"It is important. Are not you hearing about girls at tenth class becoming pregnant? Boys and girls running away to marry? What is that love at teenage? In fact the main and strong reason for that is the uncontrollable sexual urge inside."

"I agree with you in no uncertain terms on this." Mrudanga Rao nodded his head. "But teaching something about sex in the high school may not be that easy. I am afraid parents don't agree with this."

"If we can make them understand the importance of it they sure agree." Niranjan said. "But sex education at the earliest possible age is more important than a meditation class. The children at teenage must know what type of changes their bodies go through and what type of feelings they do have. Then they shall be in guard and then can protect themselves from being taken advantage by others."

Silence had fallen like a blanket over all of them. However much reasonable what Niranjan had said, Mrudanga Rao could not agree with it completely. 'How they can say about sex to high school students? It may create quite an unnecessary interest also in them tempting them to do experiments.' He was thinking.

After talking some more time with the teachers and principal, Niranjan left that place.

"Sir, what you are thinking about Niranjan's suggestion with regard to sex education to high school students?" physical teacher asked Mrudanga Rao.

"Whatever he said is true and reasonable. But I cannot agree with it instantly. Are there any schools around providing sex education to children?" Mrudanga Rao said.

"No" Hindi teacher Vasanth said. "So far I don't hear that there are schools providing sex education."

"But I heard about stories that tenth and ninth class girls also are becoming pregnant." Pradhan said.

"I also heard and read those stories." Mrudanga Rao nodded his head. "Are you thinking providing sex education stops such type of incidents? Just by knowing about the changes the body and mind undergoes and knowing about the urges at that age, stop children feeling them? Our providing sex education, I fear, may work in reverse also. They may not think, in the way we want them to think after having that sex education. They may be even more tempted to do the experiments after knowing about it in full."

"You are absolutely right." English teacher Manorama agreed with him.

"But knowledge is power." Science teacher Praveen said. "Is it is not important that they do know about the changes take place in their body and the urges and feelings they have?"

"It may be, I cannot say. But I cannot hastily agree to such type of classes until we have even more thorough discussion between us and until we have a discussion with parents also." Mrudanga Rao said.

All the teachers nodded their heads and said 'yes'.

***

'There must be a strong reason for my parents hating each other like that, for their desperation to take divorce like that' Mounika was thinking. 'Jasmine is right. I have to find out that reason, but how?'

Mounika started searching the home carefully. First she started going through the belongings of her mother. Both of her parents were out on their jobs. Mounika said that she had a headache, took permission in the school and came to home.

The cupboards and suit cases in her mother's room were unlocked. She had to search carefully. Her mother should not get doubt that she went through her effects like this. Mounika was getting irritation as she could not have anything worth her searching. After finishing with her mother she had to go into her dad's room and search his.

There was only one suit case was left. If that was also finished there was nothing in her mother's room to search. She opened that and started taking the things out from it. They were all old and obsolete clothes. It seemed that her mother might not prefer to open that suit case for a long time and it smelled stale. When she took out the last garment also from the suit case, she saw some white card in it.

She took that card out and turned up. Her heart missed a beat. It was a photograph! A photograph of a handsome person! Might be aged thirty five years or so.

So what her mom said was false. There was something behind this photograph. 'My mom is in love with someone and she does not prefer to tell anyone.' Her heart at once became heavy. Suddenly she wanted to weep. Even she was feeling sad all the time as her parents quarreling with each other always and wanted to take divorce, she never felt sad in this way. She just could not bear the thought that her mother was in love with someone. So this was the main reason why her mother wanted to take divorce.

Then there was no surprise that her father also wanted to take divorce. 'How he can live with a woman who is in love with someone else?' suddenly she felt pity on her father. 'Or is my father also in love with someone?' she thought in herself. 'Is he is lying to me about that as mom is doing?' in that distress also her mind was thinking so furiously.

