Prologue
St Theresa International School
Mumbai
Junior School Staffroom
11:20 am
"I truly don't understand how you all cope with this madness!" Khushi Gupta mused as she sipped her cup of hot coffee, now gone tepid in the teacher's staffroom. She made a face as the bitter liquid swished along her tongue making her gag reflexively
"Oh ho Khushiji...why do you drink that yucky coffee if you don't like it? Its nothing by high-class gobar which this high-class school passes off as coffee...ahh...i so hope we had bru instant coffee with hot thick buffalo milk instead!" Saxena sir said, his huge belly doing flip flops as he laughed heartily. Khushi gave him a tight smile and got back to her books.
"Gupta , it will take time...but you will get used to it. Plus unfortunately you have been given class 4C, the rowdiest of 4th grade. I think that satan has personally selected the kids in that class. I mean my body still shudders thinking what some of them pulled on Mrs Kulkarni in the last semester" Ms Sharada said examining her nails, her face showing the horror.
Khushi looked at both her senior colleagues as she ticked off the right and wrongs in each notebook. She was having a raging headache and it really wasn't helping that she was subbing for grade 4! It was great that their own class teacher was on maternity leave but she felt so unfortunate that the principle thought of making her their temporary class teacher.
She sighed remembering her days as a pre-primary teacher, toddlers were soo much easier to handle. She could not wait for Mrs Bhatia to return to her class of monsters, plus she really needed more time to finish her thesis, it was the last semester for her to hand it in and she could not afford to have her mind in chaos because of the hooligans in her class! If money wasn't the issue, she never would have taken up teaching.
"Khushi ji? The principle is calling you...its Anaya again..i think you should hurry" Khushi looked up as Munna the peon came rushing to the staffroom, she stood up at once and straightened her kurti before rushing to get to the principles office. She had enough of this trouble child! Ever since she had joined 4C, this girl had been up to no good! She would make sure her irresponsible parents come today..no more phone calls!
As she came to the principle's office, she noticed anaya sitting cross legged on the couch outside, her curly hair tied in pigtails, while her eyes showed worry.She looked up briefly to acknowledge her teacher and then turned her face away from her. Khushi sighed and knocked lightly on the door door "May i come in mam?" she asked politely as she heard Mrs D'souza's soft yes from the other side. She opened the door and stepped in.
"Ms Gupta, thank you for coming, Please have a seat." Mrs D'souza gestured to a chair in front of her. Khushi took her seat and facing her "Ms Gupta, i really don't know what to do with anaya now..every other day there are complaints about her..If her family wasn't a trustee of this school, I would have taken more drastic steps!" Mrs D'souza got up and went to stand near the window
"You need to try and call her father again..I know he's always out but he needs to take this seriously!" Mrs D'souza said sternly as Khushi 's cheeks went warm, she remembered the deep baritone voice of ananya's father and how it always sent goosebumps down her spine, making her stutter like a fool..she had already called him twice but both times he was too busy or out of the country, mostly cutting her calls after monosyllabic answers.
She sighed as she looked at Mrs D'souza and got up "I'll call him mam, but do tell me...if he is so busy why don't we call her mother instead? I'm sure she will find some time...in fact i was always curious why only her father's name is on the parents contact list..." Khushi asked with irritation as she saw Mrs D'souza sigh "Oh child..thats because anaya's mother passed away when she was hardly few months old, he's a single father"
Khushi froze with this new information, her heart filled up with sympathy for the little girl, she knew how it felt to lose a parent but she could only imagine the poor girl growing without the love of her mother and instead with a father who probably had no time for her...she imagined him to be one of those rich men who bought their child's happiness with money.
She nodded her head and turned to step out when Mrs D'souza's voice stopped her "Khushi, make sure you speak to her father properly this time. You have to make sure that he listens and takes action..i know that girl has a lot of potential and she is very bright..but there are definite problems at home because of which she is retaliating here" Khushi nodded and stepped out; she saw Anaya sitting on the couch and gave her a small smile.
Anaya was wondering why her class teacher was suddenly smiling at her, wasn't she supposed to shout at her and give her punishment instead? 'Ms Gupta's gone mad!' she thought and wondered when she would call her dad for him to once again tell her that he is busy and yadaya...she was used to this now. Anything she did now a days would get her in trouble..she was too scared to tell anyone that she was being bullied by that fatso natasha and her gang. She sighed as Ms Gupta gestured her to follow her out towards the staffroom.
"Anaya..i'm going to call your father again and this time i will make sure he comes here and speaks to me..I can't have him ignore this anymore. I truly don't know why you do such silly daring things which would only land you in trouble, but i'm the one who has to answer to the principle." Khushi sighed as she looked at the sad face of the little girl, she truly wondered why she did all those pranks when she seemed to be remorseful every time she got caught.
Khushi picked up the staff room phone and dialed the number on the parents diary, she waited for him to pick up as her heart started doing its usual somersaults once again wondering how he looked.. She took a deep breath as the phone clicked and his deep voice sounded on the other end, she quickly came back to reality and said in a stern voice "Mr Raizada? This is Ms Khushi Gupta, Anaya's class teacher..we need to talk and I will not take a no for an answer this time"
ARNAV RAIZADA : The Student
Ms KHUSHI GUPTA : The Teacher
ANAYA MALLIK RAIZADA - Arnav's Daughter (To be Cupid)
AMAN MATHUR : Arnav's PA
MADHU SINHA : Khushi's Aunt ( Buaji)
MAGGIE COSTA : Anaya's Nanny
SHILPA IYER : Khushi's Neighbour & Friend
MRS D'SOUZA : Principal , St Theresa
YASHWARDHAN MALLIK : Anaya's Grandfather
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