By Anirudh Arun1 - s3.amazonaws.com fileBy Anirudh Arun5 About the Author Back in 1989, when Anirudh...

1By Anirudh Arun

Anirudh Arun

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

5By Anirudh Arun

About the Author

Back in 1989 when Anirudh was born in a small hospital in Hyderabad his parents determined that he would live the life of a nomad In the years that followed Anirudh was granted the privilege of living in several cities including Bengaluru Nagpur Chennai Muscat Dubai Goa and New Delhi Having finished his schooling in Chennai in 2007 he went on to graduate in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee He currently lives in Mumbai where he works in the Oil and Natural Gas sector for Schlumberger Asia Services Limited

His trysts with writing began as a child as he yearned to create stories which would amaze his grandmother who was story-teller-in-chief at home Later on he began writing consistently both in school and in college where he was the Chief Editor of the campus news magazine

You can read more about him at wwwanirudharunblogspotcom You can also follow him on Twitter (AniArun89) or on Facebook

ldquoEvery person is a star it is only when you are close to them that you realize their true potential and powerrdquo

11By Anirudh Arun

THE BOY WHO ENDURED

Underlining the most important points in my essay I glanced up at the clock only to realize that there were only two more minutes left to tick away After the fiasco that was the Mathematics exam I knew it couldnrsquot get worse But this was better than what I had bargained for CBSErsquos English board exam was proving to be a stroll in the park A blind cat could top this exam I thought to myself

Nevertheless one must never be overconfident and I rechecked some answers in the Literature section Soon the only loose string left to tie up was the one which would ensure that my answer booklet didnrsquot fall apart So with great composure I did precisely that Then I deposited my booklet in the invigilatorrsquos arms and walked out in gladiatorial fashion

This great big flourish was precisely the boost I needed before my last board exam Science which was the only thing which now stood between me and a wonderfully languid vacation I walked out of the examination centre with my chest puffed out and my head held high There was a spring in my stride a smile on my lips and a song in the air I laughed at stupid things all the way home and as soon as I stepped through the doorway I threw my bag to one corner of the room and stripped myself off my shirt Throwing it lazily into the washing machine I proceeded to turn on my computer and play round after round of lsquoCounter-Strikersquo- a much needed post-exam stress buster

The Steadfast Tin Soldier12

The next day my preparations for the last exam of the summer commenced Everything went as planned and I familiarized myself with all aspects of the sciences If I wasnrsquot this modest Irsquod say that I was bloody good at it So as expected I was in high spirits on examination day

Whistling a tune I know not from where I pranced about the house slipping into my uniform Mom stared at me as if I was a strange species from the Pacific depths and Dad gave me one of those looks which he normally reserves for the mentally unfortunate None of this deterred me as I picked off my Idlis one after the other

Checking my pockets for appropriate stationery ndash pen pencil eraser and all ndash I smiled a contented smile A few more hours and Irsquod be free ndash as free as a frikkinrsquo bird

I finished the routine check by opening the compartment of my bag where I normally kept the hall ticket Not finding it there I sedately walked up to my drawer and rummaged through its contents careful not to hurt sheets of white which bore resemblance to the ticket It wasnrsquot there either Sensing a slight jolt in my diaphragm I jogged to my bedroom and checked the study table No hall ticket Feeling faint nauseated and numb I collapsed on my bed And then I ran around the house tossing aside cushions and ransacking desks and tables Still lsquonorsquohellip Bloody hell I thought this is the end

I did what any normal fellow would do under such dire circumstances ndash I told my parents And then I did what routine guys did again ndash I regretted telling them It was quite apparent that they couldnrsquot help me in any way whatsoever apart from rummaging spaces I had already rummaged and running about

13By Anirudh Arun

flustered as I was myself But the worst part the questions ndash ldquoWHERE DID YOU KEEP ITrdquo they asked as though I had hidden it somewhere and had challenged them to a scavenger hunt

My head was swimming the way unfortunate ants swim in your tea as I sat beside dad while he negotiated the Chennai roads We said nothing to each other and I was choking on the silence At every traffic signal hersquod look at his cell-phone one more time as if it would tell him something My head was entirely blank Even if I wrote the exam I wondered if much good would come off it

