El aprendizaje cooperativo

S

neha opened her mouth and then shut it. Her eyes shot sparks. 'No I don't. I don't give a bamn!' Her lips clamped and brow furrowed, Sneha knew her argument may have steam but no logic. Hammit!

'Good!' Nikhil flashed a smug smile, the signature smile of the devil.

'Good! There is nothing good about you,' Sneha scorned. Using her foot, she pushed pieces of Lego closer to Advey.

'I'm not here to impress you.'

'You can't!' Sneha arched an eyebrow for effect.

'I don't want to.' 'You can't.'

'Fine, because I don't want to.' Nikhil growled, spending literally a minute over each word. His lips were pulled back, his look feral.

'Fine, because you can't,' Sneha retorted. She couldn't understand why she was experiencing an anger so fierce, it was sure to burst a few capillaries.

'Nikhil can't what?' Nandini burst in, followed by a staff member behind her.

'Nothing and everything!' Sneha muttered. Nikhil kept his silence. A tray holding a bottle of champagne and four flutes was placed on the centre table. Aditya joined them and picked up the bottle to open it.

'That's Bond's Champagne!' Nikhil remarked. His remark earned puzzled expressions from the others. Nikhil took the bottle from Aditya and turned the label so the others could read it. 'Bollinger Champagne. That's what James Bond drinks,' he elaborated.

'You're a Bond fan?' Aditya's filmy bhoot, Nandini asked.

Nikhil's smile was rueful. 'Sorry, I am not. I just like to know my drinks.'

'Then you should open it.' Aditya raised an empty glass to the bottle Nikhil held. With a quick shake and few twists, Nikhil skilfully opened the bottle with a pop.

Advey was entranced by the froth spilling out. Clapping his hands, he called out, 'More! Nik more!'

Nikhil laughed. 'You are not starting that young kiddo.' 'Amla! Amla!' Abruptly, Sneha called out loudly.

Amla appeared, holding a tea cup in her hand. 'After you finish, please take Advey for a stroll in the garden downstairs.' Amla, surprised at Sneha's tone gave a rare, docile nod and went back inside.

Aditya handed Sneha a flute three-quarters full. 'I think you'll like this one.'

Sneha took the glass, flashing him a wide beaming smile. 'Thank you Adi. You are such a nice, sweet man.'

'Thanks.' Aditya was not used to such praise from Sneha.

Only Nandini heard Nikhil's soft snort. A little alarmed, Nandini watched Sneha finish her glass in two swallows. Aditya instantly refilled her glass. 'I told you, you would like it.'

Sneha giving him a quick smile took another big sip. Amla in the meantime brought out the stroller and strapped Advey in it.

Nandini asked one of the security guards to accompany them. Nikhil, over the rim of his glass, watched Sneha move on to her third glass of champagne. From the past, he knew her to be a one-drink-wonder; he wondered how much of that had changed. It hadn't. For several minutes, work-related conversation passed back and forth between Nikhil and Aditya.

'Hear! Hear!' suddenly Sneha called out. They all looked at her. Nikhil and Nandini immediately noticed her bright eyes and flushed cheeks, which had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.

'It seems today is a day of apologies.' Sneha carelessly waved her glass around at everyone. A few drops splashed out, falling on her dress. 'Oops!' she giggled at the growing stain. 'I owe you a dress kulta.' Again a giggle.

Sneha giggling was like watching a turtle move at 60mph. It was surreal. 'Are you okay, Sneha?' Aditya asked tentatively. Nandini was grinning and Nikhil had lowered his glass, watching Sneha, his gaze piercing.

'I'm fine! I'm so good that I can't even descriiibbbe it,' Sneha said. She gave a bright smile to Aditya and then Nandini. Then she glanced at Nikhil who was watching her with glinting eyes and a clamped mouth. Giggling, Sneha looked away.

'I shall not be left behhhind. I too have an apologggy to make.' Obviously, Sneha was having difficulty with words bigger than four letters.

'Who is the apology to?' Nandini asked, her eyes brimming with mischief.

Sneha pointed at Nikhil with her forefinger. More champagne splashed. 'Oops.' Again a giggle. 'To him! For outing him.'

