Back then my mornings starts with listning to slokas sung by my grandmother and me trying to escape from that voice in the early hours everyday. Otherwise, she will ask me to sit for prayer along with her. This was routine when I stayed in my home for preparation holidays. all my life I mostly completed my studies staying in hostels but these preparation holidays are such that everyone goes home, I also end up coming to grandma’s home.
While my friend Tejaswini was telling me about a new Korean drama, Which she saw yesterday, my social madam was taking student names for the upcoming cultural programs which gonna happen in our school. The class was totally noisy and messed up. At that time, one girl wearing a black coloured burkha from top to bottom entered our class. The whole class became silent for one minute after seeing her. After a minute, everything became normal, the same noise and different announcements in the classroom continued. But my little heart is not at all settled. I was curious to know who is she, and she was the one and only muslim girl in our class until now.
After a while, my social madam introduced her to the class as Farheen, Farheen Sultana. I whispered to myself, Farheen once again. Her big black eyes are what mainly attracted me. Probably the only thing I can see in her. I felt like her eyes were talking to me. I probably don’t know if eyes can able to convey a million things, if you said this to me before I saw her, I laughed at it but right now I felt that thing is happening to me , Felt her eyes are conveying a lot to me. While I was looking at those magical eyes, They settled on the fourth bench. Exactly perpendicular to my bench in the class. I can see only one eye of her from my place, but I can clearly see her eyelashes . I don’t know when I matched the movement of my eyelashes with hers, and now I was closing my eyes every time she closed hers, and I felt my eyes remote go into her hands.
Farheen father is an auto driver, who recently moved from Hyderabad to here. However, they are not so financially good. still, her father wanted to provide a good education to his one and only daughter. So he joined her in our school. My friend Naveen collected all this information within five minutes and circulated it to all the boys. ( I really wonder to date how he managed to get all the information in that little time. He should enter into any news TV channel to conduct some string operations, but he is pursuing his Mechanical Engineering right now) But in all the information he collected, one piece of it is most important for me: they rented into one of our relative’s houses, and that house is on the way to my home.
But back of my mind, I felt a little different and curious when she entered the class, and I wondered why I was attracted to her eyes this much. When I asked the same, Mahesh replied,” Don’t overimagine and fantasise everything, you romantic fellow, first stops reading those romantic novels, They probably spoiling you. He continued,” Stop seeing her now, focus on social class ” I winked my eyes and continued listening to class with some difficulty of escaping from her eye magic.
Within three months, she became competition to me in the class. She took away my class’s first rank status. But I was okay. Back of my mind, I know I was a bit deviated from my studies because of so many other things. Farheen is one reason among many other reasons. I like this phase of fall too. She used to remove her burkha when it was hot in the afternoon classes. Then I can see her entire face. But she is like that introverted type who never talks much with anyone. That was confirmed by the C-section Akhil tried to give her a letter and talk with her many times, but she didn’t respond to him.
Because my half-yearly exams were coming, I was focused on my studies, and I was a little concerned about getting back my first-rank status. But a few times when I was exhausted from reading for long hours, I searched for her to see and relax. But she reads like a machine without any breaks.
Ten days of holidays were given to our school on account of vijayadasami festival. I already told you preparation holidays means problems for me since I must stay with my grand mother leaving the school hostel. My grandma is just stunting me every day, asking me to accompany her on a daily visit to the temple. But as usual, somehow, I am escaping from her, stating different different reasons everyday. But one last day of festival, she was super stubborn to take me to the temple. She even offered me 100 Rs if i accompany her to temple. So I agreed to go along with her. The next day I was in a little formal dress and went to the temple like a good boy. I sat in the temple along with my grandmother while she was listened to some priests telling things to the crowd. I got bored and took that half-broken coconut from my grandmother’s hand. I went away from that place until I didn’t listen to what that priest was saying. I end up coming down all the way down to the temple. You can understand that much louder up there in the temple. I settled on the bottom steps of the temple.
