It was now the Lord Ganesha festival and the school would be closed for a week. However, Raj was too far away from Mumbai to be able to travel back home. Daddy had written in a letter that he would try to come visit if his leave was approved.
Daddy however had added that Raj's cousin in Bangalore, Lakshmi would also be free in the same week and that her father Neel, who had agreed to be Raj's local guardian, would come and pick him up on the weekend. He was invited to stay with them for the week if he liked the idea.
Raj had gone to Lakshmi's house the day he had arrived in Bangalore. Daddy and he had stayed two nights there. The house was a very big and independent standing one with a huge garden and lots of trees. Lakshmi even had a badminton net hanging in the garden. The house itself, having two floors, was much bigger than any house he'd seen in Mumbai.
Raj was of course happy to go to Lakshmi's house and imagined playing badminton with her. She seemed very small though and he wondered if he'd actually have any fun there.
The peon of the boarding school hostel came to call him. Uncle had made a phone call to the Principal's office. He had wanted to speak to Raj. Raj followed the peon to the office. He'd only been in that room once on his arrival. The wood in the room was very dark and there was a heady scent that hung in the air. Everything seemed very serious anyway as the Principal pointed to the phone, the receiver was lying on the table.
Raj picked up the phone's receiver and uttered "Hello". " Ah, kiddo! I shall come to pick you up tomorrow afternoon, is that okay? Prepare your suitcase for 2 pm".
"Ok, Ammava (Uncle)," replied Raj.
Raj placed the receiver back where he'd picked it up from. The Principal picked it up and muttered something into the phone while Raj left the room. He went back to his room where five other boys had gathered. These were the boys in his class, who like him would be staying back at the boarding school because their homes were too far away to go visit.
They asked him what he'd been called for. Once they knew the reason, one of them, Ravi rolled his eyes and rolled on the bed, "You're so lucky." Raj indeed felt better than when he had seen the other kids of his class pack and leave in cars and on bikes the day before. He guessed he was indeed lucky.
#Bangaloremilitaryschool #growingupinthe70s #thechroniclesoftheyoungestchild #oldestchild
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