“Sit on the FIRST BENCH. Good girls always sit on the first bench.”…. I remembered mamma’s words as I looked for “KG C” on the looooooong corridor of my school. It sure was scary ….to look out for my classroom all alone wondering….. why can’t mamma — pappa come to school with me . It was the first day of my school and parents were not allowed inside the gate. I had come to school in my school-bus and sure had a tough time waving back at mamma with tears rolling down my cheeks as the bus conductor carried me from the bus stop and put me in a huge looking bus with anxious faces of the ‘big’ girls (didis as I was supposed to call them) staring back at me. Mamma looked worried and felt as if she was craving to hold me tight and accompany me to school.
I finally found a classroom with ‘KG C’ written on the door. I entered the class ….uh oh… all first benches gone!! But mamma told me to sit on the first bench. I sternly ordered one of the girls sitting on the first bench. “Girly my mamma has told me to sit on the first bench. Get up.. I have to sit here”. I got nothing but a rude glance back at me. But how can I sit now?? There is no first bench!!! Totally disappointed I came out of the class and started searching for first bench in the neighboring classes. The search went on for a long time and I was almost in tears as teachers started going into their respective classes and finally the bell rang. I ran and entered some classroom which seemed to have place on the first bench..JUST FOR ME …. I thought and entered the class with a beaming smile.
My new teacher entered and suddenly everyone stood up with a loud “Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooood morniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggg teacher”.I was totally bewildered and a bit scared too. As everyone took their seats the teacher looked at me and said… “Hey …we have a new face with us today. Girly… what is your name?”…but it was first day of school..how come I was the only new face??? I gave a sheepish smile and merely looked down too shy to answer. “Ok girls…. It’s time for prayer service. Line up and start walking towards the auditorium. And please hold your partners’ hand tightly.”It all seemed like French and Latin but the others obediently followed the teacher’s orders. …….. How come they know all this???!!!.. I wondered as I was dragged out of the class by my ‘partner’. When I walked out..girls girls and girls was all I got to see around…. It seemed as if girls was the only specie that existed.. Was there no school for Pappa? Or was he a girl as a kid??!! Looks like everyone is a girl as a kid and then they grow up into a boy. But then… mamma??? Teacher??? How come they remained gals??? There was a big question mark on my face as we walked into a humongous hall with a stage and a Cross above it. “Where are we?” I asked my ‘class partner’ as I tightly held her hand when we came and lined up in a place that they called the auditorium. “Shhhhh…. We have come here to pray. Don’t talk. Else God will be angry” she answered and pointed out to Christ on the Cross that we were facing.
Meanwhile my mom was all the while worried wondering whether I reached school safely. She feared that the conductor would send me to the wrong school. So she ran to school and went to my class to make sure I was present. She entered the KG C classroom which was filled with tiny faces of gals who started looking at her curiously. The teacher called out my name.. but no one seemed to answer. Mom hurriedly went and checked the faces of each any every tiny tot present in the class. She was by now in tears as she checked in all the classes and I was nowhere to be found.
The news reached my principal who made an announcement in the entire school.. “Miss Kshitija, your mother is waiting for you. Please come to the ground floor corridor”.
Mom had already gone to the neighboring school to see if I was accidentally dropped there. Weird thoughts started haunting her with absolutely no trace of my whereabouts.
Amidst all the panic and nervousness I was praying away to glory blissfully ignorant of the chaos that I had created. Dear God. Please bring my mamma to school. I miss her a lot. Please bring her to my class and make her sit beside me. I’m scared of my teacher. The prayer service was over and it was time to go back to class.
Mom after having searched the neighborhood had returned back to my school. My principal though worried put up a strong exterior and assured her that they would find me. “God is there to protect our innocent kid Mrs. Gupte. Please don’t panic.” They had searched in all the classes but had forgotten to look into the one class (II C) at the end of the corridor that had gone for prayer service. With no sign of me anywhere around they were all set to call the police since all the school buses had left and were going to return only after the school was over, to drop the kids home.
On my way back to the class I was thinking about my prayer to God holding my partner’s hand. As I was about to enter my new class I looked at the big corridor ……Ohh….. GOD HAD ANSWERED MY PRAYER…. He sent Mamma to school….”MAMMA…”… I shouted when I saw my mom the only familiar face standing with my principal and other sisters clad in their white gowns at the other end ….. “Oh baby….!!!!” Mom exclaimed with tears rolling down her eyes .. “Where were you? Why are you not in your class?”….. mom asked as she lifted me and hugged me tightly. “But mamma… you told me to sit on the first bench. I had to go all the way to that class searching for it. And mamma…. You know what….. I missed you soooooooo much…..I had asked God to send you to school. See….He listened to me…coz ‘m a good gal “…. “Oh… dear God!!” was all she could say!
Kay’s Odyssey 
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