The Balcony Student - Part 2

When the student is ready, a teacher will appear

- Rita Chhablani

A year passed quickly. “Tomorrow is the big day, my dear students,” Urvashi said to them.

It was a grilling class. That day, she was extra hard on them. There had to be no margin for even the slightest error. Her reputation was at stake. Year after year, her students had bagged the 1st, the 2nd, and even the 3rd prize, despite it being an extremely tough competition.

After the session was over and the students got up to disperse, Urvashi said to them, “You have practised a lot. May God be with you. See you tomorrow at the auditorium.”

Chanda forgot all about her other chores and got carried away too. She watched the students walk out of the gate of the building.

“Chanda!” came her mother's strident voice and she ran within. But while doing the dirty dishes, her mind remained preoccupied. Oh! how she wished she could just go and knock on Urvashi Ma’am’s door.

That night, Chanda sat in her Basti regaling her audience with the best of Bhajans she had learnt in the past one year. So profound was the experience, the enthralled women sat frozen. They had tears in their eyes, and while leaving, gave Chanda a tight hug. One of the women, her immediate neighbour, Pallavi, stayed back.