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Riya's Pov
"Bye Maa, Bye Bhabhi." I waved my hands, glancing at the two women through my shoulder, "I'll be back by nine." I affirmed, knowing well what my mother was supposed to instruct next.
"Bye. Enjoy" The duo replied in unison, beaming at me.
The date of Purva's wedding was heading near fastening our lazy spirits to make the necessary purchases on time. Hence, intimidating me with her glares, Purva succeeded in convincing me to take a day off from my college and spend the day assisting her in shopping.
Although, I had a pretty decent concern that it was not just any shopping but lingerie shopping.
The moment Purva updated me with this information, refusal was my reflex. After a few puppy-eyes, emotional blackmails, dramatic dialogues, and ferocious glares, we were here;
Shop Seduction.
Before reaching here, Purva being Purva had hoarded every single thing she laid her hands on, whether needed or unneeded.
The extent of her interest in buying all sorts of stuff made me contemplate if the shops in Delhi were up for a shutdown that she wouldn't be able to buy anything there.
From napkins to needles, notepads to nail cutters, you name it and she had purchased it.
Taking undue advantage of the Bride and the Best Friend tag, she had victoriously rendered me mute in giving her an earful for the disproportionate spending.
Also, the wedding is supposed to happen in Delhi, Rishabh's hometown after twenty days. This leaves us with hardly eighteen days to wrap up her bridal shopping considering we will be reaching Delhi two days before the day.
Hence, after informing our parents that we were going to buy a few Western pieces for her, here we are, unabashedly gawking at an eclectic variety of seductive lingerie.
**************
An inaudible gasp rumbled past my lips witnessing the skimpy pieces of material lying in front of me. My eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment for they left nothing for the other person's imagination.
Peignoir
Negligee
Corset
Thong
Halter
Chemise
Bustier
Oh My Freaking God!
If not for Purva, I wouldn't have known these names in my lifetime. And eccentrically, as per the saleswoman, these tiny things could be worn for different occasions.
I wonder why? Because in the end, the pieces will be doffed off to some corner of the room with two horny people busy doing hanky-panky with each other.
Scrunching my face at the wild imagination, I whisper exclaimed,
"What are you going to do with these many varieties? In the end, they all will be serving the same fate!" My eyes wandered around to ensure I wasn't heard by anyone else.
She rolled her eyes in response, her fingers crawling inside the fabric to feel the material and comfort.
"Which one?" She asked instead, ignoring my suggestion.
"I'm not the right person to answer this." I muttered, confounded at the sight of the mind-boggling variety.
I was graced with her blazing glare in response.
"What?" I scowled when she didn't quit glaring at me, "Bola toh, I don't have an inch of an idea about how, when, and with what they are worn for."
"Still." She mumbled, disheartened, "Help me na, Rii Rii."
"It would have been better if instead of bringing me here, you had tagged along Rishabh with you. He knows better about this lacy stuff considering he has seen you in all these, with and without both." I rambled in my defense.
Purva's face flushed, her cheeks fusing with redness, "Rii!" She was mortified, "If I had tagged him along, my night surprise would have been ruined." She pouted adorably, knowing I couldn't resist her innocent requests.
Shaking my head at her superficial dramatization, I sighed in defeat,
"Fine, I am standing here." I crossed my arms, "Choose whatever you want to, I'll be telling you which color will suit you and which not."
"Okay Ma'am." She exulted, turning on her heels to reach the changing room. I shook my head smiling watching her almost hop towards the changing room.
My brows perked up in confusion before she pivoted in my direction again.
"By the way Missy, you should also be paying attention to these types and their uses. Your time is also not far when you'll be tagging me along to buy some hanky-panky stuff for yourself." She razzed, wiggling her eyebrows at her innuendo.
My cheeks blazed and I rebuked, slapping her arm.
However, the thought of it and the varied possibilities did create a tinge of tingling sensations squirming in my stomach.
Focus.
Shaking any unholy thoughts off my mind, I countered,
"If you are done fascinating about our respective wedding nights, can we please buy the stuff we are here for?" I picked up a random red-colored flimsy piece, diverting her attention to the task at hand.
"Oh yeah." She clicked her tongue apologetically, her prey eyes focusing on the spread with utmost concentration before dashing inside the changing room.
*************
After spending the whole day together, I managed to reach home by eight. Instinctively, my feet moved to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water.
"Done with shopping?" Bhabhi asked, exiting the bedroom.
