The Hero Within Us

An assortment of fumes & pungent odours filled the chemistry laboratory. No matter the number of exhaust fans or their speed, there were enough chemicals in the air. The chemicals irritated Kanika's eyes & nostrils. She sniffed but was careful not to rub her eyes or nose. She was at the end of the experiment & her back ached. She randomly looked up the rusty clock on the left wall. She had lost track of time & it was close to 3 PM. She had planned to finish up early & leave for home. Now, she realised why her back ached, she was standing for three long hours & her heels were killing. Finally, after an hour-long ride on the BMTC bus, she reached home. She grabbed a quick bite & rushed for evening tuitions.

Kanika was running a little late for evening tuitions. She cursed under her breath, "Of all days today, I had to wear heels! I did not even have the brains to change to flats." She walked briskly from the bus stop to tuitions. Her calf muscles resented, but she was relentless in her pace. For, she knew what awaited. A retired professor had set up the top floor for tuitions at his home. Thus, he would know what time the students & other lecturers came & left. He was conservative, strict & punctual. She did not want to give any room for a free lecture about the significance of the second year of pre-university.

When she reached the premises, she took off her heels. When she placed her feet on the cool mosaic tiles, her calf muscles thanked her. She closed her eyes for a moment in relief. Then, she quickly ran up the stairs. Only to see her friends sitting on long hard wooden benches in a circle & chatting. She was panting & asked, "No class?" Rasheeda replied, "Physics lecturer is busy & unable to make it to class." Kanika was glad they had an hour off. She sat on one of the benches towards the wall. She rested her back to the wall & stretched her feet; now her back thanked her. Finally, she caught her breath & joined them.

Pupils across colleges had enrolled at the reputed tuitions. All had one element in common, not subjects or lessons. Movies! Everyone was excited about the recently released film "Dil Chahta Hai." Some were in awe that Lagaan was in the race for Oscars. All the romcom buffs were looking forward to the upcoming movie "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham." During this discussion, Kathir asked, "Isn't it a while since we saw Pradeep at tuitions?" Rasheeda replied, "He mentioned that he was shifting to a new place." Kathir replied, "That was last month." It was an era of a BSNL landline with parallel connections, which the whole family shared. It was hard to keep track of 8-digit phone numbers. Also, unless necessary, teenagers avoided calls. No one wanted to call Pradeep at home & ask, "Why aren't you at tuitions?"

Kanika casually said, "As usual, he would be running late for tuitions. He would be riding his bike at a speed of 80kms/hr on the inner ring road. A dog would have crossed the path. The Hero within him would have woken up & wanted to save the dog. While doing so, he would have skidded & fallen onto the footpath. On impact, his front tooth would have broken." Everyone looked at her. She raised her shoulders & said, "I cooked up a story from thin air. I do not know what happened." They laughed & continued their banter until the next class.

A week later, Pradeep showed up. Kathir said, "Hey, long time no see." Pradeep smiled & revealed his broken tooth." Everyone was curious now. Kanika suddenly felt parched & swallowed hard. Kathir asked in a breath, "You haven't been to classes for two weeks. Why? Also, what happened to your tooth?" Pradeep repeated, Kanika's cooked up story word to word. All heads turned to Kanika. She shook her head, conveying the message, "It wasn't me." Pradeep was oblivious of his friend's discussion & settled into his seat.

Rasheeda nudged Kanika. She whispered, "I have told you from school days. You have a black tongue, do not curse people." Kanika replied, "Oh, come on. I casually said something for fun. I did not mean it." Rasheeda continued, "Look at the poor guy; his tooth's broken." Kanika remarked, "Oh dear lord! You go ask him why was he late, why was he speeding on inner ring road & why he tried to save the dog?" Rasheeda was not going to heed. She went on, "You had predicted & he repeated the incident word to word." Kanika was irritated & furious. She replied sharply, "This accident occurred two weeks ago & I cooked up this story a week ago. So, it cannot be my saying that caused the accident." Rasheeda, couldn't beat the logic. Yet she warned, "You better not repeat anything of this sort." Kanika rolled her eyes & muttered, "Whatever."

Take Away: Always wear a helmet while commuting on a two-wheeler. Adhere to traffic rules, speed limits & drive/ride with caution.