CastAway - The Loner

Teacher

It was more than three weeks since Prof. Bakshi had been discharged from the hospital but he would be on medical leave for some time. Later that month the doctors would do planned bypass surgery on his heart. In this scenario Prof. Bakshi was not allowed to work, he had to be rested. Prof. Bakshi was known for supporting students who came from not so well to do backgrounds and people with good talent. After this news, many students had shifted to other training providers but some of them were stuck. Suman was part of that group along with her friend Nazia, Amit, and Saheb who was struggling to find a replacement within their budget. Finally, they had sought a short meeting with Prof. Bakshi and he recommends them Shravan as an alternative. The entire team was apprehensive of going to Shravan and one of them in the group, Nazia had openly said that she is simply scared to go because people say Shravan is mental. Suman knew by hearing whatever Bunty had talked about Shravan, he was anything but dangerous but she was indecisive so she decided to follow the crowd. After a lot of deliberations, the group decided that if Prof. Bakshi has decided on Shravan he must have thought well.

Kavitha had bitten almost her fingers chewing at her nails since morning. She had been extremely anxious about the concept of Shravan being a teacher to a couple of students even though for a very short period of time. Kavitha did not think it was a very good idea given the history of bullying Shravan had experienced in both school and college but Prof. Bakshi and Shravan's therapist thought it was a good idea. Shravan never liked strangers nor crowds and now here he was supposed to teach a crowd of four people who were strangers. Kavitha wanted to somehow cover-up in case Shravan messes up so she had prepared breakfast for all in a way to appease them. Early in the morning, the students trooped in with their small backpacks with all materials in them. Kavitha greeted them with a smile as Shravan was nowhere to be seen. Kavitha nervously led the students to Shravan's small lab on the terrace and decided to call in Bunty in case she needs his help. When Kavitha placed her feet on the cold tiles of the floor which was Shravan's own corner she was pleasantly surprised to see Shravan all ready in his collared blue t-shirt and jeans pouring over one of his books. She sensed the students were also a little apprehensive as she was sure that they must have thought a lot before coming to Shravan.

The classes had started and the start had been extremely weird. Neither Shravan had said Good Morning nor had asked for any formal introductions. He had immediately dived into the course and the chapters and picked up from where his mentor had instructed. He barely made any eye contact with the students and kept moving from one segment to another. He stopped in between to ask if they had any doubts. When one of them asked for some doubts, he would keep fidgeting and keep looking down. All the four kept looking at each other unable to decide what to do. They did not think they would get a break but thankfully Shravan's mom had interrupted and they had a break. Suman, Nazia, Saheb, and Amit had mixed reactions. Some of them felt Shravan was absolutely fantastic in explaining the concepts. He gave very simple explanations for very complicated concepts and he did have a thorough knowledge of the subjects but he was not like a teacher. He was uncomfortable if they asked questions and he sounded irritated when interrupted in between. Nazia was not at all comfortable and found him weird. Since the rest of the group wanted to try him for few more days she decided to try for a week and then decide. Kavitha walked up to the room asking the students to join for breakfast.

Although they were shy initially Kavitha was a warm lady and she was aware that they must have not had time as the classes started very early. As all of them joined at the table, they found Shravan and Bunty already having warm parathas with dollops of clarified butter, pickle, and curd. Suman and the group looked at Bunty and Shravan and he looked so normal talking and laughing to their heart's content. As they all sat down, Suman could not help but notice Shravan visibly flinch and grow uncomfortable. They all started enjoying their food as Kavitha was an excellent cook but Suman looked at Shravan as he finished one after the other paratha. He was on his fourth serving now as Suman looked at him open-mouthed which Shravan noticed. He immediately got up took his plate and sat behind Kavitha who sat on a small swing overlooking the dining area. He kept peeping from behind Kavitha's back at Suman and finally flicked his tongue out making a face at her. Suman could not help but burst into laughter at his childlike gesture and that is when Kavitha noticed how Shravan was hiding behind her. She realized what had happened and explained that aloo paratha was his favorite so he would generally have it any time on any meal and he would skip lunch to have a few extra of them. Suman felt a soft corner for this childlike man who was different in his own way.

It was one week since all the four had started studying with Shravan. With each passing day, they had grown comfortable with Shravan and he had also started opening up a little in his own different way. Since they noticed Shravan was comfortable talking one on one, the students approached him alone and spoke to him about their doubts and he not only explained to them but they were enthralled by the way he approached the problem. Nazia remained petrified of Shravan and she decided to leave the group but Amit, Saheb, and Suman continued with Shravan. Suman had grown extremely fond of Kavitha. She admired her as a woman who ran a successful business but also managed Shravan so well. She used to spend at least a few hours with Kavitha after the class with her learning about her business, some of her dishes,

 or sometimes just having coffee with her. Shravan on the other hand did not like Suman getting close to Kavitha as he was a very possessive man and he felt she was sharing Kavitha's love on which he had the sole copyright. He would spring up behind them and sometimes ask Suman about the work he had given her to complete or ask some questions about a topic he had taught about sometime back just to move her away from Kavitha. Kavitha knew what Shravan was thinking so she would smile at his antics and tell Shravan "Oh!! Suman your teacher is very strict, just keep studying and do not loiter around me after all you are encroaching on Shravan's mother". Saying that she would burst into laughter and Suman would laugh too as she would understand what Kavitha meant. Suman was not sure how much she learned on thermodynamics but she has learned a lot about handlooms, their texture, color, and which part of India they came from. She had learned how Kavitha dealt with some irate customers.

Shravan disliked people who did not focus and he wanted all of them to focus on what he taught. People thought he stayed in his own world but contrary to that he was very observant and he had noticed that Suman was getting distracted by the entire world of handlooms and colors. Suman had reached their place early as usual and shuffling some long yards of handlooms when Shravan walked in handing over a cup of coffee surprising Suman. She smiled back at him as he sat down observing Suman. Suman continued doing what she was doing when a fighter jet crisscrossed the sky and Suman looked up in awe and her eyes remained focussed on the white lines etched in the blue sky. Shravan looked at her and said, "You love watching fighter jets". Suman immediately replied, "No, I love to fly them". Shravan was surprised and Suman quickly tried to cover up what she had said: "I mean, if they allow civilians to fly, I like being in the skies". Shravan continued "If you like or love something then you should focus completely on it. The key is to understand what is that you want". Suman turned back looking directly at Sharvan as she kept opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish unable to form words. She did not expect Shravan to talk so well and so deeply. As soon as Shravan figured that he was being scrutinized he went back to his shell looking at everything but Suman.