Leena, Inaya and Jasir are three siblings facing their individual educational struggles by enlisting each other’s help.
COVER STORY
Leena, Inaya and Jasir are three siblings facing their individual educational struggles by enlisting each other’s help. The latest challenge on the academic front is the latest Result Day.
The day dawned on another Result Day for the Moin family, otherwise known as Bad News Day. It was the day Mama and Papa sat down with their daughters and son to go over their report cards. Parental feedback was in order, which was usually a long lecture mixed in with highly predictable advice and semi-encouraging motivational points. Papa did most of the talking, with Mama inserting her comments at appropriate intervals.
This Bad News Day went nothing like that. Not at all. For starters, Papa was late coming home. He was not held up by work, but by having to track down an elusive ingredient for the latest recipe Mama wanted to try. He was so late that Jasir being late, coming home from his own reality show filming session of the day, was a fact that passed unremarked upon by his mother or his sisters. Mama, after wrapping up her housework for the day, was napping in front of the TV. Leena and Inaya were huddled around the family computer.
“That can’t be right,” Inaya said, pointing at the screen.
“Let me move it a bit,” Leena replied, clicking away at the mouse.
“I can’t believe you’re changing your online college report card to make it look like it’s from the college you got kicked out of,” Inaya said, blowing out a long breath.
“Subtlety was never your strong point.” Leena paused in her clicking to glare at her sister. “Neither was tact, apparently.”
“Oh, well, you know what I meant,” Inaya said hurriedly.
“You should stop sometimes to reframe your thoughts in better words,” Leena said as she hit the print button on the computer.
“There,” she said, holding the freshly printed paper in her hands. “Now I just have to ....” Grabbing a green pen, she made a squiggly signature at the bottom of the page. “Let’s just let it dry. It looks original enough.”
Inaya shook her head in disbelief. “I still can’t come to terms with it,” she said. “You, Leena, doing things like this. What are you planning? Are you going to graduate from the online college before you let Mama and Papa know about it?”
Leena folded the printout and inserted it into an envelope with a grim expression. “If I can manage it, I’m never letting them find out.”
“What are you going to do, make a fake degree?” Inaya’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“You wound me,” Leena said, sealing the envelope and sticking it in her student folder. “I would never stoop so low. I’ll figure it out eventually.” She smiled her typical Leena smile and jabbed Inaya in the shoulder.
“I’m home!” Jasir’s loud voice rang out from the main entrance. He bounded into the living room, waving around a glossy card.
“What’s that?” Inaya asked.
“It’s a little token for making it to the final round,” Jasir replied. “My Student Super Star report card.”
“Yeah, but that really isn’t going to count today,” Leena said. “Today is Bad News Day. You have to show your school report card.”
“Let’s see if Papa notices.” Jasir chuckled. “I’m going to slip him this reality show report card instead.”
Leena and Inaya exchanged meaningful looks.
“Don’t you go looking at each other like that, I know what it all means,” Jasir said, striding over to where Mama lay on the couch. “Hey, Mama, wake up! Where’s Papa?”
Mama’s eyes fluttered open and she groped groggily for a handhold to pull herself back up into a sitting position.
“What ... where?” She seemed disoriented.
“Wake up, it’s Bad News Day,” Jasir said.
“I know,” Mama said with sudden clarity. “It’s just that your father isn’t home yet, Jasir. We can’t start without him.”
“Let’s just start without him this one time.” Jasir’s face brightened with mischief. “By the time he comes home, we’ll tell him: ‘You’re too late, come back tomorrow!’ That would be so much fun.”
“What would be fun?” Papa’s voice came from the entryway just as Jasir’s had when he had arrived. Jasir gave a startled jump and immediately sank into the nearest seat.
“Result Day,” Inaya said with composure.
“And how exactly would it be fun?” Papa asked, coming into view. “Did one of you get an A?”
Mama shook her head in disapproval. “No discussion until the floor is officially open,” she said.
“Oh, yes,” Papa said. “Inaya, dear, get me a glass of water.” Inaya scurried into the kitchen. Papa turned to Jasir. “Let me see yours first.”
“Let Inaya return with your water,” Mama said firmly. “We don’t begin until everyone’s here.” She looked at the clock pointedly.
“Oh! Yes.” Papa patted his pockets and took out a crushed bag of biscuits. “Here you go. This is the brand you wanted for your recipe? Took me long enough to find it.”
