Being the youngest, Ninad grew up as if he is the only child of his parents.  He was born with a silver spoon and the age of 10, he was the pampered one in the house. He lived in a large mansion that had 13 large rooms, an architectural delight of its times built with Gothic designs. Oblivious to his fortune, Ninad grew up to be a stubborn child.

Ninad grew into a house that had a royal lineage. The ancestral kings had long given up their kingdoms, but the royalty was still afresh in their lifestyle. They were revered by the society due to their ancestors and hence they had a legacy to maintain. Ninad’s father studied in the school with princes from other provinces. An ardent cricket fan and a player, he was very well known for his generosity and flamboyance in the town. Ninad grew up seeing his father interact with the royals and commons, with the same elegance. Seeing his father play cricket with his princely peers, he developed a fascination for the game very early in his childhood. He would often ask his father to tell him the stories of the matches he played and dream about playing like him someday when he grows up.

One day, Ninad passed by the local market along with his aunt and he saw a nicely chiseled cricket bat being sold by the local craftsmen across the street. He was fascinated by the size of it as it was made for kids. Ninad had never held a bat in his hand, only heard the stories from his father and seen him occasionally in the large stadium across their mansion where he’d played with his cronies every evening. Ninad asked his aunt to buy him the bat. After some hesitation and haggling, and seeing Ninad being doggedly stubborn about it, his aunt got him his first cricket bat. He kissed his aunt on her cheeks and thanked her profusely for her kindness. He was ecstatic and couldn’t contain his excitement of carrying an actual bat in his hand for the first time. He could close his eyes and imagine himself being in the middle of the stadium that cheered for him while wielding his willow magically to knock the ball out of the stadium. The car came to a screeching halt as he realized they had reached home.

It was time for Ninad to go find his best friend, Dattu, and show him his prized possession. Dattu lived right next door to Ninad’s house in a one room home, along with his 3 siblings and parents. His father worked in a local sweet shop next door. Fair and burly, Dattu was Ninad’s first and only friend. Ninad grew up to be quite a loner as a child in his large mansion. Dattu came into his life as a result of his Mom trying to find friends to give Ninad some company. His Mom was friend’s with Dattu’s mom as they were neighbors. Over the years, Ninad grew very fond of Dattu and Dattu reciprocated the same. Over time, Dattu had become an inevitable part of Ninad’s life. The reason was obvious, Dattu made Ninad feel the way he liked to think of himself all the time – a winner.

Ninad always believed that in many ways he was superior to Dattu and that Dattu needed him more than I did. Dattu’s father used to come to their mansion to deliver freshly made sweets and borrow some money from Ninad’s father. Ninad never lost any game with Dattu. If he did, he’d get into a fight with him, and sometimes even beat him up till he agreed he was wrong. If Ninad lost a game, he’d simply pick up his toys and decide to leave the spot. This ensured victory for Ninad every single time. Ninad never liked to go and play with other kids, cause he wasn’t sure he would get the same authority elsewhere. He only wanted to play with Dattu. Strangely, this relationship was more symbiotic than autocratic, as it may sound. Ninad knew that he loved being with Dattu and for some reason Dattu always reciprocated the feeling. There wasn’t a single day, when he didn’t come over to Ninad’s house after school, to check on him and play. If that ever happened, Ninad will be very worried and go over to his place to find out what happened. There were times when Ninad would refuse to eat dinner without seeing Dattu, and his worried Mom would go over to the neighborhood in search of him. There was this childish innocence behind this otherwise unequal relationship.

Ninad knew that a bat and a ball would put him onto a completely different level of dominance in his bond with Dattu. He ran towards his house with the bat and ball, as his car came to a complete halt inside the mansion. Ninad saw the sparkle in his eyes as he narrated the entire story of how he convinced his aunt to buy him the bat with a customary dash of drama & exaggeration. Over the next few days, they played endless hours of cricket in the huge compound of Ninad’s house. Ninad loved his bat so much that he often went to sleep with the bat by his side. The smell of the willow and sound of the bat striking the ball gave him the highs of childhood that he wanted to savor forever. For most of the time, it was Ninad who would bat and seldom did he choose to bowl with Dattu. Dattu endlessly kept toiling away, some from the sheer joy of playing and some from the hope that Ninad would give him a chance someday to play with the bat. If Ninad got out at an odd time, he’d simply threaten to walk away with his assets and that kept the show going on till he wanted to bat. Ninad felt mighty powerful with Dattu. He started to believe that in life, the one who owns the bat and the ball is the superior one – The one who shall always call the shots.  

