The Last Time My Childhood Friend Saw His Favorite Teacher

We're so obsessed with explaining ourselves that we forget to understand each other.

Trigger Warning: Mention of domestic violence, attempted murder.

Kapil, the 8-year-old boy, carried his heavy schoolbag on his shoulder and walked out of his house. He unlocked his bicycle and found that the rear tyre was punctured.

He already had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he was on the verge of extreme frustration.

He threw the bicycle key and walked away.

Moments later, his father walked out and clicked open the car lock with his key. As he was about to sit inside, he noticed Kapil's bicycle resting on the tree. He walked towards the bicycle and stepped on the key.

He picks up the key and puts it in his pocket.

Kapil was walking alone on the street while some of his schoolmates rode past him, telling him that his bag's chain was open. They shouted and laughed as one hit Kapil on the back of his head. It hurt him.

Kapil was not in the mood to entertain any of them. Angrily, he flipped his bag around, and his bag pack, which was full of more than 20 notebooks, fell — all his books, notebooks, compass box, everything fell out.

Kapil shouted at the top of his voice.

Right then, a car stops next to him, and his father walks out, helping him with his books and notebooks scattered across the street on the footpath.

He asks him gently, "Why do you carry all the books? You only need to keep the ones mentioned in the timetable (schedule) for the day."

Kapil sat in the front seat without paying heed to what his father said.

The father puts all the mess in the bag and keeps the bag in the back seat. Kapil's face looked like it was waiting to break down.

The car stops. Kapil walks away with the bag. The father is about to speak to Kapil but has already walked away furiously.

The father turns the car into the reverse gear, and someone shouts, "Can't you see, idiot?"

Their eyes meet for a moment.

Kapil's father notices her uttering the word idiot. He doesn't like it but moves on.

It's the English teacher, Lauren David. She's supposed to be the sweetest and the kindest teacher in the school, but it doesn't look like she's having a great morning either.

The Unexpected Collision

Kapil is looking outside the window.

He's not talking to any of the students, who are shouting, playing with each other, and having a great time in the classroom, which sounds noisy and messy.

He's not responding to the girl beside him; he's just crying and looking out the window. The girl is confused, looking at him, and offers him water.

Kapil is lost as he recollects someone choking his throat. Suddenly, the class goes silent, and he snaps out of his daydream.

English teacher Lauren enters the class, and all the students get up and wish her good morning.

She gets a message on her phone, ignores it and then starts teaching as if trying to ignore something. She overlooks Kapil.

After a while, as she begins interacting with the class, she notices that Kapil is still looking outside the window. Being in her snappy mood, she throws a piece of chalk at him.

It hits Kapil on his cheek.

He notices that the teacher throws it at him. He takes the piece of chalk and aggressively throws it outside the window.

Lauren walks up to Kapil and tries to talk to him, but he's angry and doesn't respond. Lauren threatens him, saying she'll complain to the school principal if he doesn't respond.

Kapil tells her ruthlessly to go wherever she feels like going.

Lauren can't believe he just said that. She snaps at Kapil and tells him, "You can't speak to me like that…"

Kapil snaps back at her, "Do whatever you want… Just leave me alone!"

She raises her hand at Kapil and is about to slap him. That's when Kapil puts his hand on his cheek to defend himself and holds Lauren's hand.

Things were out of control now. Lauren announces in the class that Kapil is holding her hand and that she will get him suspended for this.

Kapil shouts at the top of his voice, "Aaahhhh…." as if letting out all the frustration inside him.

This sudden outburst takes Lauren aback.

The Long Night

Kapil is sleeping comfortably on his bed. Suddenly, someone shouts, and Kapil opens his eyes in a snap.

He leaves his room to notice his mother shouting at the top of her voice while his father and grandmother sit next to her to console her.

The father notices Kapil and calls him closer. He holds Kapil's hand and makes him sit next to the mother.

Kapil notices his mother closely, and she looks nothing less than demonic in the way she's shouting and crying at the top of her voice.

Her hands are tied to the bed grill as she continues shouting.

She's in a lot of pain, and Kapil has no idea why she's behaving this way. She doesn't even seem to recognize Kapil, which freaks him out.

