“Rupali. Rakesh’ parents are here. Would you like to handle them?”

“Yes… Yes Sir. I will.” She had no idea as to what awaited her and how she was going to handle it. But she was going to do anything to make up for dereliction of her duty earlier and this was one such chance.

“They might be distraught and might blame you or the institute. Be patient, but firm. Don’t say anything that can get the institute in trouble.”

On hearing the last piece of his advice, Rupali felt very nervous.

“No. I can’t handle it. I might do or say something wrong.”

“You won’t. Just go there and be calm.”

Rupali didn’t object further and went inside the room where Rakesh was resting and his parents were watching him over.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sharma!” Rupali addressed them softly.

They turned back to look at her. She answered their unspoken question, “I am Rupali Banerjee. I teach at the institute.”

“Who is responsible for this?” Mr. Sharma asked angrily.

Rupali froze for a moment on hearing that question. Was she the one? But she gathered herself together, “As the doctor might have told you, it was a suicide attempt. He might have been worried about his exams…”

“Nonsense. My son is not that weak,” it was Mr. Sharma again, while his wife just continued weeping.

“Mr. Sharma. It is best if we talked outside the room. We may disturb Rakesh otherwise.”

Mr. Sharma was not bothered, but his wife seemed to see her point. She nudged her husband and they came out in the waiting area. Paritosh was not there. Rupali was partly relieved that he wasn’t there to judge her. But she was also anxious about not having him around to rescue the situation should she fail.

“Mr. Sharma. I know it is a difficult time, but please try to understand that Rakesh would need support–”

“Don’t talk nonsense, young lady. My son has been a topper all through and–”

“Topper?” Rupali interrupted surprised.

“Yes Ma’am. Have you joined recently or what? I want to talk to someone senior–”

“Mr. Sharma. Rakesh is a decent student. And very good at sports and extra-curriculars too.  But no – he is not the topper.”

“Really? Now I must find out what is going on. You are now trying to prove him to be a bad student who attempted suicide because he was going to fail the exams. You are trying to prove him responsible for–”

“Please calm down Mr. Sharma.”

“Calm down? My son is being targeted by someone who is jealous and you are asking me to calm down?”

“Someone jealous? Why would someone–”

“Because he is good. He is the winner–”

“Okay. Let’s get this straight Mr. Sharma. Your son is not a topper.”

“I have received all his grade-sheets.”

“I will get you the originals. But that is not the point–”

“That is the point!”

“Mrs. Sharma. You know something, don’t you?” Rupali saw her fidgeting uncomfortably and addressed her directly.

“Y… Yes,” she looked at her husband guiltily and then looked down as she spoke, “The grade-sheets you got were tampered–”

“How can that be? They come directly from the institute, right?” he looked at Rupali for confirmation and then looked back at his wife, “How could he tamper them?”

“He didn’t. I did.”

“What?”

“I knew you would be mad and I wanted to protect him.”

Mr. Sharma stared agape at his wife. Rupali sighed. She was relieved that the situation was clear and Mr. Sharma won’t be able to hold the institute at ransom. At the same time, she felt sad for the boy. No wonder he was so stressed. She had spoken with him earlier and tried to convince him that he was doing pretty well with the academics and he need not take all the stress. But he never appeared to be at peace. Even multiple sessions with a therapist had not been helpful. He must have been distressed after the exams yesterday and made a call to the counseling service late at night. It came to her as she was on the pager duty and she had failed to respond in time…

Thank God, he survived. But if he hadn’t? Rupali shuddered to think of the possibility. She realized that Dr. Khanna had covered for her. She had to find him to thank him. But first Rakesh’ parents needed counseling. She turned her attention back to Mr. and Mrs. Sharma. Mr. Sharma was crestfallen.

“He hadn’t been doing well in his studies and to top that both of you have been lying to me. Let him wake up. He needs a piece of mind.”

“Mr. Sharma, please!” Rupali’s voice was confident and stern this time, “You will do no such thing unless you have decided that you want to lose your son for good.”

“What do you mean?” he didn’t like a young woman talking down at him.

“What I mean is that your son is a living being, an individual, not a medal you can wear on your chest. Let him be. He is doing fine. By putting him under so much pressure, you are doing him no good, only harm.”

“You don’t need to interfere. This is between me and my son.”

“Really? And just a while back you were ready to take on the entire institute and me because you thought we were holding him responsible for his condition. Mr. Sharma, he is not responsible. You are. And if it is between you and your son, we will do what an outsider strictly should. We will report it as a suicide attempt to the police, suspend him from the college and then you can deal with it, all right?”

“You are threatening me?”

“No. Only showing you a mirror. Everyone here, the institute, all of us, care about Rakesh. It’s high time you did the right thing for him too. Take your time and make your decision. I will wait for you in the hospital reception area.”

Rupali stormed out of the waiting area. She met Paritosh while walking towards the reception. She realized that he had witnessed her exchange with Rakesh’ parents and became nervous again.

“I messed up again, didn’t I?” she asked.

“It was unusual, but I think you did well.” Paritosh’ reply surprised her.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper. He might try to do something against the institute.”

“We will see. I think you need some coffee. Let’s get a cup form the canteen.”

Rupali followed him.

The silence, as they sipped their coffee, was broken by Mrs. Sharma’s voice, “Hi!”

“Hello Mrs. Sharma. I–”

“Dr. Banerjee, right?”

“Yeah. Rupali Banerjee.”

“Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“For telling my husband everything he needed to hear for years now. Hopefully my son will survive now; and live his life–”

“Mrs. Sharma. I lost my cool. But I do have his best interest in my mind.”

“I believe you.”

“Meet Dr. Khanna. Head of the Department for History,” Rupali introduced Paritosh to her not knowing where else to take the conversation.

“Nice to meet your, Dr. Khanna. If it is all right with you, we would like to take Rakesh with us as soon as possible. And he should be fit to come back in a few days.”

“Sure, Mrs. Sharma. We’d look forward to having him back. Our administration in-charge Ms. Meher Khan is here. She will help you finish the hospital formalities,” Paritosh replied.

—

To be continued