A new face seen in the school assembly confirmed that a new teacher had joined. One or two teachers had been absent for two days, so their students were expecting replacements. In this thought process, some students took it as good news, while others were disappointed. The principal, during the assembly, confirmed that the new teacher was a science teacher.
After the prayer, the new teacher took the attendance register along with his marker and a duster and went into his assigned class. In a traditional way, the students greeted him with, “Good morning.”
“Good morning, students,” he replied.
The students waited for the teacher to allow them to sit, but he didn’t.
“As your roll number is called, sit down one by one,” the teacher said, breaking the students’ first confusion.
After taking attendance, the teacher said, “My name is Sonu. I am your new science teacher. In this class, I want to hear only two voices: one will be mine, and the other will be the fans’. If I hear any other voices, they should be for answering or asking questions.”
All the students sat silently. In that lecture, only two voices were heard. Either the students understood everything, or they didn’t understand anything at all.
A staff member came into the class and informed the teacher that he needed to check the students’ uniforms. All the students were properly dressed except a few.
The teacher could not confuse the students with his science lecture, but one student confused the teacher. A girl was sitting on the last bench with a black umbrella.
Sonu asked, “Why are you holding this umbrella in winter when the probability of rain is less than the probability of you passing the exam?”
The girl didn’t answer. Sonu asked two or three times. Another student gathered the courage to answer that the girl could not speak.
“She can’t speak but can write?” Sonu asked.
This statement did not land as effectively as his earlier one.
“Don’t come with this dusty umbrella again,” the teacher ordered.
The bell rang, and the teacher left.
The next day, in the morning…
“Dear students, we are going to elect a class monitor. Who would like to run for it?” the teacher announced.
A few students volunteered and gave their names.
The teacher then asked, “Who will vote for Khushi?”
He counted 14 students.
“Who will vote for Ayush?”
He counted 12 students.
“Who will vote for Ruhi?”
He counted 10.
During this, the teacher noticed the girl on the last bench again. She didn’t seem well. He went over and found that she was hiding her dusty umbrella.
The teacher raised his voice, “I have told you not to bring this dusty umbrella!”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Every day, the teacher warned her, but she didn’t stop bringing it. One day, the teacher went to the office and informed the principal about the situation. The principal’s reply was strange.
“Whatever you do, do it, but we cannot prevent her from bringing that umbrella. You should also not waste your time on this. No one can stop her.”
The teacher returned to the class and looked at the girl. She looked at the umbrella, then at the teacher, and smiled. This made the teacher angry.
During recess, the teacher called Khushi over. “Why is that girl holding an umbrella?” he asked.
Khushi didn’t answer and left without saying anything. The teacher felt uneasy.
The next day, when the teacher entered the classroom, the first thing he noticed was the umbrella. He walked straight to the girl and forcefully took it. This time, instead of tears, the girl smiled, which made the teacher even more angry.
He said, “There is only one good thing about you: you can’t speak. But there is also a bad thing—I’ve taken that bad thing, your umbrella.” The teacher threw the umbrella out of the window.
Throughout the incident, the other students didn’t react—they neither laughed nor seemed shocked.
The teacher then went to his desk, took attendance, and ordered the students to open their books.
In the middle of the class, a new girl entered.
“Who are you?” the teacher asked.
“I am the new student in this class. My name is Priya,” she answered.
The teacher, puzzled, asked, “Why are you holding this dusty umbrella? I threw it out of the window.”
“No sir, this is mine. I have been holding this umbrella for the past seven years,” Priya replied.
The teacher looked at the girl who had been sitting at the back; she smiled again. The teacher instructed Priya to take a seat, and she sat where the other girl used to sit.
That day, the teacher said nothing more.
Over the next few days, the teacher noticed that the girls continued to hold umbrellas, but he said nothing. By the end of the week, unable to tolerate it any longer, he went to the two girls, took their umbrellas, and threw both out of the window again before leaving the class in silence.
The science teacher then entered the 9th-grade class to teach the concept of force. Four new boys entered the room.
“Who are you?” the teacher asked.
“We are new students, sir,” they replied.
“The second period is not your class time,” the teacher said.
“Sir, no one knows the right time,” one of the students responded.
“Why are you all holding these dusty umbrellas?” the teacher asked, shocked.
All four students smiled.
That night, after taking classes, Sonu reached home.
“Do you know what happened?” Sonu asked his wife.
Before she could respond, Sonu told her the whole story.
His wife replied, “Why don’t you change schools?”
“I should change cities too,” Sonu said.
12 years later…
“Sonu, your mobile is ringing,” she called out.
“Yes, Basu. How are you?” Sonu answered the call.
“We’ve arranged a birthday party for my son, who just turned five. I’m inviting you and your family,” Basu said.
At first, Sonu refused to come, but Basu continued, “Sonu, forget everything that happened with the umbrella. It’s been 12 years, and you’re still afraid of that.”
“No, this isn’t right… but okay, I’ll come.”
The day before the party, Sonu reached Basu’s home. Everything was going smoothly, and they were enjoying each other’s company.
Sonu said, “We should visit the park. It’s been 12 years since I last came to this place.”
Sonu’s suggestion was fantastic. He, along with his wife and Basu, set out, reminiscing about their old and carefree days—the best days. The past seemed more memorable than the present. Suddenly, they reached the old school midway.
“Who ruined this school?” Sonu asked.
“Leave it,” Basu tried to move on.
But Sonu insisted.
“Basu, that girl with the umbrella killed so many students and was later found dead in the classroom—along with the new science teacher who had scolded her and broken her umbrella. After that, the school was shut down and left like this.”
“I want to go inside,” Sonu said.
His wife tried to stop him, but couldn’t.
Basu left the place.
“Come, darling,” Sonu called to his wife.
Sonu went into Class VIII and ran his hand over the ruined desk.
“Sonu!” his wife screamed.
She had found human bones. Then she noticed something—the skeleton was wearing the ring she had given Sonu on their first wedding anniversary. She screamed again.
“Yes,” a voice came from behind.
Sonu’s wife turned around.
“Why are you holding that dusty umbrella?”
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