Childhood— Part.2

September 07, 2020

Dear readers, in the ( Part-1)we saw how the little boy lived a happy life in his village and at last he started his emotional journey towards a nearby town for better education. Now let’s move ahead.

The boy reached the town which was not new for him. He had visited this town so many times with his father and uncles for many good reasons like buying his toys, watching circus etc. But today the reason for being in the town was not nice. Today all the buildings streets, toyshops, bull-carts, cycles were not so attractive for him. He walked hopelessly towards his new boarding school.In a very short span of time he reached the school and after going through a simple kind of admission process he got admission done in this school.

The father was trying to motivate his son for staying happy in the new environment. To amuse him, he took the boy to market and gave him some sweets, a new school uniform, few books, one pair of shoes and his favourite red coloured ball. But that day the boy was not in a normal state, he only needed his village life back and no other option could amuse him.

In the evening the father took him back to school hostel and handed him over along with his luggage to the watchman. The boy started screaming and crying but his father left him there and went away.The gates were closed and the little boy could not even see his father. The watchman took him to hostel room with lots of love and care, visibly trying to compensate him emotionally.

The shell shocked boy sat on his bed stock-still in deep silence for a very long time. It was late In the evening he moved a little bit and with that he stood up and placed his new uniform and other belongings in the allotted cupboard. On touching the ball, he felt a sudden boost of excitement and a very different kind of feeling. His eyes shone bright. He could smell the fragrance of his father, yes he found the fragrance of his father on the ball. Now he smelt the ball again and again. He don’t want to throw the ball on the ground now and decided to sleep with this ball every night.

In the mean time dinner bell rang and all the boys started running towards the dining hall. Today little boy didn’t felt hungry and wanted to sleep soon. He knew if he slept soon the next day will also come soon, hoping the father might come back to see him the next day. Whole night he tried his best to sleep but it was completely a restless night. Memories of village flashed him again and again. Now he could remember every single thing clearly. He could even remember that he had a game yet to finish with his grandfather, he had hidden an egg in a bucket, his grandfather’s spectacle was broken and he needed a new one and his mother wore his favourite red coloured bangles. Suddenly a loud buzzing sound broke all his imaginations and he found all the boys woken up and getting ready for the school, it was the morning now.

Some unknown lady helper, who helped every new boy in the school came to him and helped him in getting ready. Here the boy again missed his mother’s soft hands which he usually felt in the morning while getting ready for his school. He remembered how he hide himself from his mother for taking a bath in the morning wile preparing for his school.

The lady helper dropped him to his classroom. There the classroom became another battle of his life. The classmates bullied him because he was from a village and did not knew many things about the school, about the new books, about the timetable, about the rules of the school etc.

In the school, he himself failed to find the emotional connection with fellow students, his new books, his new uniform etc. His favourite red coloured neck tie seemed colourless to him now. Passing the time there was absolutely not easy for him.

Fighting numerous emotional conflicts silently and alone every moment, the boy eagerly waited for the weekend, the day when his parents will probably come to see him.

Finally the Saturday came and the little boy who till now had lost all his hopes and charm, grew his few hopes back once again. Today right from the morning his eyes were stuck at the entry gate of the school anxiously waiting for his parents.

He went to watchman many times for asking if his parents had come to meet him. Finally watchman came to his room along with his father.The moment boy saw his father was terrible and heart breaking. The little boy broke down screaming in tears badly.......