"Hanji." I replied, my lips pressed against the rim of the steel glass.
"You didn't purchase anything?" Maa was next in line which made me usher to sit on the sofa before she rebuked me for drinking water while standing.
"Nah."
At least not yet.
She hummed, aware of my disinterest in shopping, "Acha chal ja ab, and take some rest. Your night duty is waiting." Mom teased.
"Yes, Boss" I mock saluted.
In case, you are wondering which duty, then it's the same duty that almost every Indian woman would relate to.
Making chapatis. A life skill to be known by everyone, irrespective of gender.
However, my experience of learning chapati-making had not been rosy. It took a month full of grilling, uncountable retributions, and countless aggravated faces before I was able to make soft and fluffy chapatis instead of those hard, shapeless pieces of flat dough that I used to make in the initial days of learning.
****************
After having a hearty lunch with my colleague and friend Nisha, I trudged my way to the next class. The rowdy bunch of students who were earlier occupied in hooting and creating a ruckus sobered up as soon as they spotted my presence and quietly settled on their seats.
After the customary greetings and class attendance, Jeenat, one of the front benchers asked,
"Ma'am which activity are we going to do today?"
Since the first day I started working, I had created an unspoken rule for myself that my teaching would not only be confined to subjective knowledge but would also entail educating and grooming my students as much as I could.
Considering the low student strength during Saturdays, I thought to utilize every second and fourth Saturday, indulging them in a fun-filled activity that will add to their learning while having fun.
All the Youth leadership camps, NSS camps, and personality development classes I attended as a student had helped me tremendously in thinking of a light yet educational activity for my students every other week.
"So students, for today's activity, I will be speaking a short yet little complex sentence in the ear of the very first student, sitting on the first bench, and he/she will be passing the same line to the person sitting next. This process will continue until it reaches the last student on the last bench." I filled in, and they mirrored my expression with their faces gleaming with exuberance.
"After that, this last student has to come ahead and tell the same line in front of the class. Understood?" I confirmed, my gaze wandering around to search for any confusion.
"Yes, Ma'am." Their thrilled voices chorused.
With this, I began the activity by whispering a random line in the ears of the first student. The process proceeded with each student murmuring the same in the ears of the next one.
After about ten minutes, the activity concluded with students grumbling that they didn't understand the entire statement or couldn't recall it properly.
The last student was then called out to voice out the line in front of the class. And just as I wanted, the line turned out to be completely different from what I had whispered to the first student.
Chuckles and teasing's resounded due to the unexpected alteration of the original sentence.
Silencing the commotion with a narrowed gaze, I articulated,
"Any idea, what this activity taught you today?"
The students peered at me in puzzlement, their noses crunched in contemplation. Discussions reverberated but none could identify the true meaning hidden behind the whole exercise.
"This activity taught you the Power of Communication." I smiled,
"Students, there will be many instances in your life when you will believe all the negative things said to you about your friend or someone close to you by a random third person. It can be Hey! your friend said this about you the other day or Your friend made fun of you behind your back etc. Listening and believing such rumors will ultimately create problems, misunderstandings, and rifts within your friendships and relationships".
Settling myself on one of the benches, I faced the students with a warm gaze,
"Now you know, that the information as in the activity we have seen, doesn't remain the same when it passes from so many people, it is bound to change as more people add on. Hence, there is a high possibility that the thing was originally said with a completely different intention, context, wording, and perspective as opposed to what you were told." My heart bloomed glancing at their keen eyes,
"The information loses its essence when traveled through multiple people instead of you and the first person. Therefore, in such circumstances, do not rely on what you listen to from others rather rely on the power of positive communication. One which includes a direct talk with the person concerned, the one where you trust the actions and gestures of the person rather than futile rambles of the outsiders."
My explanation concluded and I took my time, observing their thoughtful faces. They all remain seated quietly as if pondering over all the rumors they had believed in the past that might have been the cause of rifts in their friendships.
A few seconds later, convinced by my explanation, they all nodded their heads with wide smiles and shimmering eyes.
After exchanging some light discussions, I stepped out of the class contended by yet another lesson I was able to imbibe in these young minds.
As an educator, I will always be grateful for this career because it has allowed me to impart knowledge to my students that goes beyond the realm of the classroom, imbibe learnings that will benefit them in the long run, bestow wisdom that might help them save their relationships from the tangle of complications. Something worthy that will help them comprehend the effects of both effective and ineffective communication on individuals.
***************
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