Silver Line

A new student has taken admission in class four. The class monitor Piyush saw him entering the class and advanced towards him. He said “Hello. Welcome to our school. Today is your first day in the school right? Well let me introduce myself and other students to you. I’m Piyush” and then he turned towards others and said their names. The boys raised their hands and said “Hi” The introduction ended and Piyush noticed the new student just smiled and nodded but didn’t speak out a single word. He thought the new one is very shy so to make him comfortable he said “Now introduce yourself”

“My na..namee i.iis Mo..ohan S..in..gh” The moment he stopped everyone started laughing. Even smile appeared on Piyush’s face but looking Mohan’s sad face he stopped himself and turned towards the class “Everybody silence” The sound of laughing died away but smile did not disappear from their face. He said “Mohan go and sit on the second bench and keep your bag inside the desk” Mohan did as said but didn’t speak a word more. Piyush felt sad for him but what can he do.

The first bell rang for the prayer line. Everyone made line to go to the assembly hall. Mohan joined the line at the end. After assembly the first period started. The class teacher Mrs. Indira Bagchi entered the class with the attendance register. She started calling out the names and each student stood up and responded “Present Mam” When Mohan’s turn came he stood up and stammered a lot to reply present Mam. The other students laughed loudly again. Mrs. Bagchi scolded them with a stern look and “Silence!” She asked Mohan to sit down then turned towards the class and said “Boys stammering isn’t thing of joke. It is a problem so there’s nothing to laugh”

So after this classes went on but boys did not stop whispering about Mohan between the periods. He looked once or twice at them and sat down with his head down. Piyush observed all and also that Mohan didn’t speak a word with anyone. When the recess bell rang everyone ran out towards the playground to have their tiffin and then play but Mohan did not leave the classroom. He had his tiffin and sat at his place. Piyush had gone to the ground so he didn’t see where Mohan was during recess but he returned he saw him sitting alone in the classroom. He felt sad for him. Piyush went near him and sat down beside him. He put his hand on his shoulder. Mohan looked up at him. He asked “Did you have your tiffin?”

Mohan just nodded his head. Piyush asked “Where did you study before?”

Now Mohan spoke about his ex school and the atmosphere there. He told about his neighbour and friend Faisal. Piyush found Mohan stammers less when he says something exciting. But Mohan could not converse with others. Most of the boys laughed or mimicked how he talks which made him remain silent most of the time. He didn’t raise his hand to answer any of the questions asked by his teachers.

After two months passed of the new session, the principal announced a football competition. It will be held between junior and senior classes. Students from class four and five made group A and students from six and seven group B. Mohan wished to join the team but he couldn’t speak out his wish to the games teacher. Piyush asked him at recess “Hey do you know I’ve been selected in the team?”

Mohan looked happy though his face said something else. Piyush asked “What happened, why you are sad?”

“I t...oo wi..ished t..o jo..in the f..oot..ba..l.l t..eam but c..ou..ldn’t say to tea..cher”

“Do you love football?”

He nodded his head. “Ok I’ll tell to the teacher”

Mohan’s face brightened “Re..ally” His friend ran back to the staffroom to request the teacher to include Mohan in the team.

Prakash , who had been a good player wasn’t happy at all. He said “Let’s see how he does in the game” Piyush always supported his new friend and said “Mohan will accept this challenge”

Mohan was selected as extra player and both the teams started practising hard. On the Saturday morning both the teams and all the students and teachers reached to the school ground within nine. The game started as the games teacher blew the whistle. Within the first half the team B played good and won two goals. Deepak, the captain of team A was unhappy with his team performance. He instructed each one how they should play so that they can return the goals. Time went by but team A couldn’t repay a goal. At last Om was replaced with Mohan. Mohan could play good enough to make three goals which helped the team A to win. Everyone was happy and cheered for him. The games teacher said “I’m proud of Mohan”

Days changed to weeks and then advanced to months. The bonding between Piyush and Mohan is strong now but with other boys of the class it was as before. Mohan also likes his class teacher. She takes extra care to help him answer any question asked by any teacher without any fear. Now he stammers less while talking with anyone.

The summative assessment exams came and everyone was busy in studies and giving examination. When the result got declared; the whole section A of class four was surprised to know that Mohan has scored second highest just after Aman Lal. Mrs. Bagchi was very happy with Mohan’s result.

She has even gone to his home to talk with his parents. She said to them “I’m proud of my new student. He suffers from conversing problem but is really good in many other subjects. I feel his stammering problem too will decrease if his confidence grows up”

Mohan came and sat beside her when summoned. Mrs. Bagchi said “I’m happy to see that you have scored good and has improved a lot from the time you first came to the school. I wish you carry on in this manner and be the brightest person both in academics and personality before you leave the school after class ten”

Mohan’s face brightened with these words. He said “I’ll try my best Mam”