Days passed, the summer holidays got over and the school started. Ninad never liked going to school, as it was too competitive and clustered for his natural comfort zone. The only time he enjoyed school was while playing pranks on others, running around and eating from his lunch boxes of other kids during the break. He’d sit in the middle benches, with his usual gang of pranksters. They’d write stuff on the back of the shirt of a student sitting in front of them with an ink pen, without his knowledge or spray ink on their backpacks. This year, Ninad had Manu sitting in front of him. Manu was a rather studious kid and wore spectacles of high power. He wasn’t much into pranks and didn’t even like talking to the likes of Ninad. He was short, skinny and usually a loner spending most of his time with his head buried into books. As the days passed by, Ninad continued to run through his usual routine at school and he’d wait for the school bell to ring so that he can go home and play cricket with Dattu.   

One such day, Ninad was thoroughly frustrated sitting in the classroom. It was hot and humid outside, and the subject being taught was English Grammar. The English teacher was going on and on about a grammar lesson from a large, thick, red colored book authored by Wren & Martin. Ninad had already sprayed some ink on Manu’s shirt, so repeating those pranks didn’t move his molecules either. Manu was particularly strong in grammar and excitedly got up to answer the teacher’s questions – which irritated Ninad even more.

One such time as Manu got up to answer the question posed by the teacher, Ninad lifted his foot under the table and put it on Manu’s seat. Manu sat down and sprung back up, only to realize he was sitting on Ninad’s dirty shoe. Everyone sitting around Ninad laughed and enjoyed this new prank. Manu felt the usual disgust towards these petty pranks insinuated by Ninad from time to time. He swore at Ninad and reconciled with it. However, it felt hilarious and suddenly had awakened Ninad’s senses for this class. Ninad was waiting to do something more, the next time he got up. 

Everyone’s laughter around Ninad was building his confidence, and he felt like a winner in an unusual race. Very soon, Manu got up again to answer the teacher. This time, Ninad took his steel lunch box and put it on Manu’s seat. Manu sat down, only to make a loud screeching noise and sprang back right up. This time he was thoroughly annoyed and complained to the teacher about the constant digressions that Ninad was creating during the class. The teacher looked at Ninad, gave him a stern warning for not repeating this again and asked him to pay attention. Everyone around found it funny that Ninad was being scolded by the teacher, which annoyed him further as Ninad felt that Manu didn’t have to complain. Sitting with an angry face, Ninad decided to do something even more severe the next time Manu gets up. And he got the chance pretty soon. The school bell rang to announce the end of the lecture as well as the day. Everyone got up to recite the prayer. Ninad was ready like a tiger to get back on Manu.

Ninad had taken off the needle from his compass, the one with a pointed needle used to draw circles in the geometry class. He planted the needle on Manu’s chair and he was reciting the prayer with his eyes closed along with the rest of the class, unaware of Ninad’s dangerous ploy. The prayer ended and Manu did what Ninad had imagined. He sat on the needle and sprung back up from his seat with a loudest of cries. Everyone turned around and looked at him. There was a bit of silent pause in the class, as everyone was packing and ready to leave the classroom. He could see tears immediately rolling down Manu’s cheeks as he turned around. He saw bloodstains from his rear-end and exclaimed in excitement, “Check this out, Manu is getting his periods”.  After a momentary pause, there was a huge roar of laughter in the classroom. The entire class went delirious. Ninad felt he had the last laugh in the battle. People gave an occasional start at Manu’s back, while he stood uncomfortably trying to gain back his composure and comprehend what had just happened. Some folks even laughed at him and called him “the boy with the periods”. On our way back, he looked at Ninad who couldn’t wipe the laughter and the victorious look from his face. Ninad saw the look of extreme disgust and hatred in Manu’s eyes. However, between the giggles and noise, he couldn’t make much out of the powerful vengeance that Ninad saw in Manu that afternoon.  

