I now have no idea what I was looking at. Even after hours of meditation, I cannot recollect what had caught my attention. But well something did and thanks for that something and the cameraman. This photo inspired the first page of the novel.
Chapter 1
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I pick up the photo and look at the 32 bright faces
which I counted a few minutes back to pass time. I’m
seated in the front row squatting on the floor between
Mansi and Snigdha, my best friends. We all have two
pony tails tied up with a blue ribbon. Our school color
was blue and our school uniform was a combination of
sky-blue and dark blue. Our class teacher, Miss Lakshmi,
our principal Mr. Thomas, Vice Principal Mrs. Vani and
Director Mr Sathyanarayan are seated in chairs placed
behind us. Director Sir has his beloved ancient copy of
Wren and Martin in his hands. Behind them are the steps
where we used to have our lunch. The steps are partially
hidden by three rows of boys, shortest in the front and
tallest in the last row. We were told on the previous day
that there would be a photo session so all our dresses
were neatly pressed, prim and proper, except for one boy.
We are all looking towards the camera except for one
boy. His face is towards the camera, but his eyes have a
sideways glance as if he’s trying to look at something over
his shoulder. He has an evil lopsided grin on his face. But
what makes him most noticeable in the photo is his half
tucked shirt. The left half is somewhat tucked but the
right half isn’t. It hangs loosely all over his shorts.
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I never thought that I’ll fall in love with him, but I
did, after 12 years.......................
