Preparation

The annual program was scheduled to be held by the end of the session, with only 2 months to spare. All over the school, kids were seen gushing over the preparations for the big event and their performances. The whole event would be held for a week. Apart from group performances, on the final day of the program, the kids would perform in pairs.

Advik had already decided that he wanted to dance with Mihika. By now, he had become a part of the friend circle. His behaviour had changed greatly ever since he realised Mihika was scared of loud and sudden voices. The Advik Chauhan who used to scare and bully everyone around for fun had turned into a soft spoken and considerate guy, all because of a certain pretty girl. Is that what we call "puppy love"?

On the other hand, Soham had told his sisters to perform with their closest friends, and hence, Jagruti had decided to dance with Agastya, much to his happiness. But, poor Aditi…..she was confused between Lakshya and Shubh. On one hand, she wanted to dance with the elder one for no known reason, but on the other hand was her classmate and close friend. That’s when Advik, who had by now become Aditi's “AD” (and vice versa given their names), suggested that she should dance with the one who is of her age, because he felt that it would look great. Everyone agreed to that.

The practice sessions for the performances had already begun. Everyone was going to put their best leg forward. The Roy Choudhury sisters, Kapoor brothers as well as other kids in their gang were doing their best. Lakshya had paired up with a girl named Anusha Dutta, who was a year younger than him. She had blue eyes like that of Agastya, and had dark black curly hair. She was actually a cousin to the RC sisters, and was really good in studies and sports.

TWO WEEKS LATER….

One day, the brothers were playing with Purvi, when all of a sudden, Shubh fell down. He was running down the stairs while he slipped. The brothers rushed to him in no time. Immediately, the whole family had gathered, and his father Avinash quickly called the family physician. While falling down, Shubh had bumped his head on the staircase, and his forehead had swelled up. He was crying constantly. Soon enough, the doctor arrived. He told Avinash, “ Don’t worry, his head is fine. But he might have injured his ankle. So no jumping and running around for the next seven days, okay? I’m giving him an injection now. This will help in easing the pain.”

As soon as he heard the word “injection” being mentioned, Shubh started crying, more like, wailing like an infant. He was born extremely scared of injections and cockroaches. So much so that, whenever he would get a bit too mischievous, his mother Janvi would scare him by saying that “I’ll ask doctor uncle to give you an injection. Okay?” That would do the trick. Always.

He cried, “Bhaiyaa! Bhai! Save me! I don’t want that, please! It hurts! Dadi please tell uncle na! I am a good boy! I don’t want to take that!” The brothers tried in vain to cajole him. Seeing their faces, Dadi said, “Shubh, beta don’t trouble your brothers. See, I will give you laddoos, if you get this injection like a good boy. Chalo, quickly tell me, do you want them or not?”

Hearing her, the little boy started crying even more loudly. He was in a major dilemma. On one side, he was damn scared of that huge needle, and on the other hand, his favourite laddoos were at stake. What should he do!?

He had been crying when Lakshya's phone rang. "Jagruti", the caller ID read. He picked up the phone just in time, making her and Aditi hear Shubh’s cries. Immediately, Jagruti asked in a worried voice, “Arey Lakshya! What happened to Shubh? Why is he crying?” Aditi chimed in, “ Yeah what happened? Is he alright?” Hearing the concern in their voices, Lakshya smiled and said, “ Your dear friend fell down the stairs and hurt himself. Doctor uncle wants to give him an injection, but….” Aditi asked impatiently, “ But what??” This time, Agastya intervened, “ But little Mr. Kapoor is scared of injections. What do we do?”

Aditi laughed and said, “ Bhaiyaa, can you please pass the phone to my friend? I know what to do” Agastya asked uncertainly, “ Diti, are you sure you can do something about it?” That’s when he saw his calm and mature brother blinking at him reassuringly. So he did as he was told. When Shubh got the phone, he sobbed hysterically, “Ditiiiii! Save me! I don’t want that injection! It hurts a lot! I am….” Without letting him finish, Aditi spoke up, “Offo Shubh! Leave all that! Listen to me first! You know Naina in our class? The one who sits in the middle row, she said….”

Aditi kept on blabbering about a bunch of interesting incidents to her friend. Meanwhile, Dadi nudged the doctor to proceed. He quickly prepared the injection and gave it to the now calm Shubh, without him even realising. Well, he was so busy listening to his friend’s excited chattering, along with random quips from Jagruti about so many things, that he didn’t even realise when the needle pricked him.

Soon enough, when he realized what happened, Shubh spoke happily, “Jaggu Didi! I got the injection! I didn’t even feel any pain! Yaay!” The elder girl chuckled and said, “Wow Shubh! You are so strong! See, you were feeling scared for nothing!” Aditi chimed in, “Exactly! Arey! You are dabangg Aditi's friend, how can you be scared of a small needle?” Because the phone was on speaker, everyone heard her. And they couldn’t help but laugh at the little girl’s words.

Agastya then took his phone back and said, “Aditi, you are really dabangg. What we all couldn’t do, you both did in a few minutes! Thank you so much! And thanks to you too, Jagruti.” Lakshya added to his praise, “Yes Jagruti, thanks a lot. By the way, I knew Aditi could manage….see, I am a genius too! Thank you Aditi.” The two sisters looked at each other, then smiled in response.

After they were done talking to the brothers, the little girl ran to her father to tell him about her new accomplishment. Just then, Soham walked in. He looked at his youngest sibling running up the stairs and turned to Jagruti, “Oye Cherry, ise kya ho gaya?” (What happened to her?)The latter laughed and replied, “Nothing, Bhai. She just went to tell Papa how dabangg she is.” The two siblings burst out laughing.