"School is closed today. -by order", read the blackboard propped against the main-gate. It was exactly what we hoped for, a feast for the eyes! Ever since the first rush of rain was heard clattering against the window pane at night, we prayed; prayed that it should rain so heavily that school should be shut down the following day! The Rain-God was pleased- this time around. The dreaded Maths Unit-Test would now be postponed. And till then, we will all get to live life and make merry! If an announced holiday has one quantum of happiness, an unexpected one is multiplied several fold. It is a bonanza!
For all its onslaught through the night, the rain was now a shadow of its former self. It presently came down in a little trickle. Therein lay the worry. I scoured the horizon- Sridhar had managed to reach, so had Mehernosh. As I looked more, more faces peered back- Adhir and Dinesh and David. It looked as if the whole class had braved the rain to reach school. It seemed hazardous to have a class reunion within the school premises; not today. Father Bryganza's hawk-like eyes from the second-floor window would swoop down on us. The last thing you want is a total anticlimax- "Now that the entire class is here, I see little point in having a holiday today! I would rather you boys make your way to the class! The rain has anyway stopped!" Our hearts would have sunk.
We made our way out of school unobtrusively, till the entire class congregated on the opposite footpath, just outside the restaurant Rasna Punjab. That's when the adrenalin was finally let out....in a collective roar of absolute delight! Only a student would know this feeling, the unexpected sense of freedom from captivity! The whole day lay stretched in front of us. The choices were many- troop back home, hang out at Five Gardens or dig into a dosa at Madras Café. No one could make up his mind. It was as if we had won a lottery- the bounty and the suddenness of it had made us numb!
This was a good day. But rains are notorious for being fickle and moody. At times, it rained through the night, raising hopes of an imminent holiday, only for the sun to break out in the morning, in all its glory! How could the rains be so heartless?
Where the Weather Gods did not oblige in doling out an unexpected holiday, human ingenuity compensated for it. From time to time, there were "bandhs". The reason did not matter a hang. We just had to show complete solidarity to the cause- any cause! Only, the bandh had to be total and successful- schools had to be closed. And the roads, emptied out for a game of Cricket! Bandhs were unpredictable. Often, rival groups patched up, much to our dismay, and called off the bandh in the nick of time. It would then be school as usual. What a drag! The fate of the bandh was decided early in the morning. We hated those who came home and reported- "The situation is normal!". No one wants to hear the word "normal" on a bandh day. It has to be abnormal - we felt the irresistible urge to take matter into our hands, show some initiative and if need be, pelt a few stones!
Sometimes, the unexpected holiday, at least the prospect of it, came as manna from the heavens! Literally! The US had launched the spacecraft Skylab. The purpose of the mission was lost on us. All we knew was that they had lost control of the spacecraft! It was now a free spirit....hurtling towards the earth, certain to collide! The writing on the wall was simple- this blessed spacecraft can crash anywhere on the planet; yes, even on our head. Newspapers chalked out the trajectory of Skylab, how it would re-enter the earth's atmosphere- break-up and plunge into the heart of Bombay! Back in school, Sridhar had his gaze fixed on the skies....his hands clasping his head! He moved about in that posture, his mood sullen, like a convict on a definite death-roll! Those were anxious times no doubt, where anything from a plane to a buzzing dragon-fly rattled everyone with the prospect of impending doom. Sridhar pleaded with Father Bryganza. After all, if all of us were to perish, it would be more comfortable sipping Bournvita at home than in the confines of the school. He wanted the school to declare a holiday for a week, till doomsday was over! "Yes Sridhar! You can have a holiday- today, tomorrow, this whole week, this month, this year also! I give you full permission" Father Bryganza's over generosity upset Sridhar and the rest of us. Father Bryganza just didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Eventually, Skylab did fall, but over the Indian Ocean.....off the Australian coast. We missed a big opportunity to force an unexpected holiday.
From time to time, leaders and statesmen passed away, some all of a sudden. The state announced either a three-day mourning or a seven-day mourning depending on the magnitude of the loss. The TV, with its single black-and-white channel, was depressing, with the strains of "sarangi vaadan" playing through out the day. There was no respite. But students would have none of that. They were ecstatic....thrilled... that it was a holiday after all! It's as if these leaders gave oodles of happiness to a bunch of kids, in their passing away; what happiness, they might have struggled to give to the public at large, while living! What irony! Looking back, we feel remorseful now, how we were devoid of basic empathy as kids! But a child's outlook is entirely objective- life, death, nothing merits grief. It's as if everything is a matter of celebration! Who can contest that?
The other day, my daughter let out a sudden, excited yelp which split the roof! Totally unlike her! What could have made her so happy? She blurted out that the school had declared a holiday on Monday and her Maths exam would be postponed! I keep hearing from time to time that "school is fun" these days. Back then, we did not think so. Leave alone the root of education being bitter, we were sure, the root-shoot-fruit- everything about it, was just as bitter, filled to the brim with castor-oil! Like being strapped to a dentist's chair and enduring the drill through a decayed tooth....with no end in sight!