The grandmother walks out of the room to use the bathroom.

Right then, the telephone rings, and the father walks towards the telephone. Kapil's mother's brother (maternal Uncle) was on the other side.

The father finally says, "We couldn't save the kid. And she's very disturbed. It'd be great if you could come for a few days."

The father notices that Kapil can hear him talk, so he takes the phone outside and continues talking about the details of the miscarriage.

Meanwhile, the mother smiles in a fake, evil way and requests Kapil to open her arm.

Kapil is scared, but he listens to her and opens her arm after the repeated requests. The knot is tight, and the smile on the mother's face grows as Kapil tries to open it.

As soon as the knot opens, the mother grabs Kapil by his neck. She choked him so hard that he couldn't make a sound. Kapil moves his hand aggressively in self-defence and hits a glass on the side table. The glass falls.

Hearing the sound of the glass shatter, the father returns to the room. The mother is still choking Kapil's throat. The father shouts her name, and the mother pushes Kapil away. He falls to the floor, holding his breath.

The father explains to the mother, "What are you doing? He's your son. Our son."

As he calms her down, he slowly ties her hand again.

The mother looks at Kapil apologetically and calls her back towards her. But Kapil is scared and pulls back away from the bed.

The father gets angry at Kapil and slaps him hard. Kapil is blown away. He shouts at him, "Who told you to open the knots? Get out!!!"

Kapil walks into his room and looks into the mirror. His neck is aching, and he's got the marks of fingers on his cheek after the slap.

He cries profusely and tries to go back to sleep.

To ignore the continuous shouting noise, Kapil puts his head between two pillows and starts crying again.

The Persian Cafe

Lauren gets out of the auto-rickshaw and gives the driver cash. The driver says, "I don't have seven rupees change, madam!"

Lauren looks around, then asks him, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have arranged for the change."

"Can I just keep the change? It's just seven rupees," he insisted.

Lauren gets angry and snatches a ten rupee note from the driver.

"Can I keep this? After all, it's just three rupees," she says.

The driver looks at her in shock.

Lauren walks to a nearby grocery store and gets the change for the driver.

The driver gives her a judgemental gaze and drives away, murmuring something about Lauren's frugality.

She walks into the Persian cafe.

Lauren is sitting with a man named Lalit, a 28-year-old man. A palpable tension can be felt between the two of them.

Lauren finally speaks, "Did you tell my mother I'm going to quit my job?"

Lalit says, "Yes, I said it before talking to you. But if you had to say it, you'd have said the same thing, right? Then, how does it matter?"

Lauren says, "Why would I quit my job?"

Lalit is taken aback. He says, "We're getting married. You'll be moving into my house, in another city. Obviously, you're quitting this job, right?"

Lauren asks, "Why can't you quit your job?"

Lalit says, "Now, you're being childish… How much do you earn anyway? Let's end this here."

Lauren says, "Is money everything? Have you ever asked me why this job is so important to me?"

Lauren starts to cry as she starts speaking her heart out. Lalit is listening in a state of shock.

Lauren tells him, "I love kids. But I can't have kids. Ever. Teaching these little kids is the only way I can ever feel anything close to what it feels like to be a mother." Lauren continues crying.

Lalit is shocked that she went to the gynaecologist alone when they had discussed that they’d meet her together.

Lalit asks, "Have you gotten the results of all the tests?"

Lauren nods in agreement.

Lalit says, "Listen, you take care of yourself. I wanted to tell you that I've to go back tonight. I have an important meeting."

Lauren saw this coming. Lalit leaves her in the cafe.

He calls Lauren's mother the next day to tell her that he won't be able to marry Lauren. He wants to marry a woman who can advance his family's lineage.

Lauren laughs helplessly as she controls the tears pouring out of her eyes.

Final Face-off

The main gate of the school opens, and Kapil's father enters.

He walks into the principal's office.

Kapil's eyes were swollen and looked like he had been crying for hours, which was confirmed as he had been crying since last night.

The principal tells Kapil's father about whatever happened in the classroom, but his eyes are locked on Lauren, whom he had seen in the morning, calling him an idiot.

All three of them were frustrated with the events that had transpired the day before.