As I alighted from the car I told dad that he neednrsquot join me on my way to the exam-hall Nothing good can come off it I thought But parents seldom listen to logic do they So ignoring my rationale Dad got out of the car and walked me towards the open ground where we were supposed to gather The closer we moved to the crowd the more wary I became ndash I didnrsquot want dad having to explain how and why I lost my hall-ticket So begging him to stay where he was I proceeded to attempt solving the problem myself

He wished me luck as I walked away and told me to do well in the exam even though I knew he was actually hoping that I get to write it in the first place

The crowd was getting itself into order in the form of sections and lines as I approached them trying to look as unfazed as possible ldquoBreathe deeplyrdquo I said to myself I joined the assembly of students in the ground friends waved and I waved back as if nothing was wrong I decided to confront my teachers at the first opportunity possible and tell them the entire story


Having said the prayer and sung the National Anthem- as was the routine before every exam mdash I walked up to my Principal I had an elaborate speech prepared but watching my classmates disappear into the exam halls all I could manage was ndash ldquoHelprdquo

They made me relate the story to them again and again ndash first to my principal then to my teachers then to the principal of the school where the examination was being held and then to some CBSE authority who couldnrsquot care less Feeling like a convict whose story wasnrsquot being believed I heard them discuss the various nuances of educational laws and ethics ndash the CBSE is apparently very thorough

ldquoHow can we be sure hersquos the boy he claims he isrdquo asked one elderly man

ldquoItrsquos not ethical to allow him write an exam like thishellip It will set a precedentrdquo said a rather fat lady with a mole on her nose

More people joined the discussion even as the preliminary bell rang which meant the exam would commence in less than five minutes And here I was in the school ground staring at a group of teachers who seemed to be in a team-huddle All the time I saw dad standing a fair distance away nibbling away at his nails

A few long minutes (and what seemed like two-thirds majority) later a teacher walked towards me and threw me a smile of pity ldquoItrsquos all rightrdquo she said ldquoWe will permit it this one time if you promise not to do it againrdquo

ldquoI promiserdquo I said feeling rather foolish

ldquoWhat wersquore doing today might well be against the lawrdquo she

15By Anirudh Arun

said conspiratorially ldquoBut anyway we have decided to allow you this time Off you gordquo

I didnrsquot understand why someone would want to impersonate me during something as trivial as a board exam but therersquos no point pondering about these things I waved at dad and ran like hell

The exam was relatively easy the most difficult question I faced was when I was asked my hall-ticket number I managed to pull out the digits from the crevasses of my memory Throughout the exam I prayed the exam would never get over as I didnrsquot want to face the firing squad once this was over I didnrsquot want the holidays to begin What an anticlimax I thought

Alas the exam did end And I was left to face the music Dad blasted me for an hour-and-a-half and said that he hadnrsquot seen a lad as irresponsible as I in his entire life Mom didnrsquot talk to me properly for a day when she did she blamed herself for bringing me up the way she did If that wasnrsquot all my grandparents forced me to go to the temple and wash away some evil-eyes If my brother Abhinav was at home Irsquod have got a few mouthfuls from him as well

I tried defending myself of course I told them that someone ought to have flicked it from my bag on my way home in a crowded bus Unfortunately since nothing else was missing- What kind thief opens your bag flicks your hall-ticket and leaves everything else they asked me

And then it got worse thanks to grandma While folding my shirt she discovered a rather fibrous lump in my pocket ndash one which broke even as she tried unrolling it The fragments would


have been dismissed as unimportant scrap had it not been for a portion of a very familiar seal which was still visible And only then did it strike me

I hoped no one else identified the seal but alas more evidence came into existence A rather soiled passport-sized photograph of mine was discovered and with it was signed my death warrant Nothing can be more blasphemous than tossing your hall-ticket into the washing machine

A summer coming to an end leaves you with a lot of unpleasant feelings even if it will be remembered for all the wrong reasons That inevitable dread and those all-but-continuous Monday-morning blueshellip But however boring the holidays may have been the new term is always unwelcome this time all the more so Albeit the recent happenings (or must I say mis-happenings) would suggest the contrary let me assure you that the new term was as unwelcome as ever A broken right forearm for a right-hander is quite unasked for and I definitely didnrsquot summon the chickenpox home but when both arrive with such unsolicited punctuality just a week after your 10th standard boards itrsquos definitely not your day A dangerous beginning ndash Wait till you hear the rest

