English Vinglish

Author's note: Hi everyone!

This fan fiction story is adapted from the movie 'English Vinglish'. Don't worry, if you have not watched the movie. I have included a prologue so that you could still read this fan fiction. So, sit back and enjoy the story below. Thank you!

Prologue

English Vinglish is a heartwarming film which revolves around how an Indian housewife (Shashi) enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband (Satish) and daughter (Sapna) from mocking her inability to converse in English. At the beginning, there is a scene where Satish could not attend Sapna's parent-teacher conference. Shashi took his place and accompanied her daughter to her parent-teacher conference for the first time. However, Sapna later complained how Shashi had embarrassed her by making her English teacher converse in Hindi.

This fan fiction talks about the second parent-teacher conference, when Satish could not make it for the conference again. Please read on to find out what will happen. Thank you.

Story

"Dad," a soft voice whispered. Satish felt a tug at his blanket and slowly opened his eyes. He squinted and saw a silhouette of a girl squatting next to his bed. It was Sapna. Placing her index fingers on her lips, she beckoned Satish to come closer.

Satish clumsily bent forward and mumbled, "Yes my dear, what's keeping you up so late?"

"I have a parent-teacher conference tomorrow, and I thought it would be great if you could…" Sapna muttered in her softest voice so that she would not wake Shashi up. Before she could finish her sentence, Satish immediately cut her off and rejected her suggestion of going the parent-teacher conference together. "I'm sorry, Sapna. I have this really big project presentation coming along. All the big bosses are going to at the meeting tomorrow and Papa cannot miss it. Your mama can go with you instead." Satish comforted his daughter as he tried to stroke her head and seek her understanding.

"No! no! no! Dad, how could you do this again? Please!" Sapna exclaimed. Overwhelmed by utter disappointment, she could not suppress her sadness when Satish turned her down for the second time. The excuse he gave was the same as the previous one.

Woken up by the loud noise, Shashi sat up from her side of the bed and apprehensively asked the both them what was going on. "Work, work, work…you are always pushing us away because of your work. It is the only matter you are concerned about!" cried Sapna as she stomped out of her parent's room in anger.

Shashi was worried. She knew her daughter's character very well. There must be a reason behind why Sapna was so angry about her Papa not being able to attend this parent-teacher conference. Just then, memories of the previous parent-teacher conference flashed across her mind. The last time Sapna raised her voice at her Papa was when he told her that Shashi would accompany her to the conference instead. "Perhaps, Sapna is still ashamed of me?" Shashi thought to herself, until a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Let her be. She is getting out of hands these days. She will be alright when morning comes. Now let's get back to sleep." Satish grumbled nonchalantly, as he rolled back into his sleeping position.

Ever since the Godbole family had returned from Meera's wedding, Satish became a more sensitive and understanding husband. He stopped making fun of Shashi's English and gave his full support to Shashi's homemade Laddoos business. However, one thing remained the same, and that was the importance of Satish's work to him.

Shashi was still not at ease. Silently, she creeped out of her bed and found her way to Sapna's room in the dark. Soft sobbing sounds could be heard through the bedroom door which was left ajar. Shashi gently pushed the door open and the faint light floating in from the window helped her to spot Sapna crouching on her bed. Without wasting a second, Shashi immediately rushed over and gave Sapna a warm embrace.

"Sapna, you know your Papa loves you very much, even though he could not make it for this coming parent-teacher conference. Well, my English is still not as fluent as Papa but I can always accompany you there." Shashi tried to console her daughter as she tenderly wiped the tears off Sapna's cheeks.

"It is not the same!" wailed Sapna. Without sparing a thought on how her disrespectful actions could hurt Shashi, Sapna pushed Shashi away with all her might and buried herself under the blanket. Her cries grew louder than before. At that moment, however, Shashi understood that there was nothing she could do to make her daughter feel better. Despondently, she inched her way back to her bedroom. In her mind, she kept thinking Sapna meant when she said it would not the same if she was to attend the parent-teacher conference instead of Satish. Though she was clearly aware of the reason, she refused to convince herself that her daughter was ashamed of her, or more specifically her poor English. She still vividly recalled that line which Sapna had said after the last parent-teacher conference: "Papa should have been there."

…

The next morning came. As usual, the Godbole family sat around their dining table while Shashi was busy preparing breakfast. Noticed that Sapna was being abnormally quiet, Satish assured her that Shashi's English had improved tremendously and everything would be fine at the parent-teacher conference later. For once, Sapna did not resist that suggestion as she continued hanging her head down disappointedly.