The next day Ninad realized that Manu wasn’t talking to him anymore and nor was he able to comfortably sit in his chair. His new nickname had become pretty popular and spreading like wildfire. Boys who didn’t know Manu would stop by and ask him which day of the period was it. Within a week or so, Ninad had started to feel guilty. He never meant it to become such an embarrassing situation for Manu, but didn’t realize it that he had gone too far while playing school pranks. So Ninad decided to stop by and apologize to him at an opportune time. And the opportunity came pretty soon. It was recess time and Manu was sitting alone near the pond staring at the ripples in the water. Ninad walked up to him. 

“Hi Manu”

“Go away, you rascal”

“Are you still angry about that bloody prank?”

“Because of you, everyone asks me if I get periods or not” Ninad couldn’t stop giggling.

“I think we should put this behind us. Look, I am sorry”. Manu suddenly turned around and sprang into action to give a tight slap across Ninad’s face and then got up only to run away from the scene. Ninad was taken back at this sudden attack but somehow decided against chasing him for a counter attack. Ninad had finally realized that his prank had hurt Manu at a lot more sensitive places than his butt. Ninad felt that the slap was probably the punishment, and will help remove some of the hatred he saw in Manu’s eyes.

It was a late afternoon and Ninad had stayed back in school for an extra class. The usual school crowd had gone home and it was a lot more empty and silent. Ninad was walking alone in the corridor of the first floor, going towards the stairs as he was thinking about reaching home soon and playing cricket with Dattu. He heard some parallel steps walking in the corridor by his side. Ninad didn’t bother to turn back and check as he assumed it to be some other folks of the same extra class. As he hurried towards the stairs, the parallel steps got louder and too close for his own comfort. He turned back to see and it was Manu staring at him with his 4 other friends. Two of them didn’t even seem to be from the school, as Ninad had never seen them before. They were all dark and looked like shady characters. Ninad realized this was going to be ugly and troublesome. He hurriedly scanned across the floor to see if any of his friends were around. There was no one on the floor.  

“What’s up Manu? What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were attending the extra class today.” Ninad was back stepping as fast as he could.

“I have come here to show you how many periods I have gotten so far”.

Ninad pushed Manu as hard he could and he fell backwards on his shady friends. He turned around and ran as fast as he could with an aim to reach a place where he can find some more people. Manu and his friends soon cornered and grabbed him by his hands and feet. Ninad screamed at the top of his voice for help. There was no one in sight, the school wore a deserted look at that time. Ninad tried with all his strength to untangle himself from the stronghold of Manu’s friends, as they dragged him towards the corridor wall facing the huge school ground visible from the first floor. Ninad somehow got himself out of their clutches momentarily, and started to fight back as there was seemingly no other option. Ninad was feisty enough to tackle 2 of them at any point in time, but 4 felt too much. He kept on punching and pushing his way through them for the next few minutes. He was wearing a heavy bag and he used it to protect himself and threw it around, as the four fellows tried to get hold of him by his hands and legs. But what happened after that was simply unimaginable.  

Unaware of his extra class schedule, Dattu was hovering around Ninad’s mansion window looking for him and trying to avoid my parents, at the same time. He was well aware that Ninad’s mom would not allow him to enter the house and play till evening when Ninad had completed his homework. So typically, Ninad would open the backdoor and give him entry to the house. They would play till evening in the backyard, after which Dattu would come through the front yard, giving an impression that he just arrived. Dattu couldn’t locate me and the scorching heat finally got him annoyed. He decided to cycle up to my school in order to find me. 

After a prolonged fight, the humiliation and pain got the worse of Ninad as he battled to get out of the stronghold of Manu’s friends. Ninad was in the corridor of the first floor, close to the railing that was overlooking the big ground of the school. Manu’s friends held him by his hands and legs, swinging him up in the air. Ninad’s push to set himself free from their clutches, finally yielded some results as he knocked them off with all his strength. Gathering some courage, he ran towards Manu to punch him in the face. In a quick reflex action, Manu moved away in order to avoid getting punched. Ninad’s own force and speed was too strong for him to stop himself as he was crushed against the railing. Ninad was pushed out in the open air crossing the corridor railing and before anyone could realize he was free falling from the 1st floor of the school corridor.   

