Then Manorama started asking questions on English grammar to the students and some of them were answered and some of them were not. Jasmine was also asked two questions and she answered them. This time Mounika also answered the questions so nicely. Whenever the students could not answer the questions, Manorama explained them.

"You are all not disappointing but a little more work on this sure shall be beneficial. Every day I dedicate fifteen minutes or so to English grammar in my period."

"Alright teacher" once again in unison all the students said.

Manorma was about to say something more then the peon came into the class with a notice. Manorma took that and studied it carefully.

"From now on you pupils do have a meditation class once for every week. Thursday last period would be your mediation class. What is today?" looking straight into the faces of her students Manorama asked.

"Wednesday madam." Some of the students said.

"So you do have the meditation class in the last period of tomorrow. It shall be very interesting and entertaining."

Manorama signed on the notice and gave it back to the peon. He took it and went out of that class.

***

"So, you are going to have a meditation class from tomorrow onwards." After hearing what his daughter said, Sundar said.

"Yes" Jasmine nodded her head. "I am feeling very much thrilled."

"Now a day all the schools are conducting meditation classes."

"We don't have this type of meditation classes in our time." Malathi who sat nearby said.

"This meditation even it is in vogue for a long time, a recent phenomenon to us. One other good thing is the modern people are accustoming to it themselves. Meditation is very important to all of us." Sundar said.

"You are right." Malathi nodded her head. "Who is going to conduct this meditation class to you students?" she asked Jasmine.

"I don't know all about those particulars. We were all just told that there would be a meditation class to us in the last period of every Thursday." Jasmine said.

"Thursday is tomorrow itself!" Malathi said. "After the meditation class, tell me how it is and what you are asked to do."

"Sure I shall do that." Jasmine nodded her head.

After talking some more with her parents Jasmine put herself in her homework.

***

The meditation teacher Niranjan was not only a meditation expert but also a retired professor in psychology. He wrote books on meditation, yoga and he gave discourses on the same at many places. He was unmarried and earned enough by working as a psychology professor to go on with his life smoothly. Even he was earning money by his books and discourses, money was not his main concern. He just came into the nearby house to that school and when the principal contacted him and requested him to teach meditation in Rose Garden he agreed to do that an hour every evening. He always would feel happy to teach meditation and tell the people the things that they don't know.

"First you need to understand meditation in a proper way. If you think that the meditation is nothing but sit straight on a mat and force the thoughts out from your mind, you are just mistaken. Meditation is not making your mind empty and you never can make your mind empty at will."

He took all the ninth class students into the playground and once all of them sat peacefully on it, he started saying about meditation.

"I tell you now how to do meditation. You all just try to do it like that. Whenever you want to do meditation sit straight on a mat or even a plain floor like this there is no problem. This playground is indeed a best place for mediation. Keep both of your palms on your knee caps like this. Take four deep breaths. Close your eyes."

He was showing them doing it himself how to do. "Don't try to move your body. There may be itching, paining but you just remain there like that without moving. It appears difficult and impossible. But by practice and perseverance you do accustom to that. There are advantages in remaining like that. You do have a feeling then that you are not the body."

All the students were doing in the way just he was asking them to do. What he said was true. Most of them were feeling itching and paining at some places in their body and it became difficult to them to sit like that but they continued it.

"Now the main part. The crucial point." Niranjan paused and all of them were listening so intently. "If you are thinking that I am going to ask you to concentrate on something you are mistaken. No, you need not concentrate on anything. You need not force yourself to observe any thoughts. You need not force yourself to hear any sounds. You need not force yourself to do anything." He paused once again.

There was no movement in the students there. All their ears were concentrated completely on what Niranjan was saying and their minds were grasping what he was saying.

"But you need not stop or restrain your organs from doing their duty. You need not stop your mind from observing thoughts if it wants. You need not stop your ears from listening sounds if they are hearing something. You need not stop your nose from smelling something if it smells. Just leave your organs on their own. Do their work or not is completely at their will."

"Just sit like that without bothering what is happening in your mind. You need not observe the thoughts that are in your mind. At the same time don't bother if the thoughts come into the notice of your mind all by themselves."

Jasmine was completely involved in that meditation listening what he was saying. It appeared like a strange meditation and would work for anyone. No necessity to do anything and leave every organ on its own! All sorts of thoughts were flooding on her mind and instead of getting irritation she just let them come into her notice. Even then also, her ears were listening what Nirajan was saying and her mind grasped most of that in the middle of other disturbing thoughts.

"The crucial point in this meditation is there is no observer or observed. The main thing that remains is 'you'. You may say still thoughts are coming into your mind and your mind is observing them. But you are not observing those thoughts, they are themselves coming into your notice. You have to understand the difference between 'observing' and 'noticing'. If you yourself on the thoughts it is 'observing' and if they came into your knowledge by themselves it is 'noticing'."

Whatever Niranjan was saying just then also was going straight into the mind of Jasmine but she half understood it and half not.

"It was just like observing the passersby before your home. When you sit before your home and keep your eyes on the road, even you don't want to observe the passersby on the road, they come into your notice. It is just like that. On the road of your mind the thoughts are like passersby."

There was a pause before he was continuing again.

"Sometimes some useful thoughts also come to your notice. Pick them up and observe them carefully to use in future. Whenever a known person or your good friend is going on the road, you particularly call him and talk with him. It is just like that."

Jasmine thoroughly enjoyed that meditation class.

***

"I want to come to your home on tomorrow." Jasmine said to Mounika.

"Its my pleasure. I am feeling very happy." with a smile Mounika said.

"Tell your parents that I am coming to your home on tomorrow."

"No necessity. My parents never object to my friends to come to my home."

***

"Mom. My friend Jasmine. We both are studying the same class." Once Jasmine and Mounika entered into her home, Mounika introduced Jasmine to her mother Prameela.

"Really! You never told me that you have a pretty girl like her as your friend." With a smile on her lips Prameela said.

"She is not just pretty but very intelligent also." Mounika said again.

"Enough. Will you please stop it like that?" Jasmine's cheeks blushed with anger.

"Alright. Alright." Mounika laughed. "Please sit."

Mounika's home was arranged neat. The room they both were in was even more neatly arranged and decorated. "This is my reading room. How you are feeling in it?"

"Fantastic! Whose work is this?" seeing the neatly arranged paintings etc. around Mounika asked.

"My mom's. She takes special care in keeping the house neat and beautiful."

"Indeed great." Jasmine nodded her head in appreciation.

"What you both are talking?" Prameela came there with coffee cups with saucers. She gave them to Mounika and Jasmine.

"We both are just talking about the neat arrangement of this house. It is really appreciable." Looking admiringly at Prameela, Jasmine said.

"I never think about it like that. I just keep the house in order." Prameela smiled.

"You know, my mother is a commerce lecturer to the intermediate. She can teach all the subjects to us if she wants."

"You are really lucky. That is why you are getting high grades in all your examinations." Once again Jasmine's eyes sparkled with admiration.

"We have not written even our first unit test either. How can you say that I am getting high grades in all my examinations?" Mounika asked.

"I learnt it from Ragini. She said your marks are always high in all the subjects. But she did not say it is because of your mom."

"Alright...alright. I can teach only English, social and Telugu to my daughter. Other subjects I cannot. But only occasionally I teach anything to her." Prameela said.

"It is my dad who takes good care of my studies. Even he is not a teacher he clears all my doubts in science, mathematics and physics also. He knows these subjects very well."

While Mounika was saying like that Jasmine looked into the face of her mother. Prameela's face became expressionless. Jasmine understood that she was trying not to show her true feelings then.

(..........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.)