…

"Shashi!" a familiar voice shrieked in excitement. Shashi and Sapna had just arrived at the school hall when Shashi sighted someone at the centre of the audience waving frantically at her. Shashi recognized her, Neelam, Rupal's mother. Shashi and Sapna squeezed through the crowd and finally made it to the two seats Neelam had reserved for the two of them.

"Congratulations, Shashi! You must be really proud of Sapna," exclaimed Neelam, as she gestured for them to sit down. Unsuspectedly, Shashi assumed that Neelam must be referring to Sapna's popularity within her mini fan-club in school. "Thank you, Neelam. It is nice meeting you again too. I heard from Sapna that Rupa has been doing well in school too." Shashi replied fluently in impeccable English. She glimpsed through the corner of her eyes, but Sapna was not impressed at all. Her head was still hanging down with her eyes glued to the ground.

It did not take too long for Father Vincent, Sapna's class teacher, to spot Shashi and Sapna in the crowd. "Mrs Godbole," he greeted them with a wide grin on his face and a bag of banana chips in his hands. It was the famous banana wafers from his hometown, Kerala, which he promised Shashi at the last parent-teacher conference. Touched by how he still remembered their pact, Shashi returned the offer by passing him a box of Laddoos which she had prepared this morning. "I am sure Sapna will definitely miss these Laddoos when she goes over to America." Father Vincent chuckled.

"Pardon me, Father. Which 'America' are you referring to?" Shashi questioned him with a puzzled look on her face. Upon realizing that Sapna had not informed her mother of her scholarship, Father Vincent reassured Shashi that it is nothing bad and she would receive a pleasant surprise later. Before he left, he gave Sapna a quick wink to signal that her secret was safe with him.

Indeed, Father Vincent was right. A few minutes later, the principal was up on stage to announce that the school was very proud to have clinched this year's Inter-school quiz competition. He went on to praise one of the school students who had outperformed her peers and won a college scholarship to the United States. Suddenly, all eyes were fixated on Sapna. She calmly lifted her head up, steadily stood up from her seat and slowly made her way up the stage.

"Thank you," was the first thing Sapna said through the microphone. "I was very thrilled to learn that I have won the scholarship from Father Vincent. The first person I wanted to share this joy with is my father. Since young, I have witnessed how hard my father works and how much effort he puts in his career. We made a pact. He will pay for my college fees if my results are good enough to secure a spot in a college in America. His serious attitude at his work has inspired me to study hard and probably is the main reason how I could have won this scholarship today. Ironically, his attitude towards his work is also the same reason why he is not here today. I wanted to give him a surprise, make him feel proud about his daughter and let him know that I have fulfilled our agreement." Sapna paused for awhile as she fought back on her tears. The entire hall was in complete silence and everyone's attention was on that girl.

Sapna inhaled a deep breath before continuing, "Nonetheless, I am grateful for Father Vincent's patient teachings and friends' support. Most importantly, I am very thankful to have my mother here with me today to celebrate my joy. Thank you, Mama. I love you." When she ended her speech, everyone in the audience touched by her sincerity and gave her the loudest applause. Shashi was extremely moved by her daughter's speech and rushed over to hug Sapna as tightly as she could.

Now, Shashi finally understood why Sapna had insisted on getting Satish to attend this parent-teacher conference last night. Sapna tried to explain to Shashi for her disrespect actions last night but Shashi stopped her. Shashi merely nodded her head and changed the topic by asking Sapna what she wanted for dinner as her reward. The mother and daughter grinned happily as they stepped out of the school together. Just then, someone at the school gate caught their eyes.

Satish made it. He was here. Not only him, Sapna's younger brother Saagar and grandmother were in the car too. Excited to see the whole family at her school, Sapna quickly dashed over to the car and questioned Satish why he was there. Apparently, Father Vincent had noticed the gloomy expression on Sapna's face earlier, and made a phone call to Satish. That phone call made Satish realize how he had always prioritized work before his family and failed to fulfill the duties of a father. To right this wrong, Satish pushed away all his jobs for the next few days to make time for his family.

"Anyone keen on going to the Empire State?" asked Satish. He planned to book the plane tickets to America so that the Godbole family could take a look around Sapna's future college and perhaps visit Manu's family too. Sapna and Saagar cheered wildy when they heard the news.

"U can't back out this time." Satish smiled to Shashi.