Back to school

Summer in Chennai is not something one looks forward to. But for Ash's sake I wish the cooler climes make way for hotter days and reduce his skin's misery.
Today we get adventurous enough to pack off a somewhat itchy Ash to school. Instead of sending him in the van, we drop him (so Mira has to skip school since her school starts around the same time and is in a perpendicular direction).
He goes to his seat and sits quietly, not scratching. A couple of kids come and make faces at him, and he almost slaps one in the end. The children have all become familiar and friendly with each other, and Ash has missed out on a lot of fun.
We wait till the bell rings and leaves after repeating instructions to the teacher and the ayah. The teacher seems confident she can handle the situation. We leave our phone numbers in case there was an emergency.
We then complete the formalities regarding Mira's admission to the same school. The principal hands over the admission letter and other papers and wish us (since Mira wasnt there) all the best. She even offers to accompany us to the school office where we are to submit the cheques, but someone comes to her for something and so we go on our own. But it does feel nice and special; since we had come to drop Ash we are, I think, the first to pay the fees. There is no queue to beat either.
However, at 11 a.m. V gives me a frantic call to say that the junior school headmistress had called to say that Ash was itching terribly and to take him home. She even wondered if it was something contagious. V explains eczema to her and then comes home to collect me (and Mira who insists on coming). We go armed with some literature on eczema; however I cant find anything at first glance to prove that it is not contagious, so we decide to shelve it. We instead explain his problem all over again to her when we meet her.
The teacher is apologetic and tells me that no one would have known if they didnt have music practice in the auditorium for the juinor evening next month. She tells me that he is fine and writing the alphabets, but Ash sees us and packs his bag to come along. The headmistress gives us permission to bring him to school at 10.30 am after the music class in case the dust in the auditorium is making the itching worse. She tells us we can keep him at home for 2 days and bring him on 27th, Monday being a holiday for Republic Day.
The teacher tells me to do as she says. She is a gem of a person, and has been extremely sympathetic to Ash and us. I go home to find that she has given A grades (Very Good) for Ash in the 2nd term progress report. It makes my eyes well up.