Irsquove been fortunate enough to experience most of the maladies known to mankind at present as well as a couple the docs are not yet familiar with Malaria dengue jaundice flu measleshellip the list goes on I will not burden you here by completing the list as that will take a few pages at least ndash which the publisher is unwilling to give me But the point remains that ndash even though Irsquom a veteran an old war-horse when it comes to facing these

17By Anirudh Arun

minor setbacks to the immune system this was definitely something else A potent combo

With one arm jabbed with a Butterfly needle and the other still suffering the after-effects of a previous jab (I had by now named them lsquoBatterfly needlesrsquo) all I could do is pray and hope that things get betterhellip and soon You see needles and nurses have a way Your vein is apparently good for only that much time and then it begins to swell up and do funny things of that sort It no longer takes in the IV fluid and you are in great trouble Thatrsquos when the nurse apparates to the spot looking like one of those creatures with a halo on their headshellip Itrsquos definitely not that they look terrific just that their white overalls and your dreary state combine to make you think along such lines ndash such is the phantasmagoria Definitely they donrsquot look great I might have enjoyed my time in the hospital a lot more had they made nurses the way they appear in movies So these people appear and then begins the story of lsquoClamp down his hand and search for the veinrsquo ndash the more attempts the more your agony Such things happen when you are at the docsrsquo

Ten days into my misery the docs relieved me and I was free to go home Too bad mom didnrsquot as she grounded me for another fortnight ergo I lay there in my bedroom staring at the bare ceiling studying the various patterns in the new cracks that were developing in the plaster This went on day after day (or was that a month) occasionally with friends coming over trying to look as sympathetic as they could and those lsquonot-so-good-palsrsquo not trying too hard to suppress their glee Why they went through all the trouble to visit someone they didnrsquot want to see I will probably never understand but they all did come And they all looked smug A few I must mention however did look pretty sad ndash but this was because they thought I was recovering


too fast But all this didnrsquot really hurt It was those questions which inflicted the greatest painhellip

Monday 15th May ndash 1500 hrs Ramesh entered the scene Attached to his behind was this gargantuan creature reminding me very much of the Cyclops of the Hellenic Republic much less due to his size than his stupid looks In fact had someone stuck a club into one of his hands Irsquod have believed that the one-eyed monster was right there Irsquoll just refer to him here as the unknown stupid looking guy (USLG) I know I mustnrsquot be prejudiced but if that protruding lower lip and dazed smile werenrsquot enough with the lsquoMy name ishellip duuhhelliprsquo he was taking the meaning of the word lsquostupidrsquo to a whole new dimension

I continued to study the strange species in my bedroom and it was Ramesh who broke the silence ldquoSo dude how are you It has been over two weeks nowhellip And by the way this ndash my cuzrdquo he pointed I assumed lsquocuzrsquo stood for lsquocousinrsquo

So thatrsquos what it is

ldquoSo you broke your handhelliprdquo the USLG observed He seemed compelled to make a statement ndash that statement ndash at that point

No I just fancy having my hand in a cast and getting people to sign it

ldquoYeah How did you know about thatrdquo I asked not really trying to hide the sarcasm

ldquoI noticed your hand you knowhellip And the cast told me everythingrdquo he said looking smug Elementary my dear Watson

ldquoOh I never really thought it would be so obviousrdquo

19By Anirudh Arun

Ramesh cut in perhaps sensing that his cousinrsquos deducing capabilities didnrsquot really appeal to me ldquoSo how did that happenrdquo he asked pointing at the bandaged forearm

ldquoOh you donrsquot knowrdquo Now came the hard part ndash the well thought up lie

ldquoIt was in that football match we played in the beachrdquo I said ldquoIt ended in a two each impasse And we had the penalty shootout I as usual was their shot-stopperhelliprdquo I gloated

I had a gulp of the tender-coconut water kept beside me The mouth always goes dry when I try to pass off lies making me the most unconvincing liar in the history of the art

ldquoThat first shot curling into the top righthellip I didnrsquot let it pasthellip though I did land on my hand a bit later And the rest is historyrdquo

ldquoJust as I thought it would be Football You know Arvindrdquo said Ramesh turning to face the thing which now had a name ldquoHersquos the schoolrsquos goalkeeperhellip And a bloody good one toordquo

