SHREYA AND LATHIKA

 

Shreya  stepped into the newspaper's office with trepidation. It was just 1km from her house. Those were the days when buses were far and few. KSRTC had the monopoly of the roads in the city. The drivers rode the vehicles behaving as if they were the emperors of the roads. The conductors were happy tapping the double bell at all stops. It saved them from doing the work for which they were recruited.Commuters would run hither and thither. It was a cat and mouse game. The lucky few managed to get a foothold in. The rest trekked it to their destinations on foot.

The girl was 12 years. She was in the 6th standard. She was the errand boy of the house as the parents had two daughters only as their offsprings. No sons. They were shocked when the second child was a girl.

They did look after Shreya well.  However, they were always comparing her with the elder daughter, Lathika who had been at once beautiful  and brilliant. She excelled in her studies. They had the feeling the younger one would reach nowhere as they had thought she was neither beautiful nor briiliant.

As there had been no one else at home, Shreya would be sent to the shops to purchase everything the house needed on an emergency. Jobs, the sons were delegated at the households in those days. Another task she had been assigned was to visit the Gautami Hospital if anyone fell sick at home. For all diseases it had a single panacea. A few ounces of the red mixture as the medicine for anything and everything. The beauty was the ailments were cured with that.

Lathika  had  been awaiting the results of her final  year degree examination. Eight years the girl's senior, the sister had been studious. A topper, she had very good results all along right from her first standard in the school. She had performed very well at the second year's University examination  with an above 50% result for Part II.

As everyone considered  Lathika brilliant, it had been assumed, she would clear the degree exam with a high first class. Those were the days when newspapers carried the results of the exams held  in Kerala. Those were the days when reputations were established and reputations were blemished by the newspapers that published the results.

As Shreya loved Lathika very much, she  wanted nothing but  the very best for her elder sister.

At the newspaper's office, the staff on duty were surprised to see the puny girl. She was hesitant. Someone, to put her at ease, quried why she was there. She blurted out,"Result." She unfolded her palm, and there it was. The register number of her elder sister for BA English final. A kind lady came forward and took the scrap of paper from her hand. 

The lady looked up the  result sheets. There it was. It was a pass in Third Class. The lady wrote it out on the paper itself and handed it over to the girl. Though she was only 12, she could understand that her elder sister's result was not at all good. She began crying there itself. The staff at the office pacified her. They gave her two chocolates and told her to return to her place. The girl followed the advice. She took the short cut. She couldn't hold back her tears that were rolling down spontaneously. She just didnot know how to present the misfortune to the people at home, that included Lathika who had high hopes of scoring at least a first class. 

Shreya walked slowly. She took a long time to reach home. The moment she reached home, she was admonished for her ineptitude in not hurrying up with the good news that they all had expected. She kept quiet. She didn't say a word. She quietly handed over the scrap of paper to her Amma. 

A look at that, it was a big commotion. Everyone in the house were weeping. Lathika was inconsolable. She cried aloud unashamedly. Between her sobs, she was murmuring her future was doomed. No one at home slept that night

Time is a big healer. 

After a week Lathika's favourite teacher contacted her. The teacher told her nothing was lost with the Third Class in the degree final examination. She was advised to apply for admission to the MA English Course as there was a fair chance of securing admission with the second class she had scored for Part II English in her BA second year examination.

The teacher was right. Lathika could secure admission to MA English as the teacher had predicted.

The studious girl she was, Lathika had applied herself whole heartedly into her studies over the next two years. It was a commitment.

Her result amazed everyone. She had won  a second class. There were no first classes and there were only three second classes in that batch.

The moment her results were announced, there were four offers of appointment in as many number of colleges as a Lecturer in English. She joined the one that seemed the best and that took her on to 35 years of meritorious service as Lecturer, Professor, Principal  and Director.

Her students always liked her as she was an efficient teacher.

For Lathika,  wedding bells chimed soon after her results. She had a doting husband and  four wonderful children, three daughters  and a son. The children had grown up and were well educated. They were settled in different parts of the world.

Shreya  was happy for Lathika who had made it big in the world.