Nandini eyes became wide as she looked at Nikhil, 'Oh my God, you are gay. No offence meant. It's great to be gay. I have several friends who are gay. I am all for…' Nikhil's hard stare caused Nandini to trail off.

'He's not, hitch!' Sneha put her head in her hands and seemed to be lost to her giggles for a few seconds. 'He's Devdas and his Paro is Kim didi,' Sneha giggled and then simultaneously finished the remaining liquid in her glass.

'Sneha!' Nikhil called out. 'I accept your apology, now forget it.' 'Not so quick.' Sneha wagged her finger at him.

'Kim didi, your first cousin in Europe? The one who came down for your—' Nandini bit her tongue

'My weddd-inng! Eggjactlyy.' Sneha winked at her.

'What was that about early dinner?' Aditya asked Nandini.

'Oh c'mon Adi, don't be such a buzz kill. I'm not finnisssed,' Sneha said, laughing.

Aditya got up. 'Sit!' Sneha's tone was like a verbal whiplash. Aditya sat down, his expression resigned. Apologetic, he glanced at Nikhil and was surprised at the manner in which he stared at Sneha. Aditya felt worried for Sneha.

'Nandi, you have been asking me how I know Nikhil. Welllll I know him because he was Kim di's college frieeend who came visitinnng her in the holidays. The time,' an unexpected giggle and a burp came out of Sneha. It seemed to surprise her. 'Oops, sorry.

The time I wasss there tooooo,' Sneha's head wobbled on her neck, 'Nikkhill stood outtttt.' Again, that stumbling giggle and that word 'out'. 'Then he was this chubby boy witthh this big…' Sneha paused to put her glass down carefully. Finding a spot to place the stem was difficult for her so she rested the empty glass horizontal on the glass table.

'This big what?' Nandini said, then quickly pressed her lips shut as Aditya and Nikhil glared at her.

'Gooood questionnnnn! Bigg what?' Sneha blinked, her eyes confused. 'Whose big what?'

Nandini quickly, using her head and eyebrows, pointed at Nikhil.

'Oh yes! This bigggg,' Sneha pulled her arms apart as much as her shoulders would allow. 'Crussssh on Kimm Jong.'

'What crap!' Nikhil said, putting his glass down hard.

Aditya turned to Nikhil, 'Kim Jong, the Korean leader?' 'Ask the drunk,' Nikhil retorted coolly.

Nandini opened her mouth to defend Sneha who was giggling and winking her. 'I nursed a crush for the longest time on Rahul Gandhi,' she ended up saying instead.

'Sorrrrry not Kim Jong but Kim di! My Kim di,' Sneha said burping again. 'Excuse me.' Again, a giggle.

'Everyone has crushes. Big deal, Sneha.' Nandini kept the conversation going.

'Yaaa, of course kullltta, but how many write a diary full of horrendous poeemms,' Sneha paused to make a finger-in-the-mouth-to-barf gesture, 'and plannn to give it to the girl as a birthddday prasant.' Sneha intentionally mispronounced the last word.

'They were not horrendous poems,' Nikhil bit out. His cheeks were tight and colour darkened his face. What would he not give right now for that adorable drunk woman in front of him to simply pass out?

'How sweet!' Nandini gushed. Nikhil felt a muscle twitch in one cheek.

'How sttupiddd.' Sneha leaned forward besieged by a fresh bout of giggles. Nikhil picked up his glass and upturned it in his mouth. How had things become so weird for him, he wondered. Oh yes, when Aditya had refilled Sneha's glass the second and the third time. Casting a belligerent look at Aditya, Nikhil spoke up, 'To cut a long story short, yes I had a crush on Kim, yes she was hot and yes, I was fat.'

'Chubby!' Sneha corrected him, resting her chin in her right hand as she leered at him.

Nikhil forced himself to look away from the mischievous smile and sparkling hazel eyes. 'Sneha discovered the crush because of her habit of meddling.'

'Ouchh.'

Nikhil ignored Sneha's fake indignant expression. 'She opened a gift meant for her cousin.'

'Opened? It was in a plastic bag. An ordddinnary plastic bag,' Sneha yelled in her

defence.

'Yes, with a rose stuck on the outside,' Nikhil snapped and then he felt like kicking himself.