Lauren adds to the principal by telling the father, "Kapil cannot talk to her like that. There has to be some level of respect for the teachers."

Kapil's father gives Lauren a cold stare. At that moment, Lauren realizes she called him an idiot in the morning.

Kapil's father sits on the chair and has a glass of water. He requests the principal to ask Lauren to leave the room. The principal tells Lauren to wait outside.

Lauren says, "I'm not going anywhere till you suspend this kid for misbehaving with me."

The principal waits for Lauren to leave. Lauren gives up and leaves the principal's office. Kapil's father calmly explains to the principal about the miscarriage that Kapil's mother went through.

He asks her to forgive Kapil for his restless behaviour and asks her to let Kapil attend school as the environment in the house will affect him more badly.

He also requests not to talk about Kapil's mother because they're already disturbed as a family, and responding to so many people would not help their case. He requests her to help them cope with this unfortunate event.

The principal understands and consoles Kapil's father.

She calls Lauren inside and tells her, "Ms. Lauren, please take Kapil back into the classroom and continue with your class."

Lauren is furious and says, "But, madam?"

The principal gestures to Lauren to calm down and tells her, "I'll speak to you afterwards. Please take Kapil back and continue with your class."

Lauren is walking with Kapil in the school corridor. She's extremely furious and can't stop herself, "Your father has a lot of money, and that's why you've been let go."

She aggressively holds Kapil's hand and asks, "Tell me, did he pay the principal to let you stay in the school? Tell me!"

Meanwhile, the principal asks Kapil's father, "How's she doing now?"

Kapil's father says, "She's very disturbed. Her mother is staying with us. She's taking care of her." The principal nods.

Right then, they hear a loud voice of Kapil shouting. The principal and Kapil's father both run out of the office to see Lauren holding both of Kapil’s arms and yelling at him at a distance as Kapil is crying at the top of his voice and shouting uncontrollably.

Lauren has lost it.

The principal says, "Ms. Lauren. In my office, right now."

Kapil's father calms Kapil down and hugs him as he continues to cry profusely.

The principal suspends Lauren.

Lauren again has a helpless laugh on her face. She says, "Thank you, madam! But before I leave, I want to ask you, how much money Kapil's father paid you to save his brat?"

This insulting behaviour shocks the principal, but she maintains her poise and says, "The only reason I'm not firing you is that I know what children mean to you."

Lauren responds, "Please fire me if you want, but I need to know if I can have any respect here in this school or if it is all just about money?"

The principal asks Lauren to sit and drink water as she narrates last night's incident at Kapil's house. Lauren could vividly imagine Kapil being hurt and Kapil's mother shouting like a maniac after her miscarriage.

Lauren couldn't control the tears flowing from her eyes as she could deeply connect with Kapil's mother's pain.

The principal says, "I'd expect you to understand this off all the people."

Lauren walks out of the principal's office and notices Kapil's father washing Kapil's crying face with water.

She continues to see both of them as the principal's voice echoes in her ears, "I've a request. Please don't speak to Kapil or his father on your way out. He requested me not to talk about this to anyone."

Kapil looks at Lauren and stops crying because now Lauren has tears in her eyes as she leaves the school building.

Sometimes, we're too quick to judge people and think we understand what they're going through. But most of the time, we don't even understand half of it.

Kapil sits in the car with his father, making him comfortable and fixing his seatbelt. He notices Lauren standing at a distance, waiting for a taxi.

“Empathy is an underrated skill; not everyone can have it, but you can save lives if you can empathize with people.”

Lauren is still wiping her tears as a taxi stops in front of her. She gets into the cab. Kapil's father starts the car. At the same time, the taxi and Kapil's car cross each other.

The most beautiful gift we can give someone in this world is actively listening to them, understanding them, and telling them, "I understand what you're going through, and I'm here for you as you work your way through this."

Lauren sees Kapil, and Kapil sees Lauren as their cars cross.

This was the last time Kapil saw her.

Lauren couldn't take the guilt of what she had done that day and quit her job. Kapil was not grown up enough to understand what had happened.

After a while, when the environment in the house was better, Kapil dearly missed Lauren, not just because Lauren had mentioned in the class that Kapil was her favourite student, but because somewhere deep down, she was his favourite teacher.

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