Silent Schooling - #ATOZCHALLENGE – S (2026)

 

On the third floor of Izzat building, a proud mother stood looking at her son’s engineering degree. A freshly laminated frame had just been hung upon the wall of their one-bedroom apartment. Geeta couldn’t help jerking out a tear full of pride. She remembered all of Siddharth’s struggles, his late nights, his hours of staying locked in his room, his absence from all social events and activities. All of it was a build-up to this day when he would proudly wield his degree. With good grades, he got a campus placement in a top IT firm and could even work from home on most days. Life seems to be absolutely perfect and revolved mostly around her and her model son.

She yanked out her dated Samsung phone and began searching for the recording of her son’s presentation at work. It was a well-researched, insightful articulation that everyone was lauding. To add to that, it was engaging with witty puns and jokes interspersed intelligently between a serious presentation.

Everything was going on just beautifully!

On a hot summer day in April, Geeta decided she needed to get some hydrating fruits for Siddharth. It would comfort him after a long day in the office and a tiresome commute by public transport in the muggy weather.

The fruit crates in the market were laden with muskmelon, oranges, pineapples, and papayas. The vendor picked up deskinned pineapples and neatly sliced them into discs of almost equal sizes. Siddharth was a sucker for this fruit.

As she picked up the muskmelon to examine the exterior for a drop in hue, she accidentally overheard something that cut deeper than she could ever expect.

“That boy they call Sidhu, wonder what he thinks of himself.”

“Yes, I heard he stays in Izzat building, and he is an engineer or something.”

Were they talking about her son? Who were these two women?

“He and his gang of cronies are a nightmare for women passing by. Just yesterday he was making lewd gestures at Surekha. And Surekha’s husband is such a useless fellow. Always passing on the buck of responsibility to her. He asked her to ignore him. Seriously, I would have hit him with my shoe. It was good that Kishore Bhai, the farsan store owner, asked the boys to leave.”

“Really, the other day he was calling a girl names. He actually called her an “idiot.” Now what kind of a delinquent abuses a woman and feels nothing? He and his cronies continued their partying till late last evening like nothing happened.”

 “Oh! That’s nothing. He twisted a female colleagues arm the other day. Then like a loser he went on to be extra nice to her. The girl refused to speak to him and just left. The cronies continued as usual, as if nothing had happened. I wonder how educated men behave in such an unruly manner. Looks like his parents never bothered to raise them at all.”

This last sentence hit Geeta hard. She wasn’t able to process what she just heard. Instantly, she went into denial. My Sidhu is a very responsible man. He looks after me so well and makes sure all my needs are looked after. He has so much respect at work.

Tears were forcing themselves out of Geeta’s eyes again. But this time they held more trauma than relief. As she headed back home, she hid behind the gate and waited till Siddharth and his friends arrived.

Please, God. Let it not be true. Let these women be shallow gossips who want to talk down to my well-mannered son.

She wished for this so badly, that as the clock inched towards 6 PM, her heart began to pound faster.

“Sidhu, you should not have gripped Ananya’s arm the way you did.”

“Jeet, this Ananya isn’t as straightforward as you think she is. And this is the only way to put her in place. She thinks no end of herself. You won’t understand how things work.”

“But, Sidhu, women deserve respect. Would you like it if someone harmed your sister or even Geeta aunty?”

“Aye you. You think you are God or what? What happened, happened. They will get over it and yes, they will think twice before they mess with me.”

It was at this point that Geeta realized that confronting him would be all to no avail. He would not understand at all. But she had to do something.

She came out from the entrance of Izzat, splashing a broad smile to Siddharth and his friends.

“Hello beta, Jeet. How are you? Will you have some pineapple? I brought some for Sidhu, but you too can partake of it.”

“N-no thank you, aunty,” Jeet replied with awkwardness. “I have to head home. See you tomorrow, Sidhu.”

Sidhharth waved back at a departing Jeet.

“I heard what Jeet said to you, beta.”

Siddharth went pale.

“And don’t worry. I know what you did was absolutely correct. Some people need to be shown their place.”

“Isn’t it, ma? Just look at Jeet, trying to be a saint.”

“Okay, beta, I want you to look for a place to stay.”

“But we have our house ma.”

“That’s your fathers…I mean my house. I want my capable son to have his own.”

“B-but mum that is a costly affair in this city. And I have just joined this job. I will need at least a year to be able to get a home loan.”

“Go and show those bank people who you are, like you showed that girl. They will definitely consider your case above others. That’s how things work right?”

“B-but ma, if I break their rules, I get blacklisted. I may get a poor credit rating and may never be able to get a loan.”

“So, there are consequences for not following rules. Sounds so high-school, no? Like this Ananya girl might just go to the office POSH committee and report your act. And then they will decide whether you can be employed with them or not.”

“Yes, yes. She will take it way too far. Some people won’t stop short of making others look bad.”

“I understand. The colony women keep gossiping about you. So, I decided I don’t want that kind of nuisance as long as I am staying here. Go on rent, but go live somewhere else. I don’t want them to keep saying things that make me look bad.”

“B-but ma, you are ageing. H-how will you live alone?”

“The colony women are quite helpful, but with the caveat that I am not shrouded by any negative controversies. You can go on this app. I found it from the society secretary.”

At this point, Siddharth realized his mother was actually disowning him with tacit disapproval. His early success had led him to believe rogue behavior would be forgiven if it stood behind merit. He also realized nothing mattered more than to live up to his mother, who was actually his whole world.

A quick apology ensued. A promise was made to make it up to Ananya and Surekha. Siddharth was to own his actions, first and then apologize.

Geeta still wore and indifferent expression. She had set clear expectations with Siddharth, but only time would tell how often he would be able to take the high road.

She prayed silently on her first victory and asked God for strength going forward.