Greentext · 3 minThe Pond Day

>be me, class 4

>village school, one building, four rooms

>that week i had a fight with ravi

>ravi is bigger

>ravi said "tomorrow i will see you"

>that is a very bad sentence in class 4

>i did not sleep properly

>in the morning i decided

>today i will not go

>but if i say i am not going amma will ask why

>and if i say ravi she will go to ravi's house

>and then ravi will really see me

>so i took the bag

>took the slate

>took the lunch box

>said "bye amma"

>walked towards school

>at the turning near the well i went right instead of left

>right goes to the pond

>the pond has a big banyan on one side

>under the banyan nobody comes in the morning

>only the washerman at six

>and he was done

>i sat on the root

>put the bag down

>i had never been alone for a whole day

>in class 4 you are never alone

>the first thing i did was eat the lunch

>at nine in the morning

>then i did sums on the slate

>then i wiped them

>then i threw stones in the water

>a buffalo came and looked at me

>went away

>a kingfisher sat on a stick for one hour

>i counted its dives

>eleven, caught nothing

>then i slept

>then it was afternoon

>i was hungry again

>there was a mango tree on the bund

>raw mangoes, very small

>i ate four with no salt

>my teeth went funny

>at three i started walking home

>slowly

>took the long way through the fields

>reached at four like always

>amma was on the step cutting vegetables

>"how was school" she said

>"fine" i said

>"what did they teach"

>"sums"

>"what sums"

>"adding"

>"and ravi?"

>i stopped

>i had not told her about ravi

>"ravi's mother came in the morning" she said

>"after you left"

>"she said ravi told her you two fought"

>"she brought him to say sorry"

>"but you had gone"

>"to school"

>she was looking at the vegetables, not at me

>"they waited one hour"

>"then she said never mind, tomorrow"

>"because today is a holiday anyway"

>i did not understand

>"the school sent notice yesterday"

>"some meeting at the mandal office"

>"the notice is in your bag"

>"you did not show me"

>i looked at my bag

>i had not opened the bag in two days

>she still was not looking at me

>"so where did you have sums today"

>i did not say anything

>she put the knife down

>"your lips are green"

>raw mango does that

>"and there is pond mud on your pant"

>"and the washerman's wife saw a boy under the banyan"

>"she asked me whose boy sits alone at the pond on a holiday"

>she picked up the knife again

>"go wash"

>that is all she said

>she never told nanna

>she never told anybody

>she just said "go wash"

>ravi came the next day with his mother

>we said sorry

>then we went and played

>he never did see me

>but for years after that

>whenever i said "school was fine"

>amma would look at my lips