Mama frowned. “Yes, but it looks like it’s gone through a wringer.” She accepted it from him and felt the contents of the packet carefully.
“You were going to grind them anyway, weren’t you?” Papa asked. “What difference does it make?”
Disaster was averted by Inaya’s return with the glass of water at the right moment. Papa took the glass and started to sip it. Mama looked at the clock again.
“We should start or it’s going to delay dinner,” she said with emphasis.
“Start. Yes. Report cards,” Papa said, extending a hand in the general direction of his children, who looked back without moving. They all knew whoever spoke up would be the first one under the microscope.
“Inaya.” The judge’s gavel had fallen and it was her turn to go first. She handed over her scores and waited.
“Hmm.” The noncommittal sound made Inaya want to squirm. Papa finally looked up from the papers and said, “You’re making progress since your class tests. Good as a midterm score, but still a way to go for the straight A*s...” Inaya tuned out for the rest of the lecture. Leena and Jasir awaited their fate, impatient to get it over with.
By the time Papa had talked himself out, Jasir stood up and handed over the glossy card covered in his own fingerprints.
Papa looked down at it. “Ah,” he said. “You’re improving. I must say, you’ve surprised me. This score here-” Inaya could not hold back her reaction any longer. She burst out laughing.
Papa frowned in her direction. “What’s so funny?” When Leena joined in the display of mirth, he looked over the card in his hands more carefully.
“ThatÕs not a school report, is it?” Mama finally said.
“It’s a Student Super Star report,” Jasir admitted. “It’s a tally of my scores throughout the competition. It’s a good one, if I say so myself.”
“Whether it’s good or bad, it won’t matter to the college admission team,” Papa said with determination. “Show me your real one.”
Jasir reluctantly dug out a crumpled wad of paper from his pockets and handed it to his father. Papa’s eyes bulged as if they would pop out of his head.
“What is this?” He gasped.
“Uh,” was all Jasir said. He leaned forward, plucked the balled-up paper from his father’s grasp, unfolded it and smoothed it out. He handed it back, more or less straightened out but with folded lines crisscrossing across it at all angles.
Papa stared at it for a moment before saying, “Ideally, I should not bother to look at it in this state, but I don’t want to encourage you kids to ruin your report cards in this way so that you stop me from checking them.” Gingerly, he attempted to further smooth away the creases, then peered at it closely.
“Jasir,” he said. “We are going to have an in-depth discussion about this later.” Jasir’s eyes widened with shock and his mouth fell open. They all knew what that meant. Not only was it a lecture of interminable length, it also required actually listening and responding at the right points. Jasir was doomed.
“Now, Leena,” said Papa, looking more cheerful than he had throughout the Result Day. “Show me yours. It better not be a fake one like Jasir’s.” He chuckled at his own joke. Leena, who had paled at her father’s remark, handed over the envelope.
“Now this is satisfactory,” Papa said after a moment. Leena, who had been holding her breath, let it out audibly. Inaya gave her a warning glance.
“Look here,” Papa said, showing it to Mama. “Isn’t it remarkable?”
Leena froze. Inaya clasped her hands together uneasily. Jasir, absorbed in the activity of folding his real report card into a paper plane, was blissfully ignorant.
“I never knew you studied on computers,” Papa said. “See here, it says hours of screen time per class. What a novel idea.”
Leena plastered a fake smile across her face as best she could and held out her hands for the printed result. “I need it back.”
“Sure, after I’m done looking at it,” Papa said.
“I want to look at it too,” Inaya said quickly. When Mama fixed her with a look of incredulity, she added, “I want to know her best subject.”
“Here,” Papa said, handing it over to Inaya. “Get inspired.”
“Will do,” Inaya said, pretending to look at it while nudging Leena.
“That was close,” Leena said when it was all over. Inaya nodded in agreement.
“Get ready for our new laptop,” Jasir announced, poking his head through the doorway. “The awards ceremony is next week, and you’re all invited.”
“You better win second place and the prizes that come with it,” Leena said.
“We helped you get the votes, now you help us by lending us the laptop you win,” Leena reminded him.
“I remember, I know,” Jasir said dismissively. “Just choose what to wear and we’ll be bringing back my laptop in no time.”
“I certainly hope so,” Leena said. “It would help improve my grades.”
“I can’t wait for the awards ceremony now,” Inaya said excitedly.
I can’t either, but we’ll have to wait to find that out until the next episode of Hackschool Project. We will see the Moin family next month. Until then, goodbye and farewell.
