The Question

“Hello, Is it Sita? Ramesh’s mother?”

“Yes speaking.”

“I am calling from the KV Karaikal. I am Ramesh’s class teacher. I want to talk to you about Ramesh. Can you please come to the school?”

A bewildered Sita was taken back. “Is he doing allright? What happened to him?”

“Nothing Mam. We want to talk to you about him. That’s it”

Sita did not understand why she would be called to the school. Though not very bright, Ramesh was a courteous boy and rarely got into fights. But this was a new school and he just started going to school alone. She had a swirl in her stomach, with an unknown fear and rushed to the School.

Ramesh was standing outside the teachers’ room waiting for his mom to come. It was his punishment to stand there.  He was hanging his head down and could hear whispers behind him.  He wished the teacher hadn’t called his mom.  The principle’s room along with teachers rooms were the first building a person would bump into when entering the school.

When Sita entered the school she could already see Ramesh standing in front of one of the rooms. She was rather relieved that Ramesh was fine. But Ramesh standing there made her curious. As she went closer to ramesh, her teacher walked out.

“Hello Mrs Sita. Good afternoon. I’m Ramesh’s class teacher”

“What happened to Ramesh? Why is he standing outside ? What did he do?” She enquired with a concerned tone.

“Ramesh has become a bad influence on his class mates.”

It had all started in the morning. Like any other day he was cycling to his school.  He was new to this school and city. It required lot of crying and fight to get to use the cycle.  Recently moving into double digit age corridor, Ramesh was feeling important. His usual road was blocked and had to take a detour travelling through a different path.  It’s a road he had not taken and was warned not to take this road. The new road had a lot of bumps.

‘Thud’ He hit one of the bumps and fell down. He fell side on and the cycle was crushing him from the top. Quickly a lady who was standing near by came to help him. She instantly removed the cycle.

“Are you feeling alright?” she enquired.

Ramesh started to sob a bit though had no major injuries. She dusted him off and asked “ Do you want something to drink”?

Suddenly a man jumped in out of nowhere and pushed away the lady.

“Don’t touch the boy.  Now you want to spoil small kids too? You dirty prostitute” The lady was saddened and walked aside. He quickly turned to the boy and strongly grabbed his shoulder “you should not be talking to that lady.  Now keep going to the school.”

Ramesh was stunned. He couldn't understand what happened. The one who was nice to him ended up crying and ran away, while the one who had hurt him, felt accomplished.

Curiosity had gotten over him. "What is a 'prostitute' mam?",  Ramesh asked this question to his teacher with his widened eyes after reaching school. His teacher was shocked to hear this and still thinking of what would have led to this inquisitiveness.

"Where did you learn this word from?" She asked in utter rage and shock. She instantly had called up his mother.

And Sita was in the school facing his teacher.

“Ramesh is being led in the wrong company and it can affect the kids around him” she said concerned. She even threatened them about taking this issue to the Principal if he carried on with this shenanigan. Sita assured her it was be the last time Ramesh does something like this. When Ramesh narrated the whole incident to this mother, his mother’s response surprised him. She told him sternly not to talk about this again.

Ramesh wasn't that young to not be able to differentiate the injustice being done to that girl, but he was not old enough too to understand the reasons behind it. In the evening he was determined to know why people were behaving so strange around him.  When he returned from the school he reached to the cupboard in the storage room and dusted down his father’s old websters dictionary without his mother knowledge.

25 years later.

Ramesh was walking in his house’s garden with his older daughter who had just turned 8.

“Appa what is the meaning of the word prostitute”? She asked.