I smiled back sheepishly Normally it would have been a well accepted complement but not when I was trying to conceal the truth Who would believe that I would slip over a stationary football and end up like this Stumble over an innocuous football and fracture an arm Irsquod be the laughing stock of the society ldquoOur regular goalkeeper Ashwin Ramachandran succumbs to the stationary footballrdquo ndash Never

The story of the chickenpox was a more interesting one

Two days into my gloom Anuj a close bud came home to pay homage to the felled veteran The conversation went on for an


hour give or take a half with me doing most of the talking (as I realized that bed-ridden people are more the lsquotalkersrsquo than the lsquotalkeesrsquo) It ended pretty abruptly when Anuj with whom my conversations usually never cease said that he felt a bit sick and wanted to go home and hit the sack He left and I resumed watching TV and on it the story of the Tamil hero who fired 30 rounds from a six-shooter pistol while he stopped a few super-fast trains with his other hand

Later that evening the phone buzzed and Anujrsquos voice emanated from it

ldquoDude Irsquom sickhellip The doctors have diagnosed me with chickenpoxhelliprdquo

Yes It was too late

Many visitors-who-kept-their-distances later the arm did heal So did the pox But the experience had left behind some deeply etched scars though not as much on the face as on the mind Nevertheless I had managed to rid myself of all the ailments which had plagued me Here I must mention that it wasnrsquot long before the local elderly diagnosed that I was finally at large free from house-arrest especially when my fluid cover drive ndash off Anujrsquos left-arm fast-medium crashed into Mr Shaanthramrsquos window Not very surprisingly lsquoA NO BALL GAMES PLEASErsquo was found on the compound walls of my apartment complex the very next morning inked in brilliant red

Chennairsquos never really short of playgrounds or maybe the boys are incredibly innovative Soon our next Chepauk Stadium was the neighbouring block car park with the pacers running in from the side lane And the game went on Even Brother was back

21By Anirudh Arun

but only for a week He had some sort of working experience to go to ndash it was called an lsquointernrsquo or something like that Abhinav studies in the Indian Institute of Technology ndash only cregraveme-de-la-cregraveme get into IITs people say But bro says that IITs have their share of dullards too Wonder how they get in Anyway brorsquos a decent legndashspinner so that added to the excitement Brother-versus-brother is always a nice sight and it was an even better sight when I hit his googly clean and straight for a six when it was 5 to win off one ball Who would realize that the mirth would die so young


23By Anirudh Arun

NORMANDY

D-Day H-Hour 26th of Mayrsquos ill-fate dawned upon me Judgement day had come too quickly and I empathized with the Allied soldiers who had landed on the beaches of Juno and Omaha Normandy (at least they had had a victory) during World War Two The alarm rang when it read half past six And a person who is seldom conscious before the bell tolls 900 during the holidays will definitely have troubles waking-up at six-thirty But today was special ndash rather I knew it would be eventful but had I known what was in store for me on 26-05 of that year Irsquod never have left the safety of the blanket

But as the story goes I not only managed to get out of my bed I completed my morning routines and ablutions (which were slightly hindered due to fear and anxiety) and even managed to feel a bit confident Nevertheless I convinced myself that there was absolutely nothing to feel positive about and then the strange feelings of self-belief quickly disappeared I only hoped one thing ndash the examiners shouldnrsquot have screwed my marks The Board exam results were here

720 am and I switched on the ancient Pentium processor and observed the Windows XP booting while the subconscious tried to invoke all the gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology I begged the deity to forgive my sins even if he did not and could not completely do that for I was sure I had sinned a lot I tried convincing him that today was not the day of punishment My


board results shouldnrsquot suffer

730 am Yes the computer completed booting Dad was leaving for office he wished me before he left and told me not to worry It was more of those talks which felt like ndash Donrsquot worry about anything You would have done well but just in case you donrsquot I want you to remember that I will still be your father and as your father it is my duty to THRASH THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU

