Headlines! … headlines!...
"The maharaja of Gwalior, H.H. Jiwaji Rao Scindia's arrival is expected in our town today."
Headlines for the day, just for twenty-five paise!!!..
Divy
Have you heard of it? The arrival of the maharaja, how amazing would his convoy be? Maybe he'll be riding a white horse with his soldiers trailing behind him.
Ashvini
Or maybe he'll be in an English buggy with his servants and guards running with it.
This was the morning of 1935 in the princely state of Gwalior's town of Chanderi under British India.
ASHVINI!! The teacher was taking attendance.
Present ma'am!! ...
After taking attendance,
Teacher
Okay, everyone who has participated in the English poetry competition, please come to the front of the classroom.
Ashvini and five other students walked through the alley between two rows of benches and started reading their poetry one by one,
Ashvini found himself in the corner, looking at the class of fifty students, which just felt like an auditorium filled with an audience of hundreds of people. His legs were trembling, his throat dried up, and the imagination of the worst possible humiliation leaped at him.
Ashvini.. Ashvini.. the girl next to him tapped his shoulder, waking him up out of it.
Yeah!!..,
Go ahead, it's your turn..
Yes ma'am,
" The title of my poem is ' counting on life'"
It goes like…
Into the silence of pain
For the symphony of love,
Played through the scrutiny of time
Counting into months and dying at night.
When all senses appear on the surface,
And we are in the depths of intensity
Where just the soul remains intact, and even the body falls apart into excruciating pain.
Marks an emergence of resilience
Neither for salvation, Nor mercy for
Nor for any delusional dream.
Grind it to hell and
found thy steps in heaven.
As he ended, the sudden silence shook the class for a while, and the next sound was the bell that rang for the completion of the first period.
The teacher announces, "The results of this competition will be given to your science teacher, he'll be announcing it in his lecture, thank you.", leaves the class
Ashvini just couldn't grasp the reality,
' What just happened??'
Was it that bad ?, Was it good??
Or maybe it was objectionable??
To the instant, the science teacher enters the class holding up a book and a page on top of it,
He was a young fair man , with Golden round frame glasses, masculine features like jawline and slightly bulging chest, standing out from his beige shirt with a gray striped tie was prominent brown trousers with leather sepia shoes,
An elegant gentleman. He was Shantanu Bajpai.
All the students wished him, Ashvini, and the other candidates took their seats.
Mr. Shantanu took the chalk and started writing something on the blackboard,
' savitri phule and Ashvini Kumaran dubey'
"These are the winners of the poetry competition." He said
And just rub it in the next moment.
"Anyways, let's learn science now..
But before starting, can anyone tell me
What does science really mean ???"
A few hands were up for the answers, including Ashvini.
"Yes, you!! Tell me ?" pointing towards Ashvini, who was sitting on the first bench.
He stands up, "It's a simple and pure form of nature's observation."
' why don't you elaborate? my son', Mr Shantanu, asked
Ashvini: "Science is the observation of nature, how things interact, how the fundamental force acts, how a reaction occurs, how our body really functions. These observations are then determined as a certain result or outcome."
Mr Shantanu: Well it was beyond my expectations for any of you here, but still your understanding is unripe.
What was your name again, boy
"Ashvini Kumaran Dubey," he replied
Mr Shantanu: Oh, so you are the poet here,( in a sarcastic tone)
Ashvini: Yes, sir! (Awkward smile).
Mr Shantanu: Okay, sit. Everyone, open your physics textbook, chapter one
' Fundamentals of science', here we'll learn about the universal fundamental forces and laws of physics!.
Ashvini listens to the lecture with a newborn child-like curiosity, as the teacher explains the chapter further.
.
.
After the period of Hindi literature, the school was dispersed with a final bell,
All the students packed up their bags and ran towards the corridor, while Ashvini was just sitting there, packing up his olive bag slowly and walking out of the room, from afar, looking at the door of the staff room where teacher Shantanu was standing, holding his book.
Ashvini noticed he was looking at a rectangular plate in which two leather belts were embedded on opposite sides and were tied around Mr. Shantanu's right wrist. As he looked up to find Ashvini staring at him, just at that instant, Ashvini ran towards the corridor.
As Ashvini reached home, throwing his bag on the table and with curiosity about the belt on Shantanu's wrist, he went to his father's clinic just next to his house. It was a small clinic painted in pairs of blue-white, divided into two portions,
He walked in, looked at the vacant wooden chair in front of a table on which few medicines and books were stacking, as he moved into the other side, saw an british officer in khaki dress lying there, his long white arm was in blood, a gun holder was attached to his shiny brown leather belt,
Ashvini's father was treating his wound,
He went closer to read the name on his badge pinned above the right pocket of the shirt, " Issac Whitney"
Suddenly, he hears the noise of heavy boots walking towards them. He turned to look, and two royal guards entered the clinic and announced
" Attention!!, It's the arrival of the maharaja
H.H. Jiwaji Rao Scindia in the clinic !!"
Ashvini's heart was thrilled and excited to see a maharaja so close to him,
Just then, the maharaja walks in
wasn't a tall sutured nor looks like
A warrior physic,
But his style of walking, charm, and glow
Reveals all the elegance of a nobility.
In all white English uniform shines into Ashvini's eyes with a huge turban covering half of his forehead, Medals on his chest oscillate in sync. He would be just a few years older than Ashvini.
Dr. Dubey offers his vow, " his highness", seeing that Ashvini has vowed himself.
To which the Maharaja humbly greeted
" Namaste"
Then he went closer to Whitney
Maharaja: How are you? Mr. Whitney
Whitney: Oh, his highness! I'll be fine once the doctor is done closing up the wound!
Maharaja turned to Dr. Dubey,
Maharaja: How much time will it take for that??
Dr. Dubey: 15 minutes, his highness
The maharaja bends up from his elbow
Looking at his left wrist, he was wearing the same band as Mr.Shantanu.
Ashvini tried to take a closer look,
It was some kind of a round watch with two leather belts tied around the maharaja's wrist.
Maharaja: Alright,
He turned around and walked out; his guards followed him.
Out of curiosity, Ashvini trailed behind,
He saw a long white car with glasses on the front, where the driver was sitting.
A servant opened up the door for his highness and closed it once he was comfortably seated there.
Ashvini: Pita ji, what kind of watch does he wear?
Dr Dubey: It's called "wrist watch."