Saka waved Tobi his bye and rushed to the staffroom.

"Lai.." He started, and noticed Maw Mina, who was still packing and in the staffroom.

She turned to see the source of noise and her expression turned sour at the sight of the red head.

Vira was busy preparing the schedule for his meet. He looked up as he heard Saka's cheerful tone.

"Ah Jun Saka! Maw Laika has gone with Maw Roma. I had informed him about our plans. Why don't you wait near the bike? I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Saka nodded and ran out of sight. He was in no mood for a lecture from Maw Mina. Vira threw him a life jacket, and he'd be dumb to not grab onto it.

Mina looked surprised. "What plan do you have with a student?"

Vira arranged his desk, put the schedule inside his bag and walked towards the door.

"You! It doesn't look good for a teacher to hang out after class with a student."

Vira continued walking. He knew he had irritated her, and he felt satisfied with himself.

She swore at him under her breath.

Vira spotted Saka waiting patiently by his cycle. When he saw Vira, his face lit up.

"Maw!!"

Vira smiled, his face mirroring Saka's joy. 

"Shall we leave?"

Saka nodded

******

They raced up the mountainous road playfully. Vira felt himself relax visibly. He was starting to realise that with Saka, he automatically lowered his guard.

They reached his place and Vira walked in, Saka right behind him.

Saka kept chatting, as he helped Vira, while Vira cooked.

"Sen, no one can beat you at cooking!" He said, his mouth full, as he happily gulped his food.

Vira laughed. "Eat slowly. I'll make as much as you like, don't choke on it."

Saka slowed down, his focus on his plate. He ate his food with absolute devotion to it.

Vira felt satisfied, just to see him eat.

Saka washed the dishes and said, "Thanks a lot Sen! You made me happy."

"Where are you rushing off to?"

"Huh? I thought you might want some peace."

"Who said I'm not at peace around you?"

"Sen!! Did you fall for me already?" Saka sounded naughty.

Vira smacked him on his forehead. "No, but I want to know more about you." Come sit, let's chat."

Saka rubbed his forehead but sat down.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Who are the four Musketeers?"

"How is that about me?" Saka sulked. "You just want to know about Rin." He continued anyway. "Rin, Jiv, Laika and Roma were all from the same class. You know Jiv right?"

Vira nodded. He had met him quite a few times during his college days. Jiv was nothing like Rin. He was soft spoken, extremely tolerant and ready to listen, and Vira had hit off quite well with him. But Jiv did not study at their college. He specialised in medicine, and had enrolled in a medical college in North Marina.

Saka went on,"As you may have noticed, not may girls pursue education. Most drop out of middle school and become deep sea fishers."

Vira nodded. "But Rin was defiant. She did not want to spend time under water. She was inquisitive. She wanted to know why the women in Mann stuck to fishing, she wanted to understand more about human behaviour and slowly grew to love history as well. So she ended up specializing in Anthropology and History."

Vira nodded. He smiled, he could almost imagine a younger Rin, going against her father, and the society, because she felt people were unfair towards women in general.

"Rin's father was the first to support her. He wanted her to become self reliant. And he did not want to lose her like he lost his wife."

Vira was surprised. So her father was one of the forward thinkers of their community. Vira knew Rin had lost her mother young, but he did not know the details. 

"I haven't met him, where does he stay?"

"He is the mayor. She is one rich kid, it was easier for her to go against societal norms. You will meet him this Saturday. Him and uncle Roy. "

"Who is uncle Roy?"

"Tobi's father. Uncle Roy and Aunt Lila come every Saturday to the temple with uncle Jana, who is Rin's dad. However, when we have sleep over, they hang out with dad. So it will be a big party! You must eat Aunt Lila's sweets! They are addictive!"

Saka swallowed as he imagined the food.

Vira found that endearing. He got up and went to the fridge. He had some chocolates he brought from mainland. He gave them to Saka, who flashed him a smile filled with joy. Saka loved sweets apparently.

He spoke as he had chocolate. "These 4 were labelled the 4 Musketeers by our Principal. He was super encouraging, and personally tutored them to ensure they got it in Marina.  They were the only gang in which all graduated successfully from mainland."

Maw Lava was certainly a set by example sort of a person, Vira realised. He felt upset he didn't get a chance to study under him. Maybe he would have turned out to be a better teacher?

But it was still not too late. He will try to learn as much as possible from the Principal now.

"And what was the play you were talking about with Rin?"

"Oh! Every year, we enact the life of Lord Apā in our temple, to remind ourselves the importance of our lives."

Vira was listening.

"Do you know the story of Apā?" 

Vira shook his head. "Our clan prays to Hotra"

"Ah, the fire." Saka nodded his head.

Vira was surprised. "Mainland practices are quite different, I didn't think you'd be aware of the texts from different schools."

"A priest is said to be God's mouthpiece. Do you know why?"

Vira shook his head. He hadn't heard of this one.

 "We don't claim to be the messenger OF God. We can only be messengers FOR God.

I haven't seen him or heard from him, how can I tell you who said or what he said? But I can tell you this. Irrespective of who we pray to or how we pray, the message to us will be the same."

"What would that be?" Vira was drawn in by the way Saka spoke. It wasn't about God or religion. 

"Cherish and love yourself and each other!" Saka looked surprised at his question.

Vira's eyes widened. In one line, Saka had indeed summarised the Hōtr school's teaching, and in the precise way it was written in the texts.

Saka laughed at Vira's expression. "Sen, it's common sense, no God is going to ask for the opposite."

Saka said it lightly, making it sound easy and obvious, but it wasn't. 

Vira was sure he was extremely knowledgeable about scriptures, but to what extent, remained to be seen. 

Vira was agnostic. He did not believe in any particular school of thought. But when Saka spoke, he made him want to know more about each school. His way of making complex thoughts so simple made him truly brilliant.

"Sen?"

Vira looked up, he was so lost in his thoughts, he forgot about the conversation they were having.

"What are you so deep in thought about?

Vira spoke truthfully. "I thought it would be nice to have a crash course on the different schools of thought from you."

Saka blinked. Then he enthusiastically said, "ofcourse! We can do that! That way, I'll get to see more of Sen."

Vira gently smacked him again. "Sometimes you sound brilliant, and at times, like now,  you make  me doubt that judgement." He commented wryly.

Saka laughed.