Well anyway it was one less person watching over my shoulder while the results were displayed on the hallowed portals of cbsenicin I thanked god for the small mercies but I pledged to be more grateful for the bigger ones The minutes seemed to crawl by and being a believer in the supernatural and beyond I began to look for perhaps a man who could stop time Anyway by 740 I decided that the only way to calm my jumpy nerves was to play a good game of football on the computer

Soon Drogba and Lampard scored and I went 2-0 up over AC Milan But my success had died away when mom came blasting into the room ldquoWHAT IN THE WORLD Is this the time to play I thought you were checking out your results Absolutely no sense of responsibilityhellip Blah Blahrdquo When shersquod finished I told her that the results wonrsquot be up till 800 and until then I had nothing to do

ldquoBut how does young Khanna here have his resultsrdquo she said as she left the room to attend to something burning on the stove which had begun to smell like a mix of paint and old cheese

I was baffled by this statement and would have denounced her mean practical-joke as thatrsquos what I thought it was until I saw the lad for myself

25By Anirudh Arun

Rohit Khanna was standing in front of me and in his hand seemed to be a printout of some sort As he waved the sheet at me his face showed what I believe was a mixture of contentment and respite That could be only one thinghellip The one thing to rule them allhellip

ldquoNinety-onerdquo he said flatly

ldquoNinety-one whatsrdquo

ldquoPercentrdquo

ldquoNinety-one percentrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos what I believe I saidrdquo He looked smug

ldquoBut the results arenrsquot out till 800rdquo I protested

Momrsquos voice wafted in from the kitchen ndash ldquoIf only you had opened the website and didnrsquot play that blasted game of yoursrdquo There was a lot of venom in that lsquoblastedrsquo

ldquoMomhellip they said they wonrsquot put it up till 800rdquo

ldquoWell they did didnrsquot theyrdquo Rohit said unequivocally

I had hurriedly switched off the game which was going so well with Lampard about to score his second goal Why is he here I never called him He may be a friend but that doesnrsquot mean he invites himself over I typed out the roll number and glanced nervously over my shoulder

ldquoRohit thanks for telling me that the results are out Irsquoll tell you my results as soon as I get themrdquo I said


ldquoNo probs man Irsquoll wait right here and see themrdquo said he

ldquoNo dude This will take some time With a 256kbps internet connection itrsquoll take a long timerdquo

ldquoI have all the time in the world I have no problemsrdquo

But you are my problem I didnrsquot want anyone peeping over my shoulders when my grades popped up on screen complicating things that were already bad I decided to put it straight to him through his thick skull

ldquoActually I want to be alone you know Irsquoll see my grades and tell yardquo

He laughed god knows why

ldquoAnyway you are going to tell me I may as well see itrdquo

ldquoI donrsquot want you aroundhelliprdquo

ldquoLook here You have seen mine so itrsquos only fair that I see yoursrdquo

ldquoMine ainrsquot gonna be a ummmhelliprdquo I said glancing at his sheet ldquo91-85-97-89-91 you know Why the hell canrsquot youhelliprdquo

I was getting livid with the guy when ndash ldquoHave you seen it yetrdquo Mom cried out from the kitchen

ldquoNo no Just doing thatrdquo What the hell Irsquoll do it I reluctantly clicked the lsquoCheck Result Nowrsquo button I prayed to the lord that my math grade the subject I had done the worst in was not too bad

27By Anirudh Arun

The judgement popped out instantly Wherersquos Maths Wherersquos Maths Ahh therehellip

MATHEMATICS 86

lsquoWhoarsquo Not only had I passed I had done better than the 70 I had expected I knew there had to be something wrong seeing that I had attempted for 80 marks only Well such things are better left unanswered Never look a gift horse in its mouthhellip Gaining heart seeing that lady luck was with me I went on to inspect the other results

SOCIAL SCIENCE 95 - I rock

COMM SANSKRIT 75 - Hmmmhellip

SCIENCE 92 - This was better than I had ever expected

I had aced everything (by my standards anyway) English That - Irsquod have topped yet againhellip After all it was the subject I had consecutively topped the past 5 tests A smile crept upon my face Was it 94 or 96 92 would do actuallyhellip

COMM ENGLISH 82

What in the world This canrsquot behellip Mom was beside me now She patted me on the back and congratulated me for my lsquogoodrsquo performance Couldnrsquot she read My subject I had fallen in my own territory