Ninad could’t recall anything after that loud thud, the sound that confirmed that he landed on the ground, unconscious. It was a terrible feeling. He was in pain, but couldn’t lift himself. He could feel an immediate rush of liquid flowing out of his mouth before he closed his eyes. Engulfed in darkness, he decided to give up.   

He opened his eyes and saw his parents and some other family surrounding him. His blurred vision and sub conscious state of mind could recognize about 8-10 people sitting in the room. The bed was cozy and the smell was that of a hospital. He could not feel anything except that he was struggling to stay awake. He tried to call his mom, as she was sitting closest to him, but soon realized that he wasn’t able to speak so easily. He felt that he was under a lot of weight and confusion at the same time. His mom immediately sensed his motion.

“He is waking up”. He felt 3-4 more folks ran close to his bed. He felt his mom’s familiar hand gently stroking his hair.

“Ninad, How are you feeling?” He nodded. His motion brought a sense of relief in the room. He fell off to sleep again. Next morning, he got up in full senses and found himself plastered from chest to toe. He had multiple syringes in his body and had started to feel the pain as the effect of anesthesia was started to wear out. Ninad’s father was spreading the humor around with everyone, which made him feel a lot more comfortable with the whole situation. As he felt awake, he was still searching for the familiar answers of what happened and how he got here. And the answers came from a familiar source.  

Dattu found Ninad, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, unconscious and in pain, as he came searching for him to school. He was shell-shocked. Without losing any time he carried Ninad in his arms and got him to the nearest hospital. He found the doctor and got him admitted, after which he ran back home to inform his parents.   

“Ninad, I saw some guys running outside of school as I was entering. I can identify who these folks are that pushed you down. We will crush those buggers. You don’t worry”   “I know who they are”.  Dattu was perplexed.

Ninad told him the entire story from the beginning.  Dattu was turning red as Ninad narrated the entire incident. “That bastard, I can’t believe Manu did this. I will go and teach him the lesson right now”. The conversation was interrupted as Ninad’s sister entered the room with food. Ninad wasn’t sure what to feel. The one of pain, the one of anger for Manu, the one of gratitude for Dattu or the one of being ashamed to his parents at doing something so silly. The whole puzzle wasn’t solved yet. He came to know that it has been 3 days since the incident had happened. He was in an intensive care unit, in an unconscious state for the last 48 hours. He had a broken bone in his right thigh and multiple other injuries from the fall.

Dattu had been in the hospital for the last 72 hours next to Ninad’s bed, as his Mom told him later on. He had hardly eaten any food and was extremely worried about Ninad’s well being. He would scratch Ninad’s leg and help him turn in his bed while Ninad was asleep and be by his mom at the time when she needed someone like him to run around for errands in the hospital. Ninad saw numerous people visit him over the next few days, including some from school. Everyone had similar questions and his mom had all the answers.

At night, Ninad used to hear his mother cry softly, regarding his pain. “I hope his leg gets okay, when they remove the plaster”. Ninad was scared himself not knowing whether he would be able to walk again regularly like other children of his age. The plaster was going to be with him for at least another month. Behind the curtains he would see his parents talking to various people that would come to meet him. He saw his mom folding her hands to Dattu’s mom – hugging and crying. Dattu’s mom hugged her and told her to keep the faith. For the first time, Ninad realized that he wasn’t superior to Dattu anymore and in fact, he almost owed his life to him today. He felt more anger at Manu, the culprit, than the gratitude he felt towards Dattu. After a week, Ninad was moved back to home and his daily chores included having Dattu sitting by his side and playing games or reading him stories.

Ninad’s bed was moved next to a window so that he can see what’s happening outside all day. He was going to be bed-ridden for the next 1 month. The school had granted him leave from mid-term exams as this incident happened in the school campus. He was now more reconciled and at peace with the events that had thrown his life out of balance. There was a small search and investigation done in the matter to find out exactly how he fell down.   

“Hello Ninad, how are you feeling now?” Miss Cordo, his class teacher, visited him one day.    

“I am ok, Ma’am. How is everyone at school?” She smiled.

“Everyone keeps talking about you, son. You must get well soon and be up and running. We all miss you very much”. Ninad knew that was a lie, but it felt good.  

