nakul and Barsha bidding Ellias and Sameera GOOD BYE and GOOD NIGHT left the house. Nakul at first dropped Barsha in her house and finally he went to his own house. From that day Nakul, Ellias, Barsha and Sameera became best friends. However, they were different in nature, but they had unity of mind which is the most crucial ingredient of any friendship.
Ellias was a dude type of person who loves partying, humorous and obviously the centre of any party and he is also very good in playing guitar. Barsha is also somewhat of the same type who loves listening to some rock music and trance and she is a very good western dancer and can sing pretty well but obviously western songs. Sameera and Nakul on the other hand are somewhat of the same type. They both are quiet, tranquil and cool types, loves simple things and both loves Rabindra sangeet. Moreover Sameera is the only member of the group, who is a vegetarian.
She says that one day she went to the market with her father. Her father went to buy a chicken. When she went inside the chicken shop and when she saw the headless chicken fighting for survival and slowly but steadily, blood was coming out from its body, the brutality affected her so much that she became vegetarian from that moment. Though, it sounds fictional, but it seems that truth is stranger than fiction.
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