For an extended period of time, I was busy eating that coconut and thinking about different things. All of a sudden, I can see very familiar eyes walking on the street below the temple’s steps. The minute I confirmed to myself that she was Farheen, I ran down the steps like a Usain bolt. Within seconds I stopped in front of her. She is without a Burkha and in some colourful dress, quite different from her everyday boring black Burkha on a regular school day. She is looking super-duper different in her new avatar. Did I tell you that in this holiday, while studying alone in the house, I started listening to some Hindi songs for the first time and learned to say a few Hindi Shayari like
Na koi kisi se door hota hai
Na koi kisi ke krib hota hai
Wo khud he chal ke aata hai
Jo jiska nasib hota hai
In a state of complete happiness after seeing farheen after many days without my mind’s presence, I inventorially started singing a few hindi songs and shayari’s I learned previously. At the same time, Allah preyers in the nearby Masjid started. As you know, most of the Masjids will announce the prayer on loudspeakers at particular times of the day, Farheen looked at me and gave a slight glance, and she started moving forward, crossing me, so I raised my voice while singing some hindi shayari somewhat louder than before, all of sudden strong slap on my neck, with so much of pain rubbing my hand on my neck I turned my head to understand what happened, another slap little more harder than before on my back. Then I understood. Coconut in my hand, Standing on the last step of Durga temple Singing some Hindi songs, my grandmother misunderstood that I was praying to Allah and matching my Hindi words with the announcements coming from the loudspeaker of a masjid nearby. Though my grandma doesn’t beat me frequently, this time, her faith and fear of god made her slap me. after that incident, I didn’t go to the temple for a year and didn’t talk with my grandmother for nearly three months and on top of it I stopped listening to hindi songs too.
After the school holidays when I went back to school, I felt a little awkward to walk the infant farheen into the school. I strongly believe that she has seen while my grandma beating me. I carried that shy feeling for a week until I saw her place on the fourth bench looking empty, and I observed that for three days, still, that place was empty. I was really worried about what happened to her. As usual, I asked our information broadcaster, Mr. Naveen. He said that her grandfather died, that’s why she is not coming to school. He also said a few of our class girls were planning to visit her in her home to console today or tommrow. I really wanted to go along with my class girls to see her, but I didn’t go to her home since it’s our relative’s house.
She came to school after ten days. This time I really wanted to talk to her, so I thought about all the possible scenarios to have a conversation with her. I selected the least risky one. I went to her straight and said,
” Farheen, you missed the classes? if you want any notes feel free to ask me”
These are a few benefits of being the topper of the class, she didn’t reply for a while. Still, I waited a little longer than usual.
She replied ” It seems you and your grandmother are close. That was the same case with me too. She continued my grandfather is the one who fights for my education in our house, and he always encourages me to read well and settle for big dreams. he is the one important reason for me joining this school, and he convinced my dad to join me here though it is expensive. he pays most of my school fees from his pension money. Now I miss him a lot. She started crying.
I replied, ” don’t worry farheen, I am there for you… after a second, I changed the sentence to we are there for you to help you if in case you need any.
She continued telling me ” Ravi Actually, in our family sending a girl out to school is not so common, that too considering my financial background. I really miss my support, my loveable grandfather. she is silently crying.
I sat beside her. I just sat there not uttering a word. as my mother always tells me that
“Few times silence is better you can offer to the sad person, people share their sorrow and problems with us just to feel that they have somebody to listen to instead not getting any solution from us”
After some time, I gave my notes during the lunch break. Later that day, exchanging notes and little conversations continued.
After a few days, farheen became our class representative. In my school or probably in every school, the most critical work of class representatives is keeping the class quiet when the teacher is absent. Suppose anyone makes nonsense and noise, noting their names and submitting them to the class teacher. The class teacher will take care of those names.
One day, as usual, my telugu teacher went out in the middle of the class by assigned farheen to look after the class to keep it quiet and asked her to note down names of students who are disturbing the class. Then she started writing down the names of students who were making noise. One time talking in the class means one cross mark against their name. The number of stick slaps is directly proportional to the no of cross marks against your name.
I prefer to be silent most of the time, but you know about my friend Mahesh. he always comes with some interesting stories to share with me, and he is disturbing so we are discussing carefully without falling under the radar of farheen but one time she caught me talking, Then she acted like she is writing my name for a while but finally she didn’t write my name and smiled at me. My telugu teacher came after a lengthy half an hour and gave medals with the stick to the classmates whose names were on the board.
At the end of that day, while returning to our houses, Farheen asked me, “Hey Ravi, why are you tensed that much in the telugu class? how can you imagine that I will write your name on the board, I would probably never do that, so don’t worry. Your face turns a little red when you are tensed and it won’t suit you actually “
I was happy, and we laughed loudly for some time. But she stopped smiling when we heard the shouting of one of our classmates.
He is shouting from the back ” Hey Farheen, are you from hyderabad or pakistan? How can you be that cruel to write your own classmate’s names and make them get beaten by our teacher?” he even stopped and started arguing with her.
At first, she ignored it and said,” I just done what any class representative is supposed to do. and I am the person who fought on our side to get a few more sports periods for us and I made sure that we were using those periods only for sports and not to take any extra maths classes” Later, we moved on from there and we went to our homes.
But hatred for farheen spread in the class. It seems that person started adding a few more things to this incident. Eventually, every classmate who was beaten by the teacher started teasing her, later that little teasing turned ugly, to be precise they started harassing her with their words, they went to the extent that they even started shouting in the class that
” Hey auto-driver daughter, we wonder how your dad getting money to pay for your fees, Is he getting it from pakistan or any place?
