(earlier days some teachers used to be harsh towards the students. Their teaching techniques were painful. There was no such law like now and many children used to suffer a lot)

I was tensed when Pati babu announced the surprise oral test.

Honestly, I haven't read a single line till now and I know I will fail miserably. How was scared as to how to face his furry.

I wasn't playing all day. I had work, I am the bari bahu of Roy Chowdhury. I had to cook, fold Pati babu's clothes n keep them in my wardrobe, do Arti, clean my room then manage the study.

But these are all excuses for him. Batuk came out of the room with a wide smile. It was evident that his test went well.

"Bondita!"

He called me next.

I took slow steps towards the room. Pati babu was sitting on a rocking chair in the middle of the room with a paper in his hand.

"Ready ho?" He asked me.

"So 1st question, State Gay Lussac's law"

"Ummmm it states, it......gas expands...."

"Ha sahi ja rahi ho, gas k baad kya?"

"Wo....wo..."

"It's ok, next question pe jaate hain, Qutub Minar kisne banaya?"

"Wo...wo..." I stammered as I couldn't remember the name.

"Abh ye maat kehna ki maine banaya hain" he said sarcastically.

"Nehi ap ne to Taj Mahal banaya tha...." I blurted out without thinking twice.

"Bondita!" He banged his hand on the table, "ek bhi uttar sahi nehi hain, saare galat. Purey din khel kud, ek kam karo chor do parhai, nehi chor do tumrare bas ki baat nehi".

I gazed at the floor in embarrassment.

"Tadpole kya hain jante ho ya wo bhi chotu bacchu mendak kahogi" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"Sorry pati babu"

"Sorry mujhe maat bolo, apne ap se bolo." He scolded her, "maine ye tumse expect nehi kiya tha.

I was waiting for her outside when I heard dada screaming on top of his voice. I rushed in and saw her standing in front of him weeping silently.

He seemed not to care and continued to behave rudely with her.

"Dada ap itna gussa kyu kar rahe ho, waise to acche marks hi lati hain na" I defended her.

"Tu chup rahe thora, intelligence aur studious mein fark hain, mujhe intelligence nehi studious aur hard-working student chahiye," he said turning away.

Bondita continued to weep. At least I knew why she couldn't answer and so tried to console her.

Dada threw her copy at her, "kuch nehi likha hain isme, to kar kya rahi thi?"

"Dada please bechari ro rahi hai"

But Dada was least interested. I don't know why he always hurts her. He doesn't care about her still she always chants his name. At least he could have asked her the reason but instead, he outburst at her.

I took her to her room.

I knew her hand got burned this morning while making breakfast and maybe that is the reason why she couldn't complete her homework.

"Dada k baaton ka bura maat mano Boudi, wo kisi k nehi sunte" I rolled my eyes but she remained quiet.

"Tum ruko mein first aid lata hu," I said and rushed to bring the kit but when I came back, the door was locked from inside. Why was the door locked? I wondered and as I was about to knock I heard dada's voice from inside who was talking to her.

Of course, I chuckled at myself. Dada is her husband after all. He has the right to first scold her and then come and talk to her at this late hour.

No matter how much I show my concern, at the end of the day, her name is Mrs Bondita Anirudh Roy Chowdhury.

I was disappointed with her. She couldn't get a single answer right. You feel bad when you expect a lot from someone but she fails epically.

I shouted at her and scolded her. Seeing her cry, my heart cried too. Do I enjoy scolding her? No, but she left me with no other choice. It's for her betterment. I turned away to hide my tears.

After she went away with Batuk, I went to the kitchen to have some water when I heard Bihari and Koyli conversing, "Choti Malkin ko saara kam akele karna para aj, mein jo nehi tha" uttered Bihari.

"Haa, unke hath pe chot bhi to lagi thi" said Koyli.

Now I got everything. How could I forget kaka and his stupid iccha of making her the Griha laxmi, giving her huge responsibilities at such tender age? Why I never gave it a thought that a 15-year-old cooks for all of us yet never complaints.

She had to manage all the work as well as studies.

I ran to her room to check up on her.

She was alone, sitting on her bed and weeping for I did shout a little.

Putting on a wide smile on my face I knocked at the door. She looked at me then looked away. I went inside, closed the door, and sat in front of her.

"Sorry" I uttered, holding my ears in a gesture of apology but she looked away and blew her cheeks.

"Mujhe sir babu se nehi pati babu se baat karni hain" she demanded.

"Thik hain, baat karlo apne pati babu se" I said with a smile.

"Mein kal thik se parkar firse test dungi"

When she said this, she won my heart. I thought she will defend herself or be mad at me but I realized she was guilty of not taking her studies seriously. That's my girl!!!!!

I now started putting haldi on her wound which wasn't that deep but since she got it in her right hand, it might cause her difficulty to write.

Next Morning

As usual, we woke up by hearing her melodious voice. She did Arti and then served all of us food.

We soon left for school.

"Tum abhi bhi dukhi ho?" I asked her.

"Nehi to, pati babu aye the kal raat sorry bolne"

I saw her cheeks turning red and her eyes shining.

"Tumne maaf bhi kar diya?" I asked her.