'I have to have a talk with my dad' Mounika thought. 'If my mom is in love with this man, I am going to stay with dad, there would be no change in it.' she decided in herself firmly

She went onto the bed and fell on it. Before doing that she kept the photograph in one of her books carefully. She just did not know when she fell asleep. She woke up when her mother shook her off.

"When did you come back from school? Why you are sleeping like this?" looking anxiously into the face of Mounika, she asked.

"I felt headache suddenly in the school. So I took permission and came home." Suddenly she felt lot of angry on her mother.

Suddenly Prameela sat beside her daughter and put her hand on her forehead. "Are you alright now? May we both go to the doctor? Or shall we call the doctor to our home itself?" there was anxiousness in her voice also.

"I am completely alright mom. There is no headache now. Don't worry." Mounika forced a smile.

At first Mounika wanted to ask her mother about the man in the photograph but decided against it. Her mother might not give correct information to her. If she would show the photograph to her father and ask him, he sure would tell the truth. Moreover if he did not know about him yet, he knew about him now.

"Come. We go into the kitchen and prepare something ourselves. As a going to be housewife in future, you sure must be known how to prepare dishes." got off from the bed Prameela said.

Mounika was still angry with her mother. She just did not want to do what her mother was asking her. But she did not want her mother get any doubt on her. Mounika just followed her into the kitchen.

While preparing the dishes in the kitchen Prameela was talking something or other all the time to Mounika. But Mounika's mind did not concentrate on that at all. She was thinking furiously about the person she saw in the photograph.

Mounika's dad came to home at the usual time. Mounika never had seen her parents taking dinner together. Mounika took her dinner sometimes with her mother and sometimes with her dad. On that day Mounika took her dinner with her dad.

"Dad, I have to talk a lot with you on this day. Don't sleep please. Wait for me." With a very small voice, only to be heard to her father, Mounika said.

Sudhakar looked curiously into his daughter's face for few seconds and said "Alright dear. I wait for you."

***

"What you want to talk with me little lady? I am feeling terribly sleepy but as you said so I am just waiting for you all the time." Looking at his daughter who entered into his room just then, Sudhakar said.

Mounika did not want to waste time. She did not know how to introduce that either. So she abruptly put the photograph before him and asked him "Dad, do you know about this person?"

Sudhakar looked at the photograph and a frown gathered on his forehead. He took it into his hands and saw it for few seconds and then asked her "Where did you get this photograph?"

Mounika astonished as her father did not feel any surprise seeing that photograph so. 'This means my father already knows about him' she came to the conclusion.

"It appears that you know this man." Mounika said.

"Yes, I know this man." Sudhakar nodded his head.

"So he is the man that my mom going to marry and live with after taking divorce from you." Suddenly Mounika's voice became angrier.

"First let me know how did you get it?" Sudhakar asked her

"I found it on the floor in mom's room" Mounika lied to him. She did not want to tell him the truth. "What I have said just before is true or not?" she asked him again.

"You are wrong dear. This man is late. He was dead a long time before itself. He was dead by the time of your birth itself." Sudhakar said.

"What!" the photo was dropped from Mounika's hands."What you are saying is true?" she screamed.

"Yes, why do I tell lies to you?" Sudhakar said. "It is true that your mother is in love with him. But he is late a longtime back itself."

"I just cannot understand anything you are saying." Mounika was in full of confusion.

"You are too young to understand this Mounika" Sudhakar said. "Your mother first loved him and wanted to marry him. As he did not belong to their caste, your mother's parents not agreed to her marriage with him and I don't know how they forced her to marry me. I came to know about her love story only after our marriage. If I have been known about her love, I would never have preferred to marry her." Sudhakar said. "She said to me about her love in the beginning days itself. She made it quite clear to me that she wanted to live only with him and I wanted to help her. I was shocked and dismayed but I understood her situation and agreed to help her. But........" he paused for a moment.

(..........to be continued)

(I hope you enjoyed it so far. Please don't forget to rate and review it. I update the next chapter as early as possible.)