I have run the Spark Coaching Institute since I was around 22 years. My dad had wanted me to go on with my higher studies, but I wanted to earn. My dad had put some money in my hands and said, that is the money he had kept aside for my education and to make use of it, but to never ask him for money again. I agreed.

I took this room on the road side for rent,and put up a board reading “Let Spark ignite your fire: Coaching for IIT,engineering and all board exams in Physics and Math.” My classmates helped in spreading the message by word of mouth. I was good at coaching when in college itself and this helped me get my first batch of students who were mostly siblings of my college friends whom I took in at half rate.

Since then there had been no looking back .I lived to work. When Nalini came to my institute the picture was even more perfect. I had no courage to tell her what I felt until I saw Rahul her college sitting with her too close for my comfort. Only then could I tell her what I felt . It was a miracle that she too felt the same.

When she agreed to be mine I felt I was the happiest man in the world. Even my marriage to her was fixed and nothing could go wrong. But it did. My institute,my hard work of seven years was threatening to crumble. My steady stream of students were not there anymore. When I opened the register for new admissions there were almost none. My assistant Rajesh was at a loss. I felt panic rising in me. I had planned to open two more new institutes in the other side of the city. But now I only felt despair. There was Nalini,her parents, my marriage, and my parents. To whom could I show my face?

One evening as I closed the institute early and was was stepping out with Rajesh when Ravi one of my past students walked by.

“Sir,you have closed before 8 pm?” he asked in surprise.

“I don’t have students for the 6 to 8 batch.” I said.

“Oh,I know” he murmured.

“What?”I said sharply

“Sir?” he said

“What do you know?” I asked him

“Its just that.just that . I know that …students are not there for the last batch” he said a little hesitantly

“How do you know?” I asked him

“Varun was telling me about it. Sir I am late to reach home. I would like to take the auto. ”

“I will drop you in my bike .I want you to come inside and talk to me” I said.

Ravi was still hesitant, and he came inside almost sandwiched between Rajesh and me.

“Tell us what Varun was telling “ I said.

“Sir, it is not only Varun. Most of us know about all that happened.”

“Stop speaking in riddles.Tell me clearly” I said in irriation.

“All students are talking about how .there .was this problem with a student.a female student, and how you are forced to marry her now.”

I caught his shoulders and shook the frightened boy, and Rajesh had to break me free.

“That’s a bunch of lies and rubbish” I shouted.

I banged my fist on the table and sat on the bench and cried.

A most alarmed Ravi slinked out, not waiting for any lift on my bike.

Rajesh sat with me for some time. “Someone’s spreading false rumors” he murmured.

All my years of hard work had come to nothing.

I went home to do some serious thinking. I started writing down a list of all possible enemies I could have. The list was not many. And none of them stood to gain by my loss. Most of them were not even in the city anymore.

I looked at my list again. I had written down all possible names from the past. I had missed out my present. My present was Nalini. My marriage. Rahul’s name flashed. Could he have possibly done this?

I knew what I had to do to find out.

The next day, I went to the usual hang out of the school and college students. “Chai corner” . I knew Srijith who owned the place from my own college days.

I started talking to him casually about the crowd that frequented the place. Almost everyone came here. He had a suggestions book,which students like to doodle in or write their comments,while waiting for their orders.

I asked for the book and turned the pages. There were a lot of scribbles but very few names I recognized. I searched for any familiar handwriting. It was then I recognized what I had wanted to see. There it was, some scribbling about improving the baturas served. There was no name but I recognized the writing well enough. I had seen it many times. The writing was there in almost all the pages. The person must have spent quite some time here.

I went home wondering about my next step. I had this friend in Mumbai whom I had helped out with one of the exams. He had told me to come to him with any help I needed. Perhaps he could come up with suggestions. I had no concrete plans. I told Nalini I was leaving for Mumbai and I boarded the train.

It was while I was in the train the plan clicked in my mind. I got off the train and went to this other area of the city where I had planned to start my next institute.

I rented a room next to a famous school and colleges, and started “Nalini‘s Spark coaching center” from the beginning. It was like the early days and I had no comfort of an established institute to back on. I called Rajesh and told him to run Spark as best as he could. I told him to call Richa to help him out as the front desk personnel.

“Richa? Rahul’s sister “ he had asked in surprise. “Yes”, I replied, “and she will agree”.

I made few other calls too and among them was one to Nalini’s parents to postpone the marriage by six more months.

They seemed very unhappy with me and it was a most difficult call. I kept a constant tab on what was happening in Spark through Rajesh. Richa was doing her job well. Within two months the rush of students was back to normal and I was in need of more teachers to meet the demand in both the institutes.

In this two months I made very few calls to Nalini, and most of the time it was only messages. I only told her I was running another institute though she did not know where.

All this time I had another fear at the back of my mind. The fear of Rahul coming between me and Nalini. Finally when my businesses seemed stable I returned . My first stop was at Nalini’s house with bag and baggage. She was emotional. So was I. I felt alive again after I saw her face.

Rahul and Richa were both there. “Thank you for the fine job you have done at Sparks, Richa. I don’t think I will need your services anymore” I said extending my hand.

She refused to take it and walked out along with Rahul. Now Nalini confronted me with questions. Her first question was “Why did you take Richa’s help to strai ighten out your institute and not mine? You thought I couldn’t do the job?” She seemed most annoyed. Her parents in the room had even more questions to ask.

“Let me answer Nalini’s question first “ I said.

“You remember I said that my Institute was going in loss? I found out that it was the result of a rumor. When I made a list of all possible people who could have done it, it was Rahul’s name that came to me first. I went to the college joint “Chai corner” to make enquiries. It was the handwriting in the suggestion book there that gave me my first clue. You remember the notes you used to have all the time for all your studying? I knew Richa’s handwriting very well from them. Richa has finished her college. What was she doing in “Chai corner”? It was the place where most of my students gathered. So it had to be Richa and not Rahul who had tried to damage my reputation. I also came to know from my other contacts that she had failed in her final semester possibly due to her alliance with Somesh of your class. I called her on phone and confronted her with all my information. I threatened to tell all to her parents if she did not do as I said. “

Now as I was telling all this Nalini was making comments like “My God!” and “This is unbelievable”.

But now she exclaimed “ Sidharth! Blackmail!”

“Yes” I said grimly. “And I had no qualms about it at all. . I only told her to take on the front desk job, and see to it that she brings in students. Her pay would be only based on the students who register. And if at least five did not register per week, all that I knew would be brought before her parents.

Only she could undo the damage she did. And she did it. I don’t know whether she went back to “Chai corner “ to take back her stories, but my plan worked. New students and the old ones returned. In the menwhile my other institute is running fine too . I needed time to build it up and I got it when I went away from here. And I have to telI you I was not In Mumbai all this while, though I had almost gone there”.

“What about Rahul? Was he not involved? asked Nalini’s father.

“Yes he was but not directly. He knew what Richa was doing but he did not do anything to prevent it. Richa could not bear to see her brother not getting Nalini because of me. She did what she could to help him out.”

“I had my apprehensions when you went away and then did not turn up. Why did you not tell us all this?” said her mother.

“I would have, but Rahul and Richa were Nalini’s friends for a long time and I did not want to just throw allegations” I said.

“What if she is upto these antics again?” said Nalini.

“If we could get married before she thinks up something it would help. And I am planning to move to Madhapur where my other institute is. I have got few good teachers who will take up my place here. That way she wouldn’t be able to do much”

“You have managed to overcome quite a bleak situation ” said Nalini’s father with a hand on my shoulder. “Perhaps we could fix the marriage for next month itself”

I couldn’t agree more.