The bus came on time and as usual I got my favourite seat. Some of my classmates were still trying to do their homework in the bus. I felt proud knowing that I finished all my homework and don’t have to do any last minute job. I wasn’t good at all in my studies. When we came back from Malaysia, I had to write an entrance exam at the Stanley memorial School to be eligible to attend the english medium class. I studied all the subjects till then in Malay. My english ability was limited to the alphabets.
My mother tried to teach me english before the test.
She would ask questions like
What is your name?
I answered 10
How old are you?
My name is Nina
What is your father’s name
Appa
After trying unsuccesfully to teach me english Amma told me, she wasn’t sure if I was an idiot or if I am plain dumb. I couldn’t answer a single question for the test. 52 students wrote the test and I succesfully scored the lowest mark, It was easy for Maria, she already completed grade 10 in Malaysia and was writing her grade 12 again in Kerala. While Maria was the best student in grade 10, I was struggling at grade 5 learning malayalam first and all the subjects in malayalam.

Mrs Mathew is my class teacher and the first lesson on monday was her subject maths. As soon as she came in to the class she asked the class prefect Rani to collect all the home work books. She asked all of us to read silently while she corrected our home work. Suddenly I heard her calling out my name.
“Nina Thomas, where is your homework?”
I got up and looked at her stunned,why is she asking me for my homework when I have done it already. I replied, it is there in the book ma’am.
“Where?” She yelled again
I quickly walked to her table and searched for my homework in the note book. The pages were empty, no sign of my homework.
“What is your excuse Nina this time? Did the dog eat your home work? Or did the ghost steal your homework?”
“How could you cheat me by passing up your empty home work book”
You will be punished
She started screaming. I tried to tell her that I did my homework. But there was no way I could prove that to her.
“Get out of the class Nina, I don’t want liars in my class. You are a shame to the orthodox Christian community. You came from Malaysia, Is this what they teach in the school there? Go and stand in the play ground. I really hope you will learn a lesson. “
“your sister Maria, she is such a good student. She does all her work properly. Shame on you Nina, coming from a good family and trying to cheat and lie”
I tried to explain to my teacher, but she was getting more and more agitated and I walked to the playground and looked for a shady spot. There weren’t any. I could see all the kids in the school watching me, while I stood outside in the hot sun. My legs were hurting and sweat was trickling down my face and neck. I tried to figure out what happend to my homework. There was only one explanation…