Exile

25. PATIENCE!!

Lavanya, the smart one, understood what he meant. They all talked to each other and ignored his class and now when they need his help, he directed them to talk to each other and help themselves. It awfully sounded like a poetic justice. She looked at her best friend, who also looked like had a realization about it. 

Yeah!! They messed up. 

Harika took a deep breathe. Come on!! They are a group of 6! Surely, they all together can solve 5 problems, can't they?? Ofcourse they can. How hard can a problem from Calculus be?! It can hardly take 1 hour or maybe 2 but they will solve it!! Yep!! They should!!

After 1 hour of struggling, one of them gave up, shaking his head "I guess we should apologize and get done with this!" he murmured. The boy named, Ravi, exactly knew how patient Agastya can be but he is just getting an idea of how stubborn Agastya could actually be. The guy is soft-spoken but he is not lenient in any way and this is just a trailer of that. Ravi looked at his friends, but only 3 of them agreed with the apology. Harika, her best friend Lavanya and another guy didn't agree for it. Ravi let them be and walked to Agastya along with his friends who agreed.

Agastya looked up from the text-book and raised his eyebrows when the students approached him, in askance. 

Ravi was the first one to apologize "We are sorry, sir. We shouldn't have disturbed your class. We won't do it again. Can you please explain it again so that we can finish these problems." 

Ravi was extremely polite. He aced all his remaining papers but failed in Mathematics. Math had always been super tough for him. He enjoyed the first class of Agastya and he was all up to enjoy the second one as well, but he gave into his stupid distractions. He was not a bad boy nor a rebel but It's just that his friends happened to belong to that category and he sometimes have to face the heat of that, just like now. 

Taking the queue, the other three also apologized. 

Agastya took his time to take a look of their faces. Ravi's eyes held sincerity but the remaining three.. held urgency to leave the classroom as soon possible. He nodded and Ravi was quick to flash a smile before offering Agastya his notebook. 

Agastya re-explained everything, as fast as he could, but it still took a good 1 hour to cover all the concepts that require to solve those problems. He didn't want to rush up through the concepts just for the sake of it and if it was his aim, he wouldn't have taken up the responsibility at all.

All four of them noted everything and they were all ready to solve the problems that he wrote on the board but Agastya sent them away stating that they don't have to. They didn't question him and just left but not before thanking Agastya. 

After an hour of more stubbornness and irritation, Lavanya and the other guy gave up too, leaving Harika. They followed the pattern of previous ones and walked away after Agastya re-explained them everything. They couldn't help but appreciate Agastya's patience and also got annoyed with it at the same time. It was past lunch time. They were hungry!!

Lavanya shot a look of warning to her best-friend while she was shot with a look of betrayal, before she walked out of the class with her books.

While Harika sat there stubborn, Advitya and Akshat on the other side are currently ruling out their options.

"Agar bhaiyya India mein hai hi nahi toh?" Akshat asked, concern evident in his voice.

Advitya shook his head with conviction "He is in India, Akki!! He may have distanced himself, but I'm certain he's still within reach, ready to return at a moment's notice." He said and he hoped for his beliefs to be true, with all his life. And Moreover, he had proofs "Unke paas utne paise bhi nahi hai!" 

Akshat frowned at that. He didn't like the sound of it at all "Aapko kaise pata?? Aur vo bina paiso ke kaha chale gaye?"

"Passport bhi ghar pe hi hai." Advitya added.

Akshat frowned "What if he applied for a new one?"

"We would have known!! Embassy se pata chal jaata hume. We have our men and sources everywhere, Akki!" Advitya stated the obvious.

"If we have our men everywhere, then why is it we don't even have a single clue about bhaiyya. 8 months bhaiyyu. Not even a hint." Akshat palmed his face and sighed, frustration evident in his voice. The man had no funds with him. Passport is at home. No new applications for passport in Embassy!! And No clue of Agastya Gautam for 8 months. They must be doing something wrong, to not even get a single clue until now!! Where are they going wrong!!!! 

He looked up at his bhaiyyu, only to find him wearing a smirk, surprisingly relaxed given the gravity of the situation. 

"Kya hua?" he inquired, puzzled by the sudden change.

Advitya looked at his brother "Khotaris se mail aayi hai."

Akshat nodded, "Ok..", waiting for his bhaiyyu to continue. He didn't understand why is it so important than the matter at hand.

"They are retracting from the project." Advitya said with a smile of victory on his face but Akshat failed to understand what is to celebrate about it!

Advitya answered his brother's unasked questions "Khotaris ke liye ye deal bahut important hai! If they are pulling out, it means only one thing! They are compelled to do so."

"Maybe it is not profitable" Akshat chimed, with a bored look, but Advitya ignored him and continued "The only person with enough influence and motivation to force their hand is...." Advitya tilted his head, looking at his brother.

Akshat's eyes widened at the realisation. He sobered up and sat straight, "You think... Bhaiyya did this?" 

"I am sure he did this!" A wave of happiness rushed through the brothers. 

Agastya looked at the girl sitting infront of him, scribbling something in her book. And he is 200% sure that she is not solving the Math problem. He had a hunch that Harika didn't even try to solve the problem at all. He could see the stubborn streak in her and he prayed for patience!! 

Lots of Love!!
Sathvika!!