'I picke-erd it up from the otherrr side,' Sneha's slurring became pronounced for she was trying to speak faster than her inebriated mind could keep up. ' DDid not see the rose you had taken from herrr room and stuck on with two yards of scotch tapee.

TACKY!'

'It was an impromptu gesture,' Nikhil shook his head. He shifted uneasily in his chair.

'Anyhow with sheer consideration for my feelings Sneha, instead of leaving that bag on Kim's bed, took the diary out and read it. Then just as Kim's birthday cake was being cut and there were at least two hundred people in the room, including Kim and her parents, she pulled out the diary.'

'Sneha!' Nandini's tone was a soft rebuke.

'What?' Sneha turned her head to look at her. Her hand that braced her chin wobbled.

Abruptly, she sat up straight. And then she recited a few lines.

'This life is a pain, without you, Nearly like a drain, without you, How will I go on, without you, Without you is not an option, It is only a prrremonition Of an end without you.'

'Sneha!' Nikhil growled in his throat.

'Nikhil Keating's poem, firrrrst poem first page,' Sneha announced. 'I gave up readdding poetry after that.'

Nandini clamped her lips and made a choking sound. Aditya did not know where to look; he stared into his glass, a smile playing on his lips.

'And then?' Nandini sobered up enough to ask Sneha.

'And then I was the laughing stock of that party. The diary got passed around, more poems were read and the evening was nightmarish, at least for me. Kim blasted Sneha.

Sneha, showing some more stupidity, decided to walk out of the party. Went into the adjoining biker bar where she nearly got assaulted and had to be saved by some quick thinking.'

'Quick thinking by who?' Aditya asked.

'By the boy she had just dissed,' Sneha finished. She wasn't laughing any more. Her face was glum as she eyed the empty glass lying down on the table.

'Oh!' Nandini reacted with a single word.

'Why don't you check on the dinner?' Aditya suggested to Nandini.

'What happened then?' Ignoring Aditya, Nandini probed further.

'Sneha came to apologize to me next day. I called her an idiot and a meddling fool and closed the door on her face,' Nikhil replied.

'And then he went back to colleeege or wherever. Kim di did not speak with me for a year,' Sneha sniffed.

'I did not know that. We never talked about you,' Nikhil remarked. His expression was back to being aloof, his eyes no longer glinted, 'Get over it, Sneha. I have told you

before, that was not the worst I've had.'

'Of course not. Your deevorce was that. We knows!' Sneha said, frowning mindlessly.

Her head was beginning to hurt, which is why she was the only one who didn't hear Nikhil's harsh intake of breath.

Nikhil jerked to his feet. 'Apologies, but I have to leave,' he addressed Nandini.

'Please stay. I'm sorry on Sneha's behalf,' Nandini pleaded, getting to her feet. She had never wanted anyone to get hurt. 'I think she is sobering up. She is not slurring any more.'

'Some other time,' Nikhil replied with a tight smile.

'Aditya!' Nikhil and Aditya exchanged a quick handshake.

'Nikhil please…' Aditya shaking his head caused Nandini to trail off.

'I'll walk you out,' Aditya said. Nikhil walked out without as much a glance at Sneha who was now squinting and massaging her forehead.

Sneha glanced up a few seconds later. 'Where did he go?' she asked, glancing around the room.

'Sneh!' Sighing, Nandini sat down cross-legged next to the drunk. 'Guess what?' 'What!' Sneha asked with an indulgent smile, her eyes bright and cheeks flushed.

'You owe him another apology!' Nandini replied with an understanding smile.

'I do? Why?' Sneha tried to think and then snapped her fingers as she shouted and laughed at the same time, 'Because I'm such a hitch.'

'And with such potential,' Nandini announced wickedly.

The next day Sneha woke up in her bed with a head that felt like the stage of a rock concert and a mouth that tasted like its floor. 'Oh God!' Sneha moved her face restlessly on the pillow. Gosh, even her breath smelled like the behind of a truck's exhaust—nasty.

Groggily she made it to the restroom, splashed water over her face and brushed her teeth for a full ten minutes. All she remembered of last night was Adi driving them home and Nandini helping Sneha into her bed.

As Sneha came out of the restroom, she saw Advey still sleeping. Gently she traced his cheeks and he moved his face away. Feeling somewhat normal, she came out of the room and glanced at the watch; it was still early—7.00 a.m.!