“So tell me Ninad. How did all this happen? What exactly happened in school that evening? Was there anyone that pushed you? Or troubled you in any way? I am hearing different rumors from different people. And I’d like to get to the heart of the matter. Please remember, I am not just your class teacher, but I am also like your mom. Be honest and tell me everything. If there was anyone who played any mischief with you and caused this, we will make sure we punish him and even throw him out of the school”

Ninad immediately realized that Manu hadn’t confessed his crime, nor had he mentioned this to anyone. Else, the class teacher would have known by now. Ninad saw his parents, Dattu and his sister’s eyes eagerly waiting for this answer. Dattu was waiting for an answer that he knew to come out of Ninad’s mouth. This was his chance. 

“Nothing Madam. It was just an accident. I was walking very close to the grill. It was right after the extra class. I felt nausea, due to hunger and heat. So, I lost my balance.” 

Ninad couldn’t believe what he just said. The look on his face was equally perplexed as Dattu.  

“Ok then, son. That’s all I wanted to know. I hope you get well soon. Any help that you need from school, or me please don’t hesitate to ask. I will be in touch with you. Take care”  

“Thanks, Ma’am”  Miss Cordo left and everyone dispersed.

Dattu was waiting to find a moment alone with Ninad and soon sprung into action. “What the hell was that? Come on, you could have got that jerk suspended. Why didn’t you do that? Are you afraid of him? Why? Why? Tell me….” He took a deep breath after that.  

Ninad could feel his blood pressure rising. He was angry and vengeful. Ninad smiled and replied, “Because of you”. There was an awkward silence. “I don’t get it man. I just don’t get it”. He left the room, angry. Ninad wasn’t sure whom he was talking to, but looked like it was mostly to himself. He knew he’d be back soon. As it will be playtime. Cause with some people, you just know.   

Ninad was full of anger and vengeance for Manu since the day he gained senses after the incident. He kept thinking about how to take my revenge and lost sleep over it. Sometime he’d wake up in the middle of the night, only to find Dattu sleeping next to his bed in the corner, to help him if he needs anything at night. He’d be thirsty but he wouldn’t want to wake him up so he’d remain that way and try to sleep. On the other hand, Ninad would find himself covered in a bed sheet that he had pushed aside and he knew who put it over while he was sleeping.

The first time Ninad had a peaceful sleep after the accident was today. When he had decided to forgive Manu and let it go. Not because it was his fault and hence Ninad was being wiser. But he felt that it was him and his cruel joke that started it all. It wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular.

After a month, the plaster was removed and slowly but surely Ninad started walking on my own feet with the support of a stick. His mom was unbelievably happy to see him standing on his feet. He was given a warm welcome when he went to school again for the first time. All the kids came  and shook hands with him. Indeed, Manu was one of them.    “Welcome buddy. Happy to see you back in school”   Ninad could read in his wet eyes that Manu wasn’t too proud of what happened either. At the same time, he realized that Ninad didn’t tell the reality to anyone and perhaps that removed his hatred for me.   

“So the period’s days are over for you, it seems”.

Ninad said, staring at his back as he was walking away. Manu turned back and laughed. They hugged it out. The hatred in Manu’s eyes was finally gone. Ninad could sleep peacefully forever now. Even today, on a lighter note, Ninad doesn’t hesitate to call him the guy with periods. He laughs it off. He has forgotten the dark side of that joke. They both have. But Ninad never forgot the lesson it taught him. He realized that in life, it’s not always the bat and the ball that decides who is the superior one. It is something beyond the bat and the ball. Something that Ninad couldn’t fathom as an 8-yr old. Something that Dattu did for him or possibly something that he tried to do for Manu. Some sort of unspoken kindness that moved around them.   Sometimes in life, it is those unexpected, unseen acts of kindness that leaves unforgettable trails of your deeds in the minds of people. It is the inner voice that tells you to do the right thing. And the more you listen to it the stronger it gets.

Little did Dattu know, that his act of getting Ninad to hospital in the time of need, to sleep next to his bed to have me sleep peacefully would lead Ninad to spread that niceties and kindness to Manu. But that’s the power of a selfless act. And it continues to spread.