d in amusement as she hid under the bed. ‘What

u little imp! Now do come ou

” Srilatha whined as she came out. “You should not catch me soooooo soooooo

the bathroom. “Are we eating breakfast in the bathroom???!!!!

e giving you a

yyyy

ith water and

ng a secret. “If I don’t splash water like that god will be angrryyyy!!” she said making her eye

Or you miss your favourite breakfast!” She shook her head as she could hear the kid splashing water once her back was turned. "This kid w

ty!” she alighted from the bus and looked at her watch. 8 am. “Good.” She thought. “Just as he promised. Now I can go leisurely.” She looked

d was easy to walk into from the entrance. But one needed a private vehicle if one wanted to tour the entire campus. There were so many

d into the convocation dress which was a cream coloured saree with matching blouse and a pagdi – a head dress made of silk. For men it was a cream coloured dhothi, a cream coloured, ful

reeted her as usual. She smiled as she s

her a packet. “Now get changed quickly. You

n prompting the 67 year old professor to give a rap on her head. “You imps never improve!!!

d been named after one of Ancient Bharat’s genius scientists. He had discovered many vacci

anner formed the backdrop of the stage proudly proclaiming, “8765th Annual Convocation – 20th September 8872”. A po

he rows of seats and sat in her designated place. There was a nervous excitement all around the hal

ny to start, Srilatha’s mind

ings of flash

reet, Old Guntur. The yellow coloured bus picked up the students of Sri Vivekananda Public School, O

1 The bus is her

each the bus. Unlike kids of her age, she didn’t throw tantrums to go to schoo

his own grand daughter who was studying in another city. He rarely got

of the bus while the oldest kids were seated in the front and the back. The teachers usually sat in the front part of the bus beside the win

teacher in the bus. “Where are the teachers,

ittle sister! They have s

” she started jumping up and down and tried to run around in t

Let me run!!!!!” she asked holding the el

instead gave the little girl a kiss on her cheek. “You

ers are not

ere! You need t

appointment. The elder girl smiled mischievously. “Tell you what. We shall have a game of antyakshari!” the little

ould stop her she started singing her favourite song. “ Gunna mamidi komma meeda goollu rend

r and could mesmerise anyone with her cute, melodious voice. People jus

k or a palm full of salt round the girl’s head three times clockwise and three times anti-clockwise. She didn’t know why she did it

es. And it IS EFFECTIVE!” she would then glare at the person so fiercely that they wou

ong. She had chosen a wonderful, classical, song that was tragic in n

orth the discriminations shown by the elders on the basis of colour, caste, creed

ion in the school. Teachers and students alike would listen with rapt attention whe

us and walk to their classes enthusiastically, chirping like young birds. It was so nice to be a kid! He shook his head and took the