From the Podium --Chapter 12

We all gathered maintaining all official protocol norms. What would be the agenda, we wondered.

One of them looked so fragile, on stage. 

Ani pondered, " Why is she present? Is it a fanatic sense of responsibility or boredom of being at home with no honest syncing with the inmates? "

The flow of words from the stage continued. His willing and thrusted responsibilities have been on the rise. He can delegate some of them. 

" Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown? " crossed Ani's mind. 

" He's putting his best efforts to keep us going," murmured someone in the audience.

Ani was unaware of the unmindfulness that she suddenly had. There were quite a number of heads that she had worked curiously with. Now her submissiveness is a consequence not only because of the unforeseen pandemic but experiences that taught her that ' The Boss is always right and peaceful coexistence became Ani's first and last option for almost a decade.

Ani looked around at the expressive, bland, curious, uninterested, timid but not a single annoyed look on the uplifted countenances . Some, as usual, were busy reading or responding to whatsapp texts or SMSes.

Ani remembered Sr. Geraldine, the most beautiful Principal who would strum and sing a hymn followed by a popular English number . The staff members were lost in her pleasantly expressive instructions, her commitment to the institution and the system. 

" Why did she have to leave the earth so fast? "Ani wondered.

Ani's present master is of a different make. He's like a coconut. With the passage of time, he has mellowed down. She hardly meets him. She observes him. She hears most of his words