Excusing Myself from School.
One day I decided not to go to school as I had an appointment
with my dentist. It was at 10:00 am. I told this to my mother and she
agreed only on one condition: that I call up my friends and copy down
the work from them. I agreed but very reluctantly. I went to the dentist
and he changed my braces.
After we left, my mother informed me that my younger cousins wanted
me to come and meet them. My heart leaped with joy. This was what I
wanted, to skip my schoolwork. I readily agreed. My mother gave me a
you-STIIL –HAVE- TO- COPY-DOWN-YOUR-WORK-AFTER-YOU-GET-BACK look.
Needless to say, she is very good at this. I had a lot of fun at my
cousins’ house and then my aunt (mother’s sister) announced
that for a treat we would be going to Defence Colony for shopping. All
of us joined in cheering. Then suddenly my aunt’s cell phone started
ringing. She picked it up and it turned out to be my mother who told
me that my class teacher, Mrs. Deepa Sawhney had called and that my
mother had informed her that I was not well on her asking why I didn’t
come to school. I relaxed. At least, my mother had not let me down.
Then as I turned around my heart nearly stopped.
My teacher was standing before me with a very grim expression on her
face. Did I forget to mention that I was eating a burger at the time?
Now, my teacher is not that kind of person that she will start bellowing
herself hoarse. She just asked – SOVEN, I thought you had a dentist’s
appointment? I gulped. I had, I said. “Then why are you eating
a burger?” My teacher wanted to know. I explained to my teacher
that I did have the appointment at 10:00 am, but that my cousins had
wanted me to come, so I came. I also explained that I would catch upon
work and that I had eaten a burger by mistake. My teacher frowned but
then smiled. She just said – “see you tomorrow”.
I breathed a sigh of relief. This is the day when I excused myself from
school.
( Year 2003 )
