My Ma'am

All of a sudden, the world came to a halt. Dhruv had never imagined that Friday would be the last day of his school. He had planned the week so well, starting from exams to sleep over at his friend's house.

Dhruv had prepared so well for his exams remembering how well his ma'am had taught him his ABCs and numbers. Not only that, his favorite ma'am made learning so much fun that he became independent of all that he used to do, both at home and school.

Dhruv had promised his ma'am that he will be the first in the class this time and hugged her tightly on Friday before leaving school with the hopes of meeting her again on Monday.

Monday morning, he got up with a cheerful smile, all set to go to school. He hurriedly finished his daily chores and ate up his favorite breakfast within no time. He got ready soon and ran to the bus stop to catch the school bus.

Dhruv was looking forward to meeting his ma'am and tell her all the interesting stuff he did over the weekend. He also thought of telling her ma'am about how he planned sleepover with his best friend in the apartment. Breaking his thoughts, came the voice of the vegetable vendor, that was the time his school bus would arrive to pick him up. He was wondering as to why the school bus did not turn up.

Dhruv drank little water from his bottle though he was not thirsty thinking about his ma'am who always stressed on the importance of drinking water and stared humming the rhyme, water time, water time!!!!. While keeping his water bottle back in his bag, he saw his father waving at him. It was no surprise for him because every day he would forget something or the other and his father would get that to his bus stop. But today, on the contrary, Dhruv had gotten all his stuff well packed.

Dhruv's father approached him and told him in a squeaky voice that school would be closed for unclear reasons. Now that got the curiosity of Dhruv There was a mixed bag of reactions from his side. He did not know what to say? His face turned red, and tears started rolling down his cheeks. He could not take the shock of not meeting his favorite ma'am and his friends.

Dhruv's father started walking past him. Dhruv lost in his own world started crying uncontrollably. He ran behind his father pestering him to wait for the school bus. His ears turned deaf to his father's advice. He just wanted to go to school and hug his ma'am and meet up with his friends. His father carried him home forcibly and started showing him the message he got from school that it remains closed as a safety measure due to coronavirus. Though this quietened him a bit, he pleaded his father to drop him to school. His father just ignored him and walked off thinking that after sometime, Dhruv would get back to his normal self.

Dhruv wiped his tears and remembered his ma'am telling him about the corona virus. His ma'am had told him the three rules to keep themselves safe. one, everyone to keep a safe distance from each other and stay at home; two, wash their hands and feet frequently; and three, to wear masks when they would go out of their house. After making sure the children understood these thumb rules, his favorite ma'am also distanced herself from the children stating that it was not safe anymore to hug children and that saying Namaste and air HIFI would be better for everyone. His favorite ma'am had also taught them a rhyme on Corona....

Wash your hands, wash your hands

Say bye bye corona and wash your hands

Rub your palms Rub your palms

Say bye bye corona and rub your palms

Use the soapy soap, use the soapy soap

say bye bye corona use the soap

Humming the above rhyme, Dhruv had pleaded his ma'am to hug him one last time on Friday and that he would never ask for more. This time, his ma'am obliged and hugged him on Friday and told him to be safe in his apartment. He remembered how he waved at her and came running back to her and did an air HIFI and ran towards his bus.

Breaking his thoughts, Dhruv heard his father calling him for lunch. Remembering the three thumb rules told by his ma'am, he washed his face, hands, and feet and told his father to do the same, which his father obliged to do too. He said prayers like how he used to at school, before snacks time, and completed his lunch without even leaving a single grain of rice on the plate as his ma'am always used to tell him that God would always bless those children who would not waste the food. While his father left little rice on the plate, Dhruv insisted that his father would empty the plate, which he did with a grin on his face. Unaware of all this, Dhruv walked to his bed to take a small nap, because that would make him feel energetic in the evening, again, as told by his ma'am because he believed whatever his ma'am would say was true and beneficial for him. Of course, he did feel energized throughout his playtime in the evening!!!

He did wear a mask and remembered what his ma'am had told him, that no corona virus would attack him as he did his morning and bedtime prayers religiously. Slowly the play time was cut down as the play area was locked as a safety measure.

One thing he liked about coronavirus was that he could spend quality time with his father and now, even his mother used to work from home, otherwise, she used to work in the night shift. He was missing his mother's love, which had got him close to his favorite ma'am. Now, slowly as the bonding between Dhruv and his parents grew strong, that never allowed Dhruv to forget his favorite ma'am and he waited until the reopening day of school, waiting to hug his ma'am ......................one last time!! which I am sure Dhruv would be able to.......what say???