September 5th, the birthday of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan is celebrated as teachers day in India. It is to honor all the educators who have dedicated their lives to implanting and nurturing the intellectual seed in every student's mind. Like most school in her city, Aashna's school also has been observing this special holiday to celebrate their teachers. Being in the 11th std she along with her batch mates volunteered for this event. It is a unique day indeed with students playing teachers and teachers taking a break from their mundane tutoring schedule. Their day started with setting up the trays of sweets and snacks that were specially prepared by the most authentic South Indian restaurant Swagath. The smell of the freshly prepared vada,sambar, kesari percolated its way to the corridor making everyone salivate. So it was a field day for the teachers. While the senior students were running around with the time table of the day, Aashna and her friend Kavvya chose to go to the kindergarten class since they thought it would be easy to handle the little ones. Boy...they were wrong!
The moment they both stepped into the classroom, they saw pencil boxes, books flying all over, girls pulling each other pony tails while the boys were having a kick boxing session. Aashna thought it was just like scene from "Kindergarten Cops" only that Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to bring them under control by merely showing his biceps. Anyway both the girls had taken up the responsibility and there was no way of backing up at the last moment. The initial jitters were soon taken over by the excitement of interacting with this bunch of tiny tots. There was this shy Swetha who would not utter a word. Sitting next to her was curious Bharath who had incessant bursts of questions " How old are you?", "Do you get homework?" Does your dad give you time out?" and so on. Then there was, this aspiring doctor Naveen who was an encyclopedia of human diseases and stylish Suman who pretended to be superstar Rajini. Over all Aashna thought that they were adorable bunch of Kindergartners, each with their own interesting personality. Kaavya picked a book on Farm animals and both of them took turns to read to it the class. After the reading session was over they were planning to distribute cookie treats for the youngsters. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Aashna opened it to find Uday standing outside. Uday was a very accomplished 11 th grader with a great vision and aspiration. Aashna always looked up to him for inspiration. He was strong, confident and over all charming. He was the president of National Honor society, volunteered in local Red cross and of course was the brain behind today's function. He said that he had come to check if everything was running as per schedule and chatted for a few minutes. Before he left he said" Girls, don't forget to come to the auditorium at 2 pm sharp".
The cultural programs were planned for that afternoon. Aashna, Kavvya and Lavanya singed up for singing. Lavanya had the voice of Lata Mangeshkar with carnatic skills of M.S. Subbalakshmi. She sure was the nightingale of their school. Having little confidence in their singing skills themselves, Aashna and Kavya was sure that they could pull a stunning rendition of a film song with Lavanya on board. Lavanya's mother picked a beautiful Bharathiyar song for them and helped them perfect the notes. Little did they rehearse, most of the time was spent discussing what to wear for the event. It was 12 noon already and Aashna was getting nervous about the afternoon program. So all three girls decided to assemble in the playground near the kindergarten to fine tune the song before the finale. Meanwhile, Aashna and Kavvya were ready to say Good bye to their little friends. Hugs, kisses, hand made cards and candies from the little ones melted their hearts. Aashna felt very accomplished having not only to tame that unruly class but also to have made new friends.She was touched by their innocent mind and inquisitive brain.
The time was 1 pm and the girls had one round of final rehearsal session that went on as planned. They all changed to silk cotton salwars with black metal accessories inspired by their favorite movie star Nadia. They did each other's hair, brushed a little rouge and lipstick to look glamorous for the stage. As they walked up to the auditorium their hard work at make up was rewarded with Uday's compliments. "Man, my day is made!" Aashna thought in her mind blushing. He ushered them to come to the back stage. There was a 7th grader who was dancing to a famous Kamal Hassan's number with audience cheering him. They were told that their performance will the next one. As they were lining up to enter the stage from behind the curtain, all of a sudden Lavanya started shaking as though she was hit by lightening bolt. Her eyes were filled with tears,hands tremulous and cold ! Aashna felt a lump in her throat as well. No one knew until then that stage freight was contagious!! Seeing Aashna and Lavanya having a melt down, melted Kaavya's confidence too. So here they were practically 2 minutes before the performance that the girls were contemplating dashing out of the door. This caught Uday's attention. He came up to Aashna and asked her what was going on. She narrated the stage freight situation that seem to be spreading like a wild fire. He looked at her, held her hands and said " I know you can do it". Those words worked like magic. Aashna felt a sudden surge of confidence, excitement replaced fear instantaneously and she wanted to prove it to herself and to others that she can do it. She quickly pulled the other girls for a small pep talk. Very soon they heard Uday announcing their names in the mike. As they sang the Bharthiar's song in harmony, she felt empowered by a new sense of strength, happiness and accomplishment. She glanced at Uday with tears in her eyes that conveyed respect, admiration and affection!