I refreshed the page twice and checked the grades of fellow classmates Every other bloke seemed to have an 85 or morehellip Then why I hadnrsquot asked for an exchange deal with the almighty


I definitely did not remember saying ldquoGive me extra marks in Maths and take them away in Englishrdquo No I had wanted an outright grant ndash ldquoGive me marks in maths periodrdquo Somewhere along the line someone had gobbled up some of my marks

I recovered my nerve just in time to see mom leave the room and head towards the phone to probably tell my dad how lsquowellrsquo I had done Actually I was indeed beginning to feel happy about the results when Rohit decided to speak again

ldquoHey you know whathellip Yoursquove done pretty well Just thinkhellip Yoursquove got round about 86 man Exactly 86 in facthelliprdquo He could have left it at that ldquoJust 5 percent less than mehellip Not bad at allrdquo

ldquoWhy yourdquo I began But then I realized that he couldnrsquot help being the insufferable show-off that he was It was just him Just like sugar had to be sweet Just like a fish was born with gills - to breathe underwater this guy was born insolent impudent and supercilious If he wasnrsquot that then maybe he wouldnrsquot have been the Rohit Khanna who people knew maybe people might have even liked him

I realized that what he had said was probably meant as a compliment of some sort He didnrsquot often compare people with himself I ended up saying lsquoThank yoursquo to which he smiled I had been right

The next 10 minutes went with me listening to how unfair the invigilator had been to him during the exam as she had taken his answer sheet away from him before the others and how he would so easily have got 10 more markshellip

Allrsquos well that ends well ndash I firmly believe in that

29By Anirudh Arun

And so the English disaster notwithstanding I felt that more good had come than I had expected Actually I had done pretty well This was Tamil Nadu No This was Chennai ndash otherwise I would (and so would everyone else) have considered my performance par-excellence Here was a city where students seemed to be born geniuses ndash Indiarsquos best results in the CBSE boards I was told But surprisingly Abhi had told me that the statersquos performance in competitive exams after 12th like the JEE and AIEEE was pretty bad After all he should know he did make it through and so hersquod probably know better than anyone else how the crowd was inside

I was drifting away into this reverie when I remembered that I must talk with my brother and tell him about the results at once After all he was the one person who had kept faith in me all this while even when others didnrsquot He should have been home during that time of the year actually but he had that lsquointernrsquo thing

I picked up the phone ndash my ancient transistor type Motorola telephone a vintage piece which would have gone for a fortune if only it had had its entire set of buttons intact lsquoAbhinavrsquo - I chose and pressed call A few seconds later a grunt from the other side indicated that he was on the line

ldquoHey guess whatrdquo I said

ldquoYeah whathelliprdquo my brother went He seemed a bit distracted

ldquoI got myhelliprdquo

ldquoHEY cover me Bomb site Bhellip FRAGSTER GOT ME What the fuhellip Oh sorry HI I almost forgot you were there Tell me whatrsquos uprdquo Yeah he was distracted all right


ldquoNo nothinghellip Just that I got my resultsrdquo

ldquoOk that Ma told me about that Heard you did well Congrats keep it uprdquo

ldquoButhelliprdquo

ldquoNo Donrsquot worry about English They screwed my marks toordquo I knew that he would understand

ldquoAnyway Irsquoll catch you later man Gotta go nowhellip GOT HIM Headshot Fragster HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT Bhelliprdquo Then the click of the telephone

The results were a thing of the past now I was feeling pretty glad about them I had never really liked studying Bro seemed to enjoy whatever he did He liked studying when he did And when he played he enjoyed that too I enjoy playing though But ever since he had made it through the JEE into an IIT my teachers openly and my parents discreetly started having not only hopes but great plans for my future Come on now I canrsquot help it if my brother was a frikkinrsquo genius Though everyone did say that I was the smarter of the two siblings I believe in destiny and at that point I felt that I was not destined to achieve things like IITshellip No That was too much work for me I liked the way I was the life I lived It was easy