I found my daughter's reaction to an unexpected holiday refreshing! I was relieved that things have not changed, schools have not changed, not that much! The basic student emotion is intact!
For all its onslaught through the night, the rain was now a shadow of its former self. It presently came down in a little trickle. Therein lay the worry. I scoured the horizon- Sridhar had managed to reach, so had Mehernosh. As I looked more, more faces peered back- Adhir and Dinesh and David. It looked as if the whole class had braved the rain to reach school. It seemed hazardous to have a class reunion within the school premises; not today. Father Bryganza's hawk-like eyes from the second-floor window would swoop down on us. The last thing you want is a total anticlimax- "Now that the entire class is here, I see little point in having a holiday today! I would rather you boys make your way to the class! The rain has anyway stopped!" Our hearts would have sunk.
We made our way out of school unobtrusively, till the entire class congregated on the opposite footpath, just outside the restaurant Rasna Punjab. That's when the adrenalin was finally let out....in a collective roar of absolute delight! Only a student would know this feeling, the unexpected sense of freedom from captivity! The whole day lay stretched in front of us. The choices were many- troop back home, hang out at Five Gardens or dig into a dosa at Madras Café. No one could make up his mind. It was as if we had won a lottery- the bounty and the suddenness of it had made us numb!
This was a good day. But rains are notorious for being fickle and moody. At times, it rained through the night, raising hopes of an imminent holiday, only for the sun to break out in the morning, in all its glory! How could the rains be so heartless?
Where the Weather Gods did not oblige in doling out an unexpected holiday, human ingenuity compensated for it. From time to time, there were "bandhs". The reason did not matter a hang. We just had to show complete solidarity to the cause- any cause! Only, the bandh had to be total and successful- schools had to be closed. And the roads, emptied out for a game of Cricket! Bandhs were unpredictable. Often, rival groups patched up, much to our dismay, and called off the bandh in the nick of time. It would then be school as usual. What a drag! The fate of the bandh was decided early in the morning. We hated those who came home and reported- "The situation is normal!". No one wants to hear the word "normal" on a bandh day. It has to be abnormal - we felt the irresistible urge to take matter into our hands, show some initiative and if need be, pelt a few stones!
Sometimes, the unexpected holiday, at least the prospect of it, came as manna from the heavens! Literally! The US had launched the spacecraft Skylab. The purpose of the mission was lost on us. All we knew was that they had lost control of the spacecraft! It was now a free spirit....hurtling towards the earth, certain to collide! The writing on the wall was simple- this blessed spacecraft can crash anywhere on the planet; yes, even on our head. Newspapers chalked out the trajectory of Skylab, how it would re-enter the earth's atmosphere- break-up and plunge into the heart of Bombay! Back in school, Sridhar had his gaze fixed on the skies....his hands clasping his head! He moved about in that posture, his mood sullen, like a convict on a definite death-roll! Those were anxious times no doubt, where anything from a plane to a buzzing dragon-fly rattled everyone with the prospect of impending doom. Sridhar pleaded with Father Bryganza. After all, if all of us were to perish, it would be more comfortable sipping Bournvita at home than in the confines of the school. He wanted the school to declare a holiday for a week, till doomsday was over! "Yes Sridhar! You can have a holiday- today, tomorrow, this whole week, this month, this year also! I give you full permission" Father Bryganza's over generosity upset Sridhar and the rest of us. Father Bryganza just didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Eventually, Skylab did fall, but over the Indian Ocean.....off the Australian coast. We missed a big opportunity to force an unexpected holiday.
From time to time, leaders and statesmen passed away, some all of a sudden. The state announced either a three-day mourning or a seven-day mourning depending on the magnitude of the loss. The TV, with its single black-and-white channel, was depressing, with the strains of "sarangi vaadan" playing through out the day. There was no respite. But students would have none of that. They were ecstatic....thrilled... that it was a holiday after all! It's as if these leaders gave oodles of happiness to a bunch of kids, in their passing away; what happiness, they might have struggled to give to the public at large, while living! What irony! Looking back, we feel remorseful now, how we were devoid of basic empathy as kids! But a child's outlook is entirely objective- life, death, nothing merits grief. It's as if everything is a matter of celebration! Who can contest that?
The other day, my daughter let out a sudden, excited yelp which split the roof! Totally unlike her! What could have made her so happy? She blurted out that the school had declared a holiday on Monday and her Maths exam would be postponed! I keep hearing from time to time that "school is fun" these days. Back then, we did not think so. Leave alone the root of education being bitter, we were sure, the root-shoot-fruit- everything about it, was just as bitter, filled to the brim with castor-oil! Like being strapped to a dentist's chair and enduring the drill through a decayed tooth....with no end in sight!
I found my daughter's reaction to an unexpected holiday refreshing! I was relieved that things have not changed, schools have not changed, not that much! The basic student emotion is intact!