She was lost in her own thoughts. I wonder what is so special that she finds about him. Even I take care of her, we play together laugh together, share all secrets but....

Dada scolds her yet at the end of the day she goes to him. In fact, I saved her so many times from his anger. She faces his wrath, rage, bears these silently still......

I know what 3 qualifications a guy needs to make a girl fall for him, the guy has to be 1:caring, 2:protective, and 3:supportive.

But I don't know what 3 qualifications a guy needs to make Bondita fall for him. I know...the guy has to be 1:Anirudh 2: Anirudh. 3: Anirudh.

We entered the class as the bell rang.

A man who looked rather strict entered the class. He wore thin-rimmed spectacles and we'll build Body.

"Good morning students I am your new science teacher, Mr Raghav Sarkar" he introduced himself.

He seemed very strict. On the first day itself, he took a small test and punished a few boys by hitting them. He even made Mahesh stand in the sun with bricks in his bag and made Raju do 20 rounds of the ground.

His presence shivered everyone.

I know how much Bondita is scared of getting hit because of her awful experience.

"Boudi tum daro maat, is samasya k baare mein tum dada se kehna wo samadhan nikal lenge" I whispered in her ears.

"Nehi Batuk tumhare dada k samadhan samasya se kam nehi hain, unke pas sar dard leke jao to wo pura saar hi kaatne ko kahenge".

This teacher was very harsh towards the students. He was hurting them for simple mistakes.

Bondita" Raghav sir suddenly called my name. I stood up immediately.

"You seemed to be a bit weak in science, after school hours, wait here I will give you extra classes".

"Ok sir" I nodded my head.

Therefore after departure, Batuk left for home but I remained at school.

I entered his office which looked like Hitler's concentration camp.

He asked me to sit down and gave me a few questions to solve while he read a newspaper.

I completed my work as fast as I could, "sir done".

He took the copy and checked it.

"Hath agey karo"

I understood that perhaps I have made some mistake.

"Sorry sir," I said in a timid voice but before I could speak further he hit me hard with his jhari. That blow caused immense pain in my palm which turned red immediately.

I groaned in pain and cried.

Now he checked the other answers. He again found another mistake and hit me hard on my palms.

I cried in pain.

"Fir se try karo aur isbar answers sahi hona chahiye".

I was sobbing. I tried to write but my hands were paining so much that I was unable to hold the pain. Only scribbles got imprinted on the page

"Kya hain ye?" He yelled at me and I shivered.

"I thought you are a good student but seems like you need punishment, stand on the bench."

I cried and did as he said. He filled my bag with heavy bricks and made me wear it. He then asked me to raise my hands just like he punished the other boys this morning.

It was a punishment. He made me stand like that for a long time while he asked me some questions which I answered in that same position.

It wasn't even 30 minutes and I felt like my bones breaking and muscles cracking. My hands which were in air and were numb, I couldn't feel them. My legs were shivering. The weight of the bag was pulling me to the ground. My face turned red and I cried but still answered his questions.

"See you are improving," said the teacher proudly thinking that he was shaping a student's future instead he was torturing. This punishment was not helping me rather I started to feel hate towards studies.

"Sir mein abh ghar jau?" I asked him after mustering up my courage.

"Ok, next day complete your work" as he uttered and left the room I fell on the ground. I was unable to stand up on my feet and cried for a long time sitting on the ground. After a long rest I felt better and With support, I tried to stand up and somehow reached home.

As soon as I reached home, I locked myself inside and lied on the bed, crying and sobbing, "mujhe school nehi jana, parhai nehi karni mujhe."

As Batuk said she was attending an extra class, I was really happy but once she came back, without talking to anyone else she went straight to her room.

She didn't have dinner with us instead had it in the room itself.

The next morning when I went to her room she was still asleep. "Bondita jaldi utho school nehi jana?" I said and pulled the blanket away.

"Mujhe aj school nehi jana" she argued.

"Matlab? Jao ready ho jao" I ordered her but she ignored my words. I was shocked by her rude behavior.

"Kya chal raha hain yaha" entered kaka, "ek din school nehi jaygi to kya ho jayga?" Kaka started supporting her.

"Kaka ap Bondita ko support mat kijiye, wo school jaygi" I said sternly, "5 min mein niche ao varna mujhse bura koi nehi hoga" I warned her and went downstairs.

"Par pa....." She tried to speak but I stopped her again. "Shhhh, bas 5 min"

Soon she came down and I drove both her and Batuk to school.

I felt really bad as the talkative girl she was quiet through out the journey.

Once they reached school both of them got down from the car and were about to leave but I stopped her gesturing Batuk to go to class.

Batuk went away.

"Bondita" I called her and held her hand, "naraz ho?"

She jerked off my hands in rage, "ap bohot burey ho!" She yelled at me and ran towards her class.

I stood there in numb state. What did just happen? Why is she behaving like this?

(I had read this in newspaper that a teacher used to punish his class 3 students by putting bricks in the bag and with every mistake he used to increase the weight. These harsh punishments can never make grow interested in studies. If you are fearing something you cannot be good at it. You cannot study unless you enjoy it.)

Did anyone remember that the Taj Mahal was made by Mr. Aniruddh Roy Chowdhury????😂