V ineet Malhotra always got into trouble, for no fault of his own. While playing cricket, if his friend broke a window hitting a sixer, he was punished for it. In school, if his friends whispered behinds the teacher’s back, he stood outside the classas punishment.
One Saturday morning, while playing cricket, one boy ended up breaking the window pane of Mrs. Satya Sen’s house. Seeing Mrs. Sen stride out of her house in her nightgown, the boys ran away, dropping the bat at Vineet’s feet.
Caught
Assuming that Vineet had broken her window, Mrs. Sen grabbed his arm, ignoring his pleas that he was innocent. Her raised voice awakened the Malhotras.
“See what your son has done,” Mrs. Sen screamed.
“I’ll pay for new windowpane,” Mrs. Malhotra’s words only stoked the fire.
“How dare you try to buy my silence?” Mrs. Sen yelled.
Mr. Malhotra joined them at the gate. “What’s the noise about?” he blinked in surprise at the large crowd gathered outside his bungalow. His eyes widened when he saw his son’s arm in Mrs. Sen grip.
“How dare you treat my son like this?” he fumed.
“Your son deliberately broke my window pane, as I had forbidden the boys from playing in the lane.”
“I didn’t break the window, dad,” Vineet said, “it was Parth,”
“Stop lying,” Mrs. Sen scolded. “The bat was at your feet.”
“Exactly,” Vineet replied. “I wasn’t holding it. And didn’t you realise that the boys had run away?”
“How dare you?” Mrs. Sen shouted. “Your rich parents haven’t taught you manners, you think you can buy our silence with your money.”
Mr. Malhotra was shocked. “I don’t know about the other boys, but I’ll ensure Vineet doesn’t play in the lane again.” Assured that Mr. Malhotra would take care of his son, the crowd dispersed.
Grounded
“No one has ever spoken to me like that,” Mr. Malhotra stormed into his living room, after the crowd dispersed. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I had forbidden you from playing with those rowdy boys. See what happened now. They got you into trouble, leaving you to shoulder the blame and get the punishment for something they have done.”
“I promise I won’t go against you again,” Vineet sobbed.
“You are grounded,” his dad shouted. “No moving out of the house for the duration of the Deepavali Holidays. I’ll personally keep a watch over you.”
To be continued
