In Class 9, everybody knew that Ramesh was the best student. He was the best student not just because he got the best marks in class, but because his shoes were always clean and bright. His shirt was always ironed. His socks were never rolled down. He never got a cold. Obviously, his nose never leaked, so he never owned a dirty hanky.
He was a real clown, which was, as Niloufer often said, 'the only thing that made him bearable.' When he smiled, it looked like his mouth was fi lled with pebbles that he had no intention of spitting out. And during the lunch hour, he would march out with his lunch bag with an air of such purpose that Alisha would march right after him, sticking her jaw out, her lips pursed together just like Ramesh's.
"I can't help making fun of him," said Alisha when Susie, who was class monitor, raised her eyebrows towards the ceiling and chided her for ragging.
"This is not allowed!" said Susie. "Don't be so childish." "I am not ragging him, Susie!
Stop being such a badam pista just because you're wearing a badge, OK!" "Anyway, I don't know why you're
supporting Ramesh. He doesn't like you. He wants to be class leader every term!" said Dev, and Alisha nodded her head.
Susie didn't have time to fl are up. Their teacher had come in and she hadn't put up the proverb of the day and underlined it. This was the high point of Susie's day, writing the proverb of the day on the board with different coloured chalks and drawing birds or fl owers on either side. So if she wrote, 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness' there would be a neat fl ower before 'Cleanliness' and after 'Godliness'. She was always tempted to write her name underneath. To establish that she, Susie Samuel, was the artist, but she satisfi ed herself with a curved line under the proverb.
Meanwhile, Ramesh was sitting in his desk and was writhing uncomfortably. Something was worrying Ramesh. It was a worry that no one knew about and he dared not tell anyone because his best student status was the only status he had.
He was beginning to write very slowly. No matter how hard he tried, his hand moved at a snail's pace across the page. Now there were teachers like Asha Miss who taught History and had been giving the same notes for centuries. Asha Miss could repeat a hundred times that "the Battle of Plassey or Palashi, was a fl aming victory that established British rule over India" due to sheer habit. Then Ramesh was safe. No one noticed he was slow. The double period went well.
But during English period, he just couldn't catch up. It was so hot that the sweat trickled down his forehead and went into his eyes. It hurt like crazy. Suddenly, a piece of chalk fl ew across the room and hit him on the forehead. This was the moment that Ramesh dreaded. It felt like he was on TV. Now all the students would burst out laughing, wouldn't they?
