Kaisi ye yariyan ff - Smiles and fireflies

Chap 10- An embarassing situation

Nandini entered her new classroom at about seven in the morning. Only a few students had arrived until then. Payal, Diya and Aryan were the ones seated on the front bench. They lived quite far, so had set out early. Mitali and Shivam had occupied the last bench. Nandini took her seat beside Sumati on the second desk.

She recalled her meeting with Mayank. "I must say that the cookies were really delicious," she thought," I might go there again to fetch some more. It will be nice meeting Mayank again. But wait.........what if those nasty girls turn up again?"

Slowly, the classroom began to get filled with students. At about five minutes to eight, the principal Mr. Mehra stepped into the class. All the students rose to greet him.

"Good morning everyone," he said,"I welcome you all to a fresh start here in "Scholars College". I hope that you all are ready to excel in your studies."

"Thank you sir!" the students said in unison.

"I have a great news for all of us," he continued," this weekend, the most famous music band from The Space Academy, that is, the Fab 5 will be performing here."

"The Fab 5?" the students began whispering among themselves.

"I cannot believe this," Mitali whispered.

"Me too," said Shivam," a live performance!"

"My dream has finally come true," said Sumati smiling happily.

Nandini had no idea who the Fab 5 were. She stood there confused and clueless while all others were happily chattering.

"Enough with all the whispering!" said Mr. Mehra," Is Miss Nandini Murthy present in this classroom?"

"Yes sir," said Nandini feeling a bit worried on her name being called out.

"You will be helping fab 5 with the preparations," said Mr. Mehra," Make sure to be present in the music room every afternoon at 1 pm. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Nandini nodded.

"How come you are so lucky," said Sumati with a tinge of jealousy in her voice.

In the afternoon while the other students were attending their creativity classes, Nandini was walking towards the music room. She had planned on taking up music as a creative learning subject. So helping the fab 5 didnt seem to bother her too much. She walked into the music room and turned on the lights.

"So here you come," said Mukti getting up from her chair.

"Isnt she the one from the bakery shop?" Aliya asked.

"What are these mean girls doing here?" Nandini said to herself," are they a part ot fab 5?"

"Nandini Murthy," said Dhruv walking upto her," I believe that you are here to help us with our performance."

"Yes," said Nandini," Principal Sir has sent me here."

"So," said Cabir getting up from his chair," I have written down a song. But I just cant find the right melody for it."

"Why dont you have a look and suggest something?" said Mukti giving her a piece of paper.

Nandini took the paper from her and began to read what Cabir had written. It was ridiculous. He had penned down a song about a female student making out with her handsome teacher in the washroom. She felt extremely disgusted and said," You want to sing this? And that too at a stage performance?"

"Dont you dare ask us any questions?" Aliya yelled at her," do as you are told to do or else......You havent really seen the worse of us!"

"I said find a melody and sing it out aloud!" screamed Mukti.

"Lets make this a little more interesting," said Cabir giving Nandini a mike," Let the entire college hear your beautiful voice!"

Nandini was about to say something when Dhruv stopped her and said,"It will just take one phone call from Manik and you will be thrown out of this college in a minute. So you better follow orders."

Nandini was quite shocked by this behaviour. But when she had seen Cabir, she had realised that her comment might have triggered this behaviour.

Nandini took the mike from Cabir. She took a deep breath and began singing the song adding her melody to it. The lyrics were disgraceful. Words like "your heavy b**bs" and "lusting for each other" were present everywhere in the song. The mike was connected to loudspeakers, so everybody present in the college campus got to hear what she was singing.

After about three and a half minutes, she finished singing the song and put the mike away.

"I must say you have a lovely voice," said Aliya," Serves you right for hurting Cabir. Get out now!"

Nandini immediately left the music room. But.....facing everyone wasnt going to be easy for her.

"So you were sharing your experience with us?" a group of boys teased her.

"What a shameless girl!" said Sumati as Nandini sat down at her desk.

"Shame on your upbringing Nandini!" Mrs. Mukta, her Botany teacher was scolding her in front of the whole class. Nandini stood still with her head bowed down in shame.

"Tell me now, will you," said Mrs. Mukta," why did you sing such a filthy song?"

"To spread awareness," a soft male voice made Mrs. Mukta turn around.

"Nandini did as she was told. College life is a very crucial stage in a student's life. So many of our students get entangled in romantic relationships which dont end well. This song is a message to each and every student present here that making out, having affairs are not what you are here for!" Mr. Randheer Mehra, Mr. Alok's son said walking into the classroom.

"But Mr. Mehra," said Mrs. Mukta," you could have asked Nandini to do so in a decent way."

"I didnt want the message to be diluted," said Randheer," Nandini, your singing has stirred up several minds. And we must address such issues."

Nandini was surprised on being helped by the Principal's son. But she was relieved too.

"I am sorry Nandini," said Mrs. Mukta," I had no idea about this. You may take your seat now."

"You are such a brave girl!" said Sumati as Nandini sat down," I am so sorry to have misunderstood you. My elder brother was born out of wedlock and my mother still remembers how bad the times were. You did right by singing that song. Everyone must talk openly about it."

When the class got over, Nandini went to meet Randheer. His secretary led her in.

"Good afternoon sir," she greeted him.

"So you are here to ask me why I helped you?" Randheer asked her.

"Yes," said Nandini," and to thank you as well."

"You are most welcome," he said," I know how these fab 5 are. Dad always sides with them because of his business interests. Wealthy bunch of people, all of them."

"I am truly grateful for your help sir," said Nandini.

"Call me Randheer," he said," Sir sounds too old for me."

"But sir," she said," how can I....."

"If you call me by my name," he said," It will me much better."

"All right," said Nandini.

"You should have been there as well," Cabir told Manik," you should have seen her embarassed face."

"Nyonika kept me busy," said Manik in an irritated voice.

"She is hosting a party tomorrow night," continued Manik," and she wants me to attend it as well. I hate all this!"

"Accompany you to a party?" asked Nandini.

"Yes," said Randheer," Dad is going to a party at Malhotra mansion and I need to go there as well. If you join me, I will consider the favour returned."

"I need to ask my chachu and chachi," she said.

"I am sure they wont disagree," said Randheer with a pleasant smile on his face.