Lavanya was very happy. Coming out of the mall, she was just fluffing her wings to fly high. She just wanted to reach home riding cloud nine. Her smile knew no bounds, and at this time, she had the widest pair of lips in the world. The reason was the success in her mission, “The Mission Birthday.” Today was her father’s birthday, and she wanted to gift him an exceptionally good shirt. However, the skyrocketing prices of the mall were beyond her budget. The packet in her hand contained the fruit ripened after a long pain of two months. She still could not believe that she had purchased that costly shirt. Now she just wanted to see her father in that shirt. She wanted it to be her father’s best shirt for the next two months, but she knew it would be his best shirt for the next two years. Yes, it is her father, who could use a shirt for two years without getting bored. She did not have to wait for a bus; moreover, her usual ride cab was out of her budget for that day at least. On the way, she decided to show the shirt to her friend. She wanted to share her happiness with Samriti, but there was a hindrance. She was sure that if she went to her home, she would have to face Samriti’s father. Why does this happen to her only that her best friend is her teacher’s daughter? She was sure that if sir came to know about the shirt, then she would have to explain, and she was also sure that Samriti’s father, the Sherlock Holmes, would also get to know the price and the deeper story behind it, that she had borrowed money from many friends in order to buy it. And after it, she knew that sir would be transformed into a dragon. She would have to listen to a never-ending lecture and lots of downloads of gyan. She thought of dropping the idea to show the shirt to Samriti. But her heart was pounding, and her feet automatically took her towards Samriti’s home. She decided that if sir was at home, she would hide the packet; the situation was do or die. With trembling feet, she crossed the gate of Samriti’s home. Completely in sweat she was, her blood was moving faster, and she found her hand too heavy to lift in order to ring the bell. But Samriti and her cute smile empowered her to face the devil. She thought not to pay heed to the scoldings of sir. The bell was rung, and the door was opened by Samriti’s mother. Lavanya was very lucky that sir was out and was not expected to be back before evening. Wow! She was a free bird now! The sky was the limit now! Even Samriti was out, but she was expected to be back in a few minutes. She was sitting, waiting, and imagining her father and the shirt. Sitting idle, she decided to make a small greeting card to be slipped inside the packet. She took sketches and a file to make a card. She cut the paper beautifully: ‘To the best father in the world,’ ‘A small gift from your daughter, Lavanya.’ She was happy to see her handwriting, which was very beautiful. Yes, Samriti’s father (Sir) used to really scold and insult both the friends in the class for their poor handwriting, and one day she decided to get rid of the humiliation, and they both worked hard to improve their handwriting. Now she was proud of her handwriting. She kept the file back in the rack and got a glance of a packet titled ‘Never to be posted.’ Never to be posted! What does it mean? Is it something personal? It is not good to read someone’s personal information. But she dared to take the risk. There were many A4 size papers inside it. She looked at the first one: ‘My daughters are in the rat race of westernization. Wow! Sir has made a grammatical mistake, interesting.’ She thought the teacher who teaches grammar to the whole world has committed such a big mistake. He has written ‘my daughters are,’ but he had only one child—Samriti. Next paper: “I will not let it happen,” ‘I will conduct a test on the day they have a party with a western dress code.’ Next: ‘I will delay my operation because my daughters have exams next month.’ Now she remembered that the doctor had scolded Samriti and her mother badly for turning up months late for the operation, and sir’s eyes were badly impacted. Did sir sacrifice so much for Samriti? Then the last one: ‘I want to end the communication gap between me and my daughters but can’t.’ Now Lavanya burdened her brain that sir cannot make one mistake multiple times. She explored the pages once more and was thrilled to read, at one place it was written: ‘My both daughters, Lavanya and Samriti, are talented, and their handwriting has improved a lot. I pray to God to bless both.’ Moment of truth! Ok, so it was a father’s concern, not a teacher’s ego, that scolded her multiple times, so this dragon has a wax heart. She felt herself as the biggest fool who misunderstood it. She wished if sir were there, then she would have fallen at his feet. But she dared not face him now. In tears, numb Lavanya kept the packet ‘Never to be posted’ back on the shelf. She thought, how happy she was moments ago, and now in tears. She got a strange gleam in her eyes. She looked at the packet of the shirt, kept it on the study table of sir, and came home. She met her father and wished him a happy birthday. Her father asked, “Lavanya, where is my gift?” She hugged him and said, “This year you are getting a hug from your daughter as a birthday gift. Because you always tried to teach me the values of my culture and the motherland. I could not understand, and as your birthday gift, I promise you that I will become an ideal girl as per the values of my motherland.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and wow! The father was happy and asked, “Why am I getting such a precious gift this time, Lavanya?” She replied that today she had learned a lesson that in her motherland, teachers and parents are the best well-wishers, and she too wanted to become an ideal daughter.
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