My Sis: Through My Eyes (32)
Epilogue (Life Story of Sis Is the Life Story of Spirited Indian Women) :
“Kirey, palachchhis keno? Diyechhe nischoi anker teacher aaj uttam madhyam..?” (Hi, Sister. Why are you running away like that? Looks like your Maths Teacher gave you a nice thrashing today, didn’t she?” All those para (local) dadas like Tambu, Gopali and Dipu, standing under the Banyan tree at the corner of Padma Pukur Park uttered in a chorus and broke out in a laughter raucously.
Sis gritted her teeth and hurriedly took a right turn past Madhu’s Confectionery to her best friend, Alo’s house.
The Maths Teacher, Arunadi, her private tutor and a brilliant student once, was really becoming a menace. Yelling, screaming at her every time she made a mistake (and she made mistakes very frequently while doing maths sums in those days), she made life hell for Sister. She screamed her lungs out, looking daggers at her pupil, making even the people staying near by, feel uncomfortable.
Sis missed Prasanta Da, her previous teacher at such times. He was such a mild-mannered man and she had him under her thumb! How she wished now that perfect gentleman was back to being her Maths Tutor instead of this monster with the bulging eyes!
Arunadi was appointed as her private tutor after Hansi Di, the Asst. Headmistress of her school, issued a guardian call. The results of the Pre-Boards ( We called them Tests) were out and Sis had not fared well in Maths. Sis was accompanied by Mejdi Arati to Kailash Balika Vidyalaya the next day.
“Dekhun, Arati Di. Tapasir result dekhun.” (Have a look at her result, Aratidi.) She said pointing to the mark sheet in front of her on the table.
Mejdi Arati looked at the result sheet. Sis had done quite well in the arts subjects. She was not lagging behind the toppers by more than a mark or two in subjects like Bengali, History or Geography. But in Science, she performed miserably, mostly because of Maths. In the Additional Subject, Sister had scored 80, thereby adding 40 marks to her total!
It was at the initiative of Hansi Di herself that Arunadi, known to her personality, was appointed as Sis’s Maths Tutor. She was a stern task-mistress but a very good teacher. Sis was scared of her and knew it best to not to try to take any liberties with her.
Her exam centre that year was Christopher Junior School, not far from our residence. Sis needed to answer at least 4 qs carrying 5 marks each. If she could secure only 20 in Maths, she could get through the Science group with the help of the other subjects like Biology and Physics.
The exam had hardly proceeded any further than an hour when Sis submitted her answer paper and with her head held high, left the room like one of the Royals you get to see in the movies, walking past the adjacent room where Alo was still busy writing the the paper!
Sis,with her haughty steps,coughed up a little while passing the adjacent room. She had that triumphant look on her face that seemed to question why others were taking so long to finish writing their papers while she found the paper so easy.
After the scheduled time, Alo came down to join her.
“Kire, pariksha kemon dili?” (How was the paper?) Sis asked her.
Alo nodded her head before remarking,” So, our exams finally got over today. I’m going to celebrate by going to a movie at Entally Cinema. It is called “Ek Mutthi Bhara Chaul”. Alo replied.
“Why? Don’t you have the Optional Paper in the second half?” Sister asked Alo.
Also shook her head. Sis who had 40 marks added to her total marks in the Trial, decided to skip that paper and join Alo for the movie. Sadhan, her elder brother, in the meanwhile, had brought the tiffin consisting of coconut water and some eatables made by Ma at home.
“Sadhan,” Sister told her elder brother-cum-friend,”Let’s go watch a movie at Entally.
“Se kirey!Tor na second half a Logic achhey?” (What are you talking about? Don’t you have Logic in the second half?) Her elder brother queried.
“Bad de. Alo jachchhe. Or sange jai chal.” (Forget it. I’m going to join Alo. Let’s go.)
Though her brother was not convinced, he led them to the cinema and bought the tickets all right from the counter near the Hall.
It was a non-descriptive movie and the less is said a out it, the better.
When they returned home, Baba asked her about the exam.
“It was OK, Baba. Don’t you worry. I’ll get the pass marks all right.”
“That’s great,” answered Jogesh Babu, her father and good friend, reclining in the easy chair near the baitakkhana (Drawing Room).
“Did you answer all the questions?” He asked his youngest daughter next. Sister came out with the truth promptly trying not to avert her father’s eyes.
“No way! I just answered 4 questions of five marks each and was the first person to leave the Hall.” Sis replied haughtily.
“Baba, I’ve a request. When Arunadi comes tonight, please don’t tell her all this.” Sis asked Baba confidentially at the end.
Before Arunadi turned up in the evening, Sister had ticked almost all the questions correctly in the Maths Paper. She could tick the correct answers as Arunadi had asked her to solve exactly all those problems in her copy time and again.
Arunadi naturally was delighted with her pupil’s performance. While she was leaving the house, she encountered Baba sitting in the easychair on the way.
“Batek! 20 number answer kore, keu ki kore bhalo marks Pete pare?” I see. (How can someone get good marks in Maths, having answered only 4 questions for twenty marks?) Baba asked.
Sister, standing close to her father, was pleading with folded hands.
When the truth was finally revealed to Arunadi, she was so livid, she told Sister that she would never teach her anymore even if she scored the pass marks in the exam!
Mejda, Dhiresh Bhattacharyya, was the Head Examiner Bengali for the Madhyamik Examination that year. He came to know that Sis had failed to secure the pass marks from his friend, who was the Maths Head Examiner that year.
Sister, heartbroken, left for Jiaganj in Murshidabad soon afterwards. She had answered those 4 questions correctly and ought to have got the pass marks at least!
The day the result was out, she went to her school. Hansi Di asked her to look at the result herself.
“Didi, please balun na Maths a kato peyechhi.” (Madam, please tell me how much I scored in Maths?)
Hansi Di put her glasses back over her head to take a close look at Sister’s marks.
“Arey Tapasi, tumi to twenty four peyechho Maths a. Ar char number beshi pele, second division pete..” (You scored 24 in Maths, Tapasi. Had you secured 4 marks more, you would have passed in the second division.)
“Twenty-four! But I only answered questions for twenty marks!” Sis was genuinely nonplussed.
The entire way back home, Sis kept on solving this riddle in her mind.
How did she secure 24 marks when she had answered questions for 20 marks only? It was only after her arrival back home that she remembered that in addition to those 4 questions, she had also attempted all the ten Objective Type Questions carrying 10 marks. She must have answered four of them correctly. But she had completely forgotten about that. That’s how she had scored 24 in Maths!
Her only regret till date is, if she had not skipped the examination for the Additional Subject, she could have easily passed in the Second Division!
Today, almost everyone gets above 60% in the Madhyamik Examination but way back in 1996, there couldn’t have been more than a thousand students to have secured the Second Division.
I have kept this story for the Epilogue as, to me, this incident defines my Sister. A happy-go-lucky, honest,spirited girl, who is fun-loving and loves one and all from the bottom of her heart. Life hasn’t been kind to Sister. But does that deter her from living life to the lees? You bet, it doesn’t. Life can mould Sis but it can never mar a character like that of my dear Sister.
Sister’s story is the story of hundreds and thousands of Indian women, who do not try to hog the limelight, silently discharging their duties out of love and a sense of responsibility for the benefit of others.
The end
