He was an ordinary boy, and I mean that as a compliment. Curious enough to try new things, quirky enough to put them in action and naive enough to not know the consequences.
It had been a couple of weeks now that he had picked up a new quirk - to wink after every statement he made. He found himself extremely satisfied with his simple yet newly-acquired skill.
He had had a good week with winking. He'd been able to complete close one eye without flinching the other side of his face. Well, that's an achievement, isn't it? With that reassuring knowledge of his new skill, he entered his classroom. It looked brighter than usual. Maybe someone had cleaned the window panes or it could also be happiness.
He looked around to find a newer set of people to demonstrate his skill. 14% of his class had already witnessed his brilliant act. Some of them were quite impressed too. He looked around the class to identify his audience for the moment. He had to be quick. It was Bangla class in the next 5 minutes and the thought of fearsome Mrs. Chatterjee sent shivers down his spine. He tried to put the scary thought of being caned or even worse, getting a note in his diary to call his parents to meet her.
Although practical, he was still an optimist. Scanning through the students, he found his mark for the day - Meghna. It was difficult to impress her although he hoped today would be the day. Purposefully, he walked across rows of old and worn out wooden desks to reach her. He had already thought of what he would say.
Unknowingly with his breath held, he cracked the smartest joke he could and ended the act with his inimitable wink. While he was basking in the glory of his success, his reverie was disturbed by a high-pitched shriek. When he came to his senses, his quiet happiness turned into shock. It was Meghna. She was yelling her lungs out at him and threatening to complain to Mrs. Chatterjee.
There is a challenge that common boys face - they take time to gather themselves. Such was the plight of our boy too. Neurons fired in his brain to find a solution to this problem or at least get Meghna to stop yelling. However, his brain seemed to be ruminating on eariler information. He stood there with his eyes wide and mouth gaping for what seemed like a lifetime.
And then he blinked. His brain had returned to its normal functioning. He had now thought of a smart way to tackle Meghna. But where was she? She wasn't in front of him anymore. Fear froze his senses again. He turned his head slowly to his right to see Meghna complaining to Mes. Chatterjee. Her loud voice and animated expressions usually created sympathy in many of the teachers, especially male.
He closed his eyes. Doom was around the corner. He knew anything could happen any second now. Last year, he had narrowly escaped a similar situation. But how often does one get lucky. Time seemed to be floating and so were his nerves. With all his might, he prayed for a miracle.
He gathered all his residual courage and opened his eyes. And what he witnessed was shocking. Mrs. Chatterjee's face was contorted with anger; her hand was reaching for her cane kept on the desk. The world seemed to be in slow motion. He couldn't hear what she was saying but her lips moved to spew out furious words. He blinked again. Mrs. Chatterjee was screaming - not at him, but at Meghna for using bad language and talking rubbish.
He felt faint with relief. He looked up at the ceiling as if he would find God there. He mouthed the words "thank you" to an invisible entity.
As for me, I heaved a sigh of relief too. Miracles could happen to anyone, I thought - even with common boys.
For a common boy sees miracles in little things!
