"I think he is mute. I have never seen him talking to anyone," whispered Sunil, who sat in the back row.
"Not sure about mute, but he is disabled, for sure. He doesn't have one leg," Reena replied.
Everyone in the class knew that the new boy was disabled. Some of them teased him about his disability.
The results of the previous class test arrived, and the kids were impatiently waiting for their teacher to come to class.
They were most surprised when they discovered that Mohit had topped the class in all the subjects.
Soon after, the kids stopped making fun of him.
Mohit, too, warmed up to his classmates. "I'll bring some sweets tomorrow; it's my little sister Isha's birthday today," he said, and the next day, he offered sweets to his friends.
During the lunch break, Mohit sat with them. Everyone shared their food with each other.
Mohit's tiffin had hot idlis, and everyone could smell them as soon as he opened his tiffin.
Mohit offered it to his friends. "The idlis are very tasty. Your mother made them?" asked Sunil. Mohit nodded.
"Friends, I don't have a mother. My sister, Isha, and I made these idlis. I know how to make dosas, sambar and vadas, too. I can even make halwa. Next time, I will carry sujji halwa in my tiffin. You will all have some, right?" Everyone said yes.
At the end of the day, all the kids were going home. "Sunil, can you accompany me to the bank? It will not take too long. I have to deposit some cash," Reena asked, but Sunil couldn't. One by one, everyone refused to accompany her.
"Listen, Mohit. Can you accompany me to the bank? It will not take long. I have to deposit the money from my piggy bank into my bank account."
This story is from the February First 2023 edition of Champak.
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This story is from the February First 2023 edition of Champak.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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