Jasmine and Mounika looked into each other's faces then. "Okay then. Just as friends. No one should know that you both are lovers and going to be married in future. Moreover...." Looking straight into the face of Pramod, Jasmine said "Never, never that mistake takes place between you both again until you both marry."

"I promise, I swear that mistake never shall happen before we both marry." Pramod said. "Alright. I tell her that it is not possible to both of us to live together now. I ask her to concentrate on her studies and get good marks. I think I can persuade her. It is my promise to you both that I make her understand."

"Thank you Pramod." Mounika said. "We both are feeling relived now. I have confidence on you that you can make her understand."

"Indeed we both have to thank you." Pramod said. "Ragini is very lucky that she has got good friends like you."

"From now on" Jasmine said "We both are your friends also."

Then they both have come out of that house and started walking towards their homes.

"Now I am feeling this problem is solved. I am thinking that Pramod can make her understand hundred percent." Jasmine said.

"I am also feeling in the same way." Mounika said.

There was some silence between them both then.

"There is an important thing I want to say to you now." Mounika suddenly said.

Jasmine stopped and Mounika also stopped. Looking straight into the eyes of Mounika, Jasmine said. "It is about your parents' divorce."

"They signed on all the necessary papers. Those papers are going to be submitted in the court very soon."

"Just by that divorce is not going to be granted. I already told that to you."

"But sooner or later they can get the divorce." Mounika sighed. "Is it is better that I do prepare to that?"

"Never" Jasmine said. "I have thought of something to solve your problem completely. But before saying that to you and making you follow that, I have to make some arrangements. Just give me two days time."

"Just tell me what it is?" looking curiously into the face of Jasmine, Mounika asked her.

"No, not now. You have to wait." Jasmine said.

Then they both resumed their walking again.

***

"You are appearing always moody recently. Tell me what it is?" Anupama and Jasmine were eating ice cream and looking into the moody face of Anupama, Jasmine asked her. "You have promised to share your problem with me."

"Yes I did." Anupama nodded her head.

"Then tell me. What it is making you to hesitate to share it even with your close friend also." Jasmine encouraged her.

Looking carefully around her to assure herself no one was listening, Anupama said. "I have not got it yet."

"What you have not got yet?" Jasmine could not understand what she was talking. "I cannot understand if you talk like that."

"I have not become a woman yet. I am not yet matured." Anupama blurted out.

"Alright then. What is the problem with it?"

"Girls usually get their womanhood in their sixth class or seventh class. Why it delayed like this for me?" there was a troubling expression on her face.

"For this simple thing you are worrying like this?" looking surprisingly into the face of her, Jasmine asked.

"Is it is such a simple thing?" this time Anupama also surprised.

"First make one thing clear to me. Did you share your fear with your mother? Asked her what she is thinking about it?"

"No I did not." Anupama nodded her head in negation. "I did not share this with anyone else except you till now."

"First learn something. If you are feeling fear like this for anything share that with your parents. They are quite elders to us and know answers to too many a thing."

"You tell me now if you know. Is it is not something I have to feel worry?"

"I have two cousins. They got their womanhood in their intermediate. Not every girl becomes a woman before she reaches thirteen or fourteen. Sometimes it may be delayed like this depending upon the body nature. But I know one thing for sure." Jasmine paused as if to give reiteration to whatever she was going to say. "It is absolutely not necessary to you to worry about that. Anyhow tell this to your mother. Ask her to take to you a gynecologist. The problem would be solved then. Do you know one thing?"

"What it is?" looking curiously into her face Anupama asked her.

"There are medicines to make a girl matured. I mean to make her a woman."

There was relief now in the face of Anupama. "How did you come to know all about this?"

"I said I have cousins who have late maturity. They also worried like you and got cleared their doubts by someone. I came to know all about this through them."

"Did they take medicine to become women?"

"No, they did not. In your case also it is absolutely not necessary." Jasmine felt happy on seeing the relaxing expression on the face of Anupama.

