The Group Leader

“You are what?”

“I will explain on the way. Now wash your face quickly.” Sahithi stared at the man for a while before realising she was indeed hungry.

“Where is the washroom?”

“Come with me.” He turned and walked out of the room and despite her misgivings, Sahithi followed him. She was slowly coming round to the fact that everything here was drastically different from what she had seen till then.

“Just like those evil gits to join me here!” she ground her teeth in frustration. “Just wait till I make you pay back with interest.” The man stopped and turned towards her.

“Pardon?” she realised she had spoken her thoughts aloud.

“Nothing. I wasn’t talking to you.” He gave a weird look at her.

“This is the wash basin.” He pointed to her. “The bathrooms and toilets are over there.” He checked his watch. “You have five minutes.” She felt like smacking his head but didn’t. It was not worth it. She quickly washed her face and came out.

“So, what is a Group Lead?” he appeared surprised.

“You really don’t know?”

“Why would I ask you if I did?”

“Alright. It’s very simple. A Group leader is one who leads the group. I am your group leader.”

“I have a group?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“All girls are put in groups of five led by a team leader. That is me.”

“Why?”

“Because girls need to be supervised.”

“Are there any girls who lead girls groups?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Girls can’t govern themselves.”

“That’s misogynist.”

“So? What is your point?”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t have to.” They had reached the mess. “Just follow me and do what I say. And don’t contradict me in the mess or it will be bad for you.” He led her into the mess walking towards the counter and took a plate. Sahithi did the same. The menu was mouth watering – liver fry, mutton curry, pulav, curd. She filled her plate with those dishes and walked to the table.

The problem was that for a girls boarding school, there were a fair number of males as well in the mess. And each male student was sitting with at least five female students. The male who had brought her to the mess was sitting in the centre of the hall. She joined the others at the table.

“This is our new team member, Sahithi.” The male introduced her to the other three girls, who responded enthusiastically,

“Hi. I am Sharona.”

“Hi. I am Supriya.”

“Hi. I am Amulya.”

“Hi all. I am Sahithi.”

“Welcome to The Mad Hatters.”

“The what?”

“The Mad Hatters. That’s the name of our group.” The girl named Betsy explained. “We shall be together when we are in the hostel. For everything.” The way she said it made Sahithi suspicious that it was not so simple.

“What does our group do?”

“Let’s eat first. We are already late.” He said starting his meal. “We will talk after dinner.” The five hungry students attacked their dishes with gusto making short work of them in no time. Soon, the table was full of empty plates.

They put the plates in the dish-wash area and went out chatting to their dormitory. “Sahithi.”

“Yes?”

“This is your schedule. Don’t be late.” With that the team lead walked away towards room. Sahithi couldn’t help notice that the room had a door and a handlebar. Her face turned red when she saw the lack of any door to the big hall they were going to share.

“That is your bed.” Amulya said pointing to the only unoccupied bed in the room. Sahithi found the bed quite comfortable though it was nowhere as luxurious as the one at her home. School hostels were not made for luxury. She quickly arranged her things; the photo frame with the family picture was placed on the study table along with the alarm clock. The blanket was placed over the pillow neatly while the clothes went into the wardrobe.

“You are very organised. Have you been studying in boarding schools?” Amulya asked sitting cross-legged on her bed.

“Yes. I spent 9^th and 10^th class (9^th and 10^th grades) in the Adarsh Gurukul Vidyalayam, Hyderabad.”

“Wow! That’s one of the best residential schools in the country! Why did you leave that school?” Amulya seemed impressed.

“I lost my parents in an accident.”

“And you still managed to come here!” Amulya seemed surprised and for once, Sahithi did not mind the apparent lack of sympathy at the tragic news. “You must be really rich.”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“You don’t seem happy about it.”

“The greatest wealth for a person is to have loved ones around. Not materialistic riches.”

“That’s deep.” remarked Betsy. “You can count on us. We are family now.”

“Thanks.”

“Have you seen your schedule?”

“No. Why?”

“Read it aloud. Let’s see if we are in the same class.”

“Okay.” Sahithi opened the printed schedule the team leader had given her. “English in the first period, followed by Hindi, and a free period. Then, commerce, followed by lunch. Then History, Economics, games.” She frowned. “I never wanted to take HEC.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In fact I never even knew I was coming here till last morning.”

“That’s bad.” Sahithi sighed sadly.

“I don’t think I have any say in the matter. I have to make the most of my time here.”

“Well, it won’t be that bad. Cheer up.”

“Yeah. We will be together in the English and games periods.” Sahithi looked at her inquiringly. “We are in the MBPC batch.”

“Lucky guys!”

“Oh, not so lucky when you have to face a dragon, a tiger and a ghost!” Sahithi’s eyes went wide in shock.

“You don’t mean that do you?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye. “Sounds like fun!” The others burst into laughter at her words.

“Too bad you are not in our class! We might actually enjoy the classes then.”

“Don’t worry. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?” They talked till lights out and slept, waiting for the new morning and a new day in their life.