Making a cup of strong coffee, Sneha opened the front door and grabbed the rolled up newspaper. Taking the coffee and newspaper, Sneha went to the balcony. She didn't last long out there, just about thirty seconds, for every sound of the traffic felt like a sledgehammer to her temples.

After half an hour or so when Amla came out of the second bedroom she found Sneha asleep on the sofa, her head pushed uncomfortably in between some cushions, mouth open, soft snores coming from her. The open newspaper in utter disarray lay partly over her and partly on the floor nearby.

'Madam! Madam!' Amla shook her gently.

Sneha woke up with a start. Her eyes sprung open wide and alert.

'Aatha!' the maid uttered a startled sound.

'Huh? Why are you screaming?' 'Meter?' Amla muttered.

'What meter?' Sneha asked, irked, as she grabbed the papers on her stomach about to

slip onto the floor.

'Bewardi!' Amla muttered to herself as she went into the kitchen. 'More coffee?'

'Please, and strong,' Sneha called back. Soon Advey, too, woke up and had her occupied. Around ten that morning Sneha made a call.

'Hi, Pradeep, Sneha here.'

She was greeted with much enthusiasm.

'Pra—Pradeep, I'm so sorry for the last minute change of plans but I can't make it to lunch today. Not feeling too well,' Sneha said and then she realized that it was the wrong thing to say to a doctor. For the next five minutes, with a suffering expression Sneha verbalized her symptoms.

Pradeep, like Amla, arrived at a similar conclusion. 'Someone was hitting the bottle hard last night. Celebrating?'

'Ya kind of, with Nandini and Aditya. Really sorry about this. I'm just not great company today,' Sneha replied honestly.

'No problems. Rain check?'

'Of course. I'll call you?' Sneha replied.

'You will call, Sneha?' Pradeep asked. Sneha hated the needy tone in his voice. It made her feel guilty.

'I will. Bye.' Sneha hung up. Why could she not reciprocate the doctor's niceness? A certain someone's face began taking shape in her head. Just as the green eyes came to life in her mind, Sneha panicked and switched on the TV and then switched it off almost immediately, realizing she would need a bigger distraction than the idiot box. Choosing work, she pulled out her laptop.

Post-lunch, Sneha got a call from Nandini who simply told her that she could have, she should have treated Nikhil better and before Sneha could respond, in typical Nandini style, she changed the topic and informed Sneha that she and Aditya were flying off for a mini vacation for seven days. Goa and Kanpur were their two destinations. 'Have fun kulta. I'm going to be stuck here knee-deep in work,' Sneha retorted grumpily.

'Listen, aren't your parents visiting Kanpur?' Nandini asked.

'Yup. They are staying at your place,' Sneha replied as she scrolled through her emails. She had several pending proofs and design reviews to look at.

'Sneh, why don't I take Advey and Amla with me and then he can spend time with the numerous grandparents there.'

'Numerous as in?' Sneha asked sharply. She was sure Nandini knew that her ex-husband's family, just like her ex-husband, had washed their hands off Advey.

Nandini read her mind. 'Sneh! I'm talking about your parents, my parents, Badi Maa,' she added, understandingly.

'Sorry!' Sneha conceded. She bit her lip. 'I'll miss him, Nandi.' 'I know! But think of Advey. He'll have company the whole day.' 'Damn! It's hard,' Sneha blurted.

'Think about it. We are leaving tomorrow morning.'

'How will you get the tickets for Advey and Amla so soon?' Sneha asked.

'I will, if the plane belongs to my husband.' 'Of course,' Sneha chuckled.

'Did you talk to N—'

'Bye, Nandini, I'll call you later.'

'Okay fine, I won't ask. How was your date with Pradeep?'

'Cancelled it. Because of the bloody hangover. And it wasn't like a date, date,' she said primly.

'So what was it, a meeting of similar minds?' Nandini snorted.

Sneha grunted.

'So sirjee.' Pause. 'Who would you rather date, date? Sadda Ni—' 'Nandini!' Sneha shrieked. 'MORON.'

'Nikhil, Nikhil, Nikhil,' Nandini recited breathlessly.

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In document Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación (página 112-126)