Once when I was growing up...

Neeti loved her Science, English and History periods in class seven at school. Science and English were her inclination. But History because she loved the way her History teacher made the rather dull subject full of life. But there was one subject that terrified her every Thursday. It was bound to come in the last two periods that day every week. Needle work. "Why keep it for the last so that I have to worry about it the whole day ? Why don't they begin the day with it and simply get done with it! My class teacher Miss Mandakini is such a kind person. Why can't she be our needle work teacher?" She would mumble this every Wednesday night to Mummy as she would help Neeti pack her school bag for the next day. Neeti went to a girls' Convent school. It was compulsory for students to try their hands on needles and threads from class three to class seven. "Ha Mummy. What a relief that I only have to do this for one more year. No worries at all when I go to class eig...

Neeti had been a very bright student right since kindergarten. She had been all her teachers' favourite. Mumma and Pa took pride in that. But they never boasted about it. In fact they were glad that Neeti had always been a very humble and well mannered child with never a complaint from anyone. They always encouraged her and never missed an opportunity to appreciate her achievements even though it was full marks score in just a weekly spelling test. But they never burdened her with their expectations. And in reality, this was the part they were really proud of. Her inborn sincerity. It was Neeti's mid term exam in class five. Off late, she was finding maths a little more challenging than the other subjects. But she never gave up. It was the day of her maths paper. The last one of the exam. She was waiting outside the exam hall with her classmates, all revising their tables and formulas. Many of these girls had the habit of cross checking others' preparations rather than thei...

Neeti had started cycling to school. She went to an all girls' convent, not very far from her house. Most of the girls in her school did that once they reached class eight. She had a 'cycling group' of her batchmates. Girls staying nearby would gather at a common point and ride to school from there. Neeti was in a group of four girls. One morning, Geetika, one of the group mates informed the others that Devyani would not be coming to school that day. She had a severe stomach ache. Neeti was a reticent but polite girl. She knew that Geetika and Devyani were close friends. But did not ask about any details. Off late, quite a few girls in her class had these 'stomchaches'. During school hours, many of them had asked the teachers to let them lie down on the last bench for a while. And strangely, none of the teachers ever questioned them.  'It's probably the latest trick to get rid of boring lectures and class tests' she thought.  "Let us head to school ...