"Thank you, thank you very much Jasmine." Anupama said.

"Atleast share your problems with your close friends rather than suffering yourself like this." Jasmine advised her.

"That is what I did, was not I?" with a smile Anupama said.

As they both were talking like that the school peon came there and said to Jasmine "Principal wants to see you?"

"Principal wants to see me?" Jasmine said and looked surprisingly first into Mounika's face and then into Peon's face "For what?"

"I don't know about that. He wants you to come into his chamber." Going away from there, peon said.

"I am feeling fear. Why does he want to see me then?" Jasmine said.

"Don't feel fear and go. He is having a very good opinion on you." Anupama said with a smile. "He praised you a lot at your parents on that day."

"Alright" Jasmine said and started walking towards principal's room. She felt quite uneasy while walking towards there. She knew very well how strict and cruel the principal was.

"May I come in sir?" Jasmine said. There was no one in principal's room then except him.

"Please come. Please come." With a smiling face Mrudanga Rao said.

Still feeling uneasy Jasmine entered into his room.

"Make yourself comfortable in the chair."

Hesitatingly Jasmine did so.

"You need not feel nervous. I made you to come here only to thank you. After seeing such a change in my son because of you......" he paused for a moment and then said "I thought it is obligatory on my part to thank you."

Heavy silence prevailed then. Jasmine felt quite awkward. She did not at all want a situation like this. Mrudanga Rao himself broke that silence.

"Thank you very much Jasmine. Thank you very much. I don't know what you both talked on that day. But I saw you both talked for a considerable period of time. From then on change started in him. He secured very good marks in his first unit test and he is studying very well every day. I know for sure that it is all because of you."

Jasmine wanted to flee away from there. But involuntarily she remembered what his son talked with her on that day.

"Your son wanted to go away from home on that day. I persuaded him not to do so." Jasmine said with firm voice. She did not want to talk all that but she was talking so to her surprise.

"He wanted to go away from home? For what?" there was a horrific expression on his face.

"You beat him frequently and insulted him quite often. He could not bear it. Rather than the physical pain he felt shame being insulted before all. So he took the decision to go away from home and told me his decision."

"And you persuaded him not to do like that. You just don't know how much thankful I am to you for what you did. I just don't know what would have happened to him if he went out of home. I shall always be grateful to you." Looking gratefully into her face, Mrudanga Rao said.

"That is absolutely not necessary." Jasmine said firmly. "But I want to make something quite clear to you. You are thinking that your vigorous beating and strict discipline doing good to the children. May be you are reaching the target by making them study hard by your vigorous beating and strict discipline. But the students are feeling very much distressed. There is no surprise if some of them are planning just like your son to go away from homes to escape your beating."

"I never have thought about it like this." principal said. Jasmine really put him into thinking

"Think about it atleast now." Jasmine said. "You never beat girls. But we also are feeling very much fear in your presence seeing you beating the boys like that. Then just try to understand how the boys do feel? Put yourself in their place and then think. How do you feel if someone beat you and insult you like that?" Jasmine could not understand wherefrom that much of courage came into her.

Principal's face reddened. "Whatever you are saying appearing reasonable. I really try to change my attitude."

"It may be possible to make children study hard by beating them but it is the worst way and sometimes does have serious unwanted consequences. There are other ways also to make the children study hard. Encouragement and inspiration. Understanding where the children are struggling. Most of the children want to study hard and develop in their lives but sometimes they face some problems that they cannot explain. At the same time all the children do not have the same capacity to understand the subjects. The problems need to be understood and the children have to be taught lessons in a loving and affectionate manner. Beating indiscriminately never helps the children."

"I think you have given a lesson like this to my son also that he has changed." Looking surprisingly into Jasmine's face with a smile Mrudanga Rao said. "No surprise. I myself have changed after hearing you like this! You pupils see the change in me. I never beat anyone indiscriminately and there shall never be any unwanted strict discipline. I do see that you all students can enjoy your studying here."

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

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