A Perfect Circle

It was the fifth time Bablu had tried drawing a perfect circle, and failed. His ear was still red and hot from his mom’s punishment. He rubbed his eraser with all his strength, desperate to eliminate the imperfect circle from existence. Tears formed a straight line down to his drawing sheet as his eyes, brimming only seconds ago, finally gave up. He wiped his cheeks and the page; but both his tears and the imperfect circle left their traces.

In his 10 years of life, Bablu had realized he was a failure. All he had brought his parents, in their own words, was disappointment. His cousin’s achievements only made things worse.

“Look at Lata, she wins so many competitions, and you can’t even draw a circle!” his mom had said in the morning. And that was why he was doing what he was doing now.

“Oh… looks like it would have hit the middle stump…” Bablu heard faint commentary as his mom opened the door to his room.

“Let him watch the match. Enough now!” Bablu’s father pleaded softly.

But his mom was a strong-willed woman.

“Not until he makes five perfect circles.”

Bablu looked at the traces of the circle he had just erased, felt a lump in his throat, and sensed the next batch of tears lining up.

The next day began as usual. Bablu was no extraordinary student - another area where he had failed his mom. To add to his misery, Lata was a class-topper.

As soon as he entered school, his eyes widened at the large posters stuck all around the compound: “Welcome Rishabh Roy.”

If there was one thing that brought joy to his disappointing life, it was cricket - especially watching Rishabh play. His talent, confidence, and enigma were things Bablu could only dream of. Bablu knew Rishabh was an alumnus, but he had never imagined he would actually visit the school. He was thrilled at the thought of catching a glimpse of his favorite cricketer.

After assembly, the headmaster announced:
“Students, we have a quiz contest today. Five of you will get to meet Rishabh and take a picture with him. We have prepared answering sheets with questions. Fill them out and hand them over to your class teacher in the first period. No cheating!”

The classroom buzzed with excitement as everyone tried to get the most answers correct. A quiet failure as Bablu was, nobody bothered about him. Bablu, however, had a feeling he had done really well.

In a glistening black luxury car, Rishabh arrived to meet the students. For Bablu, this was already more than he could ever dream of - seeing his hero in real life.

As the students gathered in the school ground, with a smiling Rishabh seated on stage, the headmaster announced the first four quiz winners. Then came the final name:
“The final winner is the youngest. Bablu Sharma, VI D.”

The disbelief in his classmates’ eyes, the cheers - Bablu soaked it all in. Later, while taking the picture, someone asked Rishabh,
“What was your least favorite subject in school?”
“Drawing,” he laughed. “I could never make a perfect circle!"