Transformation

Since dad was posted in Kashmir, mom decided that we move there as well. We were to stay in srinagar, as the place of my dad's posting was remote and risky. I was admitted to army school srinagar. As soon as we moved in, i went out and made friends. People used to play cricket there. But the thing that bothered me was that they played with the leather ball. However, i soon got used to it and got pretty good with the ball.

At school i was supposed to go to 7th class. I was not at all serious with my studies. I idled away my time in gossiping and playing. The teachers didn't like me much either, except of course my sanskrit teacher. I was good at sanskrit from the beginning.

When the results of the quarterly tests were out, i was ranked 9th in class. A girl named Sanika was 1st. My mom came to attend the PTA meet. When she saw my marks, she wasn't pleased one bit. She had immense faith in me before that. I saw tears in her eyes. It was not the first time, but it was in front of the whole class. I felt terrible and cried myself. My teacher consoled my mom. She made me promise that i'd improve. I made a promise to myself that day, come what may, I won't tolerate tears in my mother's eyes. Whatever I have to do for it. That was the day i became a different person.

I started working harder than ever. And to everyone's surprise i came out with flying colors. I stood 5th in the next tests. I was pretty satisfied. But still i wanted to be number one. That was my goal. I beat the whole class in Sanskrit but Sanika always scored better in all other subjects. God knows how she maintained her studies.

There i started reading fiction. Famous five, secret seven. I still love them. We used to sit at the back of the sanskrit class and read novels. I didn't bother to work much at sanskrit, coz i was good at it. My favorite teacher there was Mrs. Kumud. She was my class teacher(the one who consoled my mom), and our science teacher.

One day i was told to read the 'amazing facts' section of the assembly. I was a bit scared to be on stage. It was one of my first stage appearances at the new school. The crowd was new and so was the fear. Anyways, i went and read the facts. My knees were shaking but were thankfully covered by the dias.

From the naughtiest in class, i became the most obedient and docile child in class. Classmates began knowing me, teachers started acknowledging me. I celebrated the small victory in my heart. It was then that i got my first crush. She was a classmate. She always praised me on small accounts. She was herself a good person. Well i think i was quite young to have a crush back then, but it just happened. I even wrote her name at the back of one of my books. One day not remembering this, i lent that book to her in class when she asked me for it. Later i realized what a blunder i had made. I just prayed that she wouldn't look and God listened to me. After 7th she went some place else. Even sanika left so i became a strong contender for the numero uno in class.