But they wouldnrsquot leave it at that Their plans were made and I would achieve what I was lsquodestinedrsquo to attain in their views come what may So on the twelfth of May the year of the lord 2010 I had allowed myself to finally believe that it was a good idea to join evening coaching classes (my brother had ndash thatrsquos why) to give myself a fair shot at those famed exams after Std XII The professors (for the coaching classes) had told us to

31By Anirudh Arun

contact them as soon as the results were out lsquoMaybe I should remind momrsquo I had thought

Just then ldquoASHSHWIIINrdquo ndash went Momrsquos sing-song voice which I probably would have appreciated a lot more if I didnrsquot invariably associate it with nagging and irritation For some reason I felt that she was piqued by something

ldquoYEAH MArdquo I had said ldquoWhat nowrdquo

ldquoWhat do you mean lsquoWhat nowrsquo I donrsquot appreciate that tone young man You are talking as though yoursquove already done a lot of workrdquo

I decided that she was definitely annoyed with me for some unknown reason

ldquoYeah okay sorryhellip What was it aboutrdquo

ldquoI told you to get print-outs of your mark sheethellip We really must be offrdquo Mom said

ldquoOhhh the profs I was just going to remind youhellip I thought that you might have forgottenrdquo

ldquoYou really thinkrdquo She almost scoffed ldquoAnyway we must really be off right now The place will be swarming with people alreadyrdquo

ldquoBy the way mahellip Have you told grandma about the results yetrdquo I didnrsquot want her to miss out on informing anyone ndash especially someone like grandma who would shower me with presents even for a below average performance This would call for a Five-Star treat in her views And besides it was a chance


to prove my responsible nature I was being called lsquocallousrsquo all too often these days Maybe if she hadnrsquot told someone and I reminded her I would be able to regain some lost respect with family folk

ldquoOf coursehellip Thatrsquos why we are late in leaving I just finished calling your grandmas and granddads And of course Sripriya and Bhuvan (Aunt and Uncle) and Raj (another uncle of mine) I even talked to Vishal (that was my cousin ndash a toddler 2 years old he was) And of course I had to tell a couple of my colleagues in school And I talked to your principal also She wasnrsquot too happy though knew you are capable of more Then I talked to some more of your teachershellip (Oh thatrsquos just great) I told Shruti too (my favourite cousin)hellip She herself has got 93 she has taken commercerdquo The list went on for another couple of minutes

So the world knew already

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International Shipping

5By Anirudh Arun

About the Author

Back in 1989 when Anirudh was born in a small hospital in Hyderabad his parents determined that he would live the life of a nomad In the years that followed Anirudh was granted the privilege of living in several cities including Bengaluru Nagpur Chennai Muscat Dubai Goa and New Delhi Having finished his schooling in Chennai in 2007 he went on to graduate in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee He currently lives in Mumbai where he works in the Oil and Natural Gas sector for Schlumberger Asia Services Limited

His trysts with writing began as a child as he yearned to create stories which would amaze his grandmother who was story-teller-in-chief at home Later on he began writing consistently both in school and in college where he was the Chief Editor of the campus news magazine

You can read more about him at wwwanirudharunblogspotcom You can also follow him on Twitter (AniArun89) or on Facebook

ldquoEvery person is a star it is only when you are close to them that you realize their true potential and powerrdquo

11By Anirudh Arun

THE BOY WHO ENDURED










13By Anirudh Arun















15By Anirudh Arun












17By Anirudh Arun














19By Anirudh Arun














Yes It was too late



21By Anirudh Arun



23By Anirudh Arun

NORMANDY











25By Anirudh Arun




ldquoPercentrdquo






















27By Anirudh Arun


MATHEMATICS 86






COMM ENGLISH 82











29By Anirudh Arun











ldquoButhelliprdquo





31By Anirudh Arun















Order Now

Connect with us


11By Anirudh Arun

THE BOY WHO ENDURED










13By Anirudh Arun















15By Anirudh Arun












17By Anirudh Arun














19By Anirudh Arun














Yes It was too late



21By Anirudh Arun



23By Anirudh Arun

NORMANDY











25By Anirudh Arun




ldquoPercentrdquo






















27By Anirudh Arun


MATHEMATICS 86






COMM ENGLISH 82











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By Anirudh Arun1 - s3.amazonaws.com fileBy Anirudh Arun5 About the Author Back in 1989, when Anirudh...

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