Those were the times the communal hatred and hate towards pakistan was at an all-time high in India due to the recent bomb blasts happened in India, Even the media started portraying muslim people are culprits and sleeper cells and it is reflected in my class too.
Hate towards farheen took many turns, and finally, few female students couldn’t shout like boys, so they chose another way to show their hatred they stopped talking with her as some sort of boycotting her. Start calling her with different names, And she is strongly withholding all the pain to herself.
One day she was fed up with all this when a few of our classmates started making sounds like an auto-rickshaw when she entered the class. The same day in the lunch hour she came to, she said to me that she was fed up with all this harassment and wanted to confront those teasing her most, in the evening sports hour.
She continued, “Ravi, as you are a previous class representative if you stand beside me when I am talking to them. It will give me some confidence to speak my mind. I really don’t want to fight with those people I just want to convey things from my side of the story”
I replied, “see farheen, I don’t see any merit in confronting those people, and why even if we talk to them, if we do any such thing together, they start spreading a few more rumours and more hatred towards you, if you ask me it is better to be quiet and pass this year. Next year we move to the tenth class, so everybody is busy with their studies. Just hold on for two more months”
She listened to me thoroughly and nodded her head, but in the evening, she chose to talk with students who Is harrasing her the most with the help of Naveen. I was not there, but later, Naveen said everything to me.
In a nutshell, what farheen spoke there is this
“She stood up on the class dias and started talking please listen to me once without shouting back at me for a while ” Muslims are not only present in pakistan, out of 100% of the total Muslim population only 11% are present in pakistan, You know what in India too around 10% of muslims are present that means there are as many as muslims in India as in pakistan. But when it comes to muslims also probably not every person is a terrorist or against our India. Stop believing and carry away by what newspapers or what local politicians tell you about muslims so blindly. Cant you people, get some brain and think properly for a while”
She continued “Yes, my dad is an auto driver. I proudly say that, though he doesn’t get as much as money your parents earn, He chose to join me here hoping that I will get a good education when I study along with some good brains but what you are doing just teasing me for my caste, and even for what I am wearing. Think for yourself is this correct? and I have exactly done what any class representative does. I became class representative only after you people did not come forward to be one, so if you want me to step down as a CR. I am happy to step down right away, can you people please stop teasing me and make me study peacefully. I really don’t want to be distracted by all this. I didn’t do anything to hurt anyone intentionally. If you anybody felt that way. I am sorry.”
Someone in the class crown shouted ” if you say sorry to all of us in front of the whole classroom since you made us beat by the teacher in front of the whole class. then we would like to stop all this”
After that incident, farheen stopped coming to school, and after a few days, I got information that she shifted back to her previous school in hyderabad. Few people even said that she stopped her studies and started helping her mother with household things (Hope this was not what happened). Later after a few days, her parents too moved back to Hyderabad
After that incident, it took many days to understand what made me stop talking and stand beside her when she needed me most as a friend.
If i accompanied her that day when she decided to talk to our classmates, i could have tell and try to explain them saying ” What she did is what any class reparative would done. I too did the same when I was CR, but you people were silent, and you never confronted me for what I had done as a CR why did you people only target her and harass her badly”
probably if I ask that question, at least few of them may understood her situation, most importantly farheen may get some moral boost that day. I don’t know what stopped me from standing up beside her when she decided to confront our classmates who are doing very bad to her.
I was super dull, and my grandma observed that, and one day, she asked me,” chinnu what happened to you why are you looking that dull I observed now a days you are not showing any interest in things you are doing.”
I cried and said everything to her and finally said, “I must have stood with her while she dealing with those morons. so that it may change the outcome, may be things wont become this much painful for her, maybe some of my friends won’t talk that harshly by seeing me beside her, in a way i am also one of the reason she ended her studies”
Then my grandma replied,”you must and should stand with farheen, not just her anyone whom you believe they are right, no matter how big the opposition is, no matter what the consequences are. Understand one thing chinnu you are telling me that if you stand with her, it makes a difference in situations but here is what real comrade do “He stand with his fellow comrade irrespective of the result, to be precise they would never think about the what will happen, they stand together when problem comes to them.”
Comrade, I heard this word a few times from my grandma, but previously my mother used to told me about many comrade stories who fought in the world wars and the Indian freedom struggle. but i will never forget this incident from then onwards i started taking a stand when its needed for the people around me, at the same time whenever i remember farheen, her magical eyes flashes that’s beautiful moment but i feel guilty for her even now for not being her comrade.
This is Ravi Yalavarthi and I will see you soon